Post pics of your WWI & WWII Rifles

Aero Denezol · Aug 18, 2021

raftman said:
Yeah but the cavalry carbines are kinda neat too, if not a bit weird. I picked up a couple of those as well while the getting is good.

Where did you find your Cavalry Carbine? Palmetto? DK Firearms? Certainly not Royal Tiger... I'm just old enough to remember the cheap Mosins and the cheap SKS and reality hit me I should add a cheap Carcano while I can.. But I want to avoid getting a rusted up piece of junk.

I was listening to a WWII podcast and they just covered pre-war Fascist Italy. It was a very interesting epoch, definitely underrated by most armchair history buffs, myself included..

raftman · Aug 18, 2021

Aero Denezol said:
Where did you find your Cavalry Carbine? Palmetto? DK Firearms? Certainly not Royal Tiger... I'm just old enough to remember the cheap Mosins and the cheap SKS and reality hit me I should add a cheap Carcano while I can.. But I want to avoid getting a rusted up piece of junk.

I was listening to a WWII podcast and they just covered pre-war Fascist Italy. It was a very interesting epoch, definitely underrated by most armchair history buffs, myself included..

I got mine from Bud's when they had them. They've sold out of them a while ago, though. A few other places (including those you've mentioned) still seem to have them.

I was around for some of the cheap surplus (bought an M44 for $89 and a $99 Nagant revolver at one point, among others) and it seems like it's always the same pattern: first something is super cheap, plentiful, and not too many people want it. Once supply dries up it's only a matter of time before prices multiply.

CLT65 · Aug 18, 2021

Here's one I picked up on a whim recently, only because it was so cheap. It's an 1892 French Berthier, 8mm Lebel. It's pretty rough, looks like it spent the last half century laying out in the desert. I've only shot it a few times, trying out some cast-bullet reloads (I'm too cheap to buy factory ammo for it, so bought dies instead). Believe it or not, it shoots fairly decent- quarter or half-dollar size groups at 25 yards. I know that's usually nothing to brag about, but for one like this in this condition, it's better than I expected.

It is missing the front barrel band, so if anyone knows where I can find one for less than I paid for the rifle, please let me know.

Here's some Garand sadness that I mentioned in another thread. This relic was given to me a few years ago at a gun show:

raftman · Aug 19, 2021

Yugo-capture Kar98k. Kind of a mix-master but still a pretty neat rifle... byf 43 factory markings are still visible which is a nice bonus.

Bsteinhauer28 · Aug 23, 2021

Sold my SC 1903a3 to pick up another M39 recently. This time Its a 1942 Sako. Good overall condition with a round splice stock.

Phantom Man · Aug 23, 2021

Bsteinhauer28 said:
Sold my SC 1903a3 to pick up another M39 recently. This time Its a 1942 Sako. Good overall condition with a round splice stock.

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"War time" stock. Congrats..!

WAW44 · Aug 24, 2021

Phantom Man said:
"War time" stock. Congrats..!

This inspired me to dig out something else than an Enfield from my safe and go to the range …

44 VKT ( bubba scoped, unfortunately, but shoots great) and a 41 VKT in its beaten up wartime glory ..

Phantom Man · Aug 24, 2021

WAW44 said:
This inspired me to dig out something else than an Enfield from my safe and go to the range …

44 VKT ( bubba scoped, unfortunately, but shoots great) and a 41 VKT in its beaten up wartime glory ..

View attachment 1018124

The earliest ones were used. Serials started at 20k and my 28k serialed '41 Sako is well worn too. Nice rifles there..!

TNThomas · Sep 3, 2021

Forked out $355 bones for this 1916 M96 Swedish Mauser. Not bad at todays prices. I plan on using this for Mil-Sup matches. Pleasently surprised how "thick" the barrel is on these. Also, the length of pull is longer than regular mausers, which is nice as im 6'9". Slick action, and I prefer the straight bolt! Looking forward to many years with this one!

Mikej · Sep 4, 2021

TNThomas said:
Forked out $355 bones for this 1916 M96 Swedish Mauser. Not bad at todays prices. I plan on using this for Mil-Sup matches. Pleasently surprised how "thick" the barrel is on these. Also, the length of pull is longer than regular mausers, which is nice as im 6'9". Slick action, and I prefer the straight bolt! Looking forward to many years with this one!

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That's a heck of a price! Is it all matching, stock too?

My 1902 CG m96/38 had a ton of linseed oil in the stock. So much so that put it in the sun and you'd get oiled touching it. NO Chance you want to put it up to your cheek. Looks like yours may be the same. I use denatured alcohol and soft clothe to work some of the excess oil out of the stock. Let it warm and remove more. Once it got so being "warm", just warm, and didn't get wet I quit.

TNThomas · Sep 4, 2021

Mikej said:
That's a heck of a price! Is it all matching, stock too?

My 1902 CG m96/38 had a ton of linseed oil in the stock. So much so that put it in the sun and you'd get oiled touching it. NO Chance you want to put it up to your cheek. Looks like yours may be the same. I use denatured alcohol and soft clothe to work some of the excess oil out of the stock. Let it warm and remove more. Once it got so being "warm", just warm, and didn't get wet I quit.

Yup, all matching minus the cleaning rod. They spent alot of time serializing/stamping these! Yea, i had to buy it at that price, I would be kicking myself in a few years if not. Yea, it definitely has a decent amount oil in the wood. I think its one of the Mahogany stocked ones. Which is sweet.

Mikej · Sep 4, 2021

TNThomas said:
Yup, all matching minus the cleaning rod. They spent alot of time serializing/stamping these! Yea, i had to buy it at that price, I would be kicking myself in a few years if not. Yea, it definitely has a decent amount oil in the wood. I think its one of the Mahogany stocked ones. Which is sweet.

1916-17 were walnut, from everything I've heard. The cleaning rods were only numbered for a couple of years early on, so there never was one numbered to your rifle. The book "Crown Jewels, The Mauser in Sweden" is apparently THE book to have if you're a Swede Mauser fan. But I never looked it up to buy it, until now! HO-Lee Crap! $165.00!

Amazon.com

I've only see excerpts from it. If this is your first "Swede" a good place to get info on them is gunboards.com where they have a section on Scandinavian military guns and they are in the majority of the topics. Ammo is pretty spendy for it now. But if you reload you can make some of that up in the future, hopefully.

TNThomas · Sep 4, 2021

Mikej said:
1916-17 were walnut, from everything I've heard. The cleaning rods were only numbered for a couple of years early on, so there never was one numbered to your rifle. The book "Crown Jewels, The Mauser in Sweden" is apparently THE book to have if you're a Swede Mauser fan. But I never looked it up to buy it, until now! HO-Lee Crap! $165.00!

Amazon.com
I've only see excerpts from it. If this is your first "Swede" a good place to get info on them is gunboards.com where they have a section on Scandinavian military guns and they are in the majority of the topics. Ammo is pretty spendy for it now. But if you reload you can make some of that up in the future, hopefully.

Thanks for the info! Yea, dirty/oily Walnut would make sense. I plan on reloading and shooting vintage military matches. Im debating buying a mold to cast for it, but ive read mixed reviews on cast 6.5mm.

Phantom Man · Sep 4, 2021

TNThomas said:
Forked out $355 bones for this 1916 M96 Swedish Mauser. Not bad at todays prices. I plan on using this for Mil-Sup matches. Pleasently surprised how "thick" the barrel is on these. Also, the length of pull is longer than regular mausers, which is nice as im 6'9". Slick action, and I prefer the straight bolt! Looking forward to many years with this one!

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Those barrels were threaded in the 1940-1955 range. $5 end piece on ebay.

TNThomas · Sep 4, 2021

Phantom Man said:
Those barrels were threaded in the 1940-1955 range. $5 end piece on ebay.

Yea, I plan on getting one, thanks for the heads up!

Phantom Man · Sep 5, 2021

Persian Mauser

"Model 1317 Rifle Brno Factory" and oft called 98/29. R serial series indicates this was one of of the last out in 1939 before Czech invasion by Germany. Then captured in Iran during Anglo-Soviet invasion summer 1941.