Swedish 6.5x55 Mauser

v35

Has anyone actually tested one of these 96 Mausers to destruction?
They've been knocked as being weaker than the K98 yet German contract Swedes required Swedish steel to be used. They considered German '98 steel inferior.

swearengine

P.O. Ackley

He tested everything to destruction.

Read his books. Very informative!

MIKE WISKEY

the swedish 'small ring' actions are almost as 'strong' as a large ring m-98 but do not have the gas handling safty features of the m-98. the swedes regularly made these into .30/06 and 8x57mm rifles. that said it is a good idea to keep loadings for these well under 50,000 c.u.p.

navc130

The difference is the design of the actions, not how "strong" each is.
The 98 Mauser is the last of the Mauser bolt actions incorporating all of the new design improvements. Frank de Hass Bolt Action Rifles is an excellent source of info.

jptatum

I wasn't aware that the 96 action was long enough to load a 30-06. I never saw one but I'm no expert.

TRAP55

quote:Has anyone actually tested one of these 96 Mausers to destruction?
Kimber did when they converted a bunch to .243 and .308. Expensive experiment in stupidity. Never saw one blown up, but I've seen the lug setback, that locked them up to stop from getting to that point.

babun

""They've been knocked as being weaker than the K98 yet German contract Swedes required Swedish steel to be used. They considered German '98 steel inferior.""

I don't know about that???
I have heard that around 1938 or so the steel was changed, before that year it was soft, and this lead to many lug set backs.

jonk

In the aforementioned book by de Haas, he said about small ring Mausers that they are STRONG enough for 30-06, but not safe enough. No 3rd lug, fairly poor gas venting. The steels used ran the gamut from kinda suspect in the Spanish made ones to excellent in German and Swedish ones. That said: it really was a different type of hardening used then as opposed to today. Today's receivers are harder and more brittle than the old Mausers. Meaning a mild overload beyond the action's design won't blow it up, as it is still within the tensile strength of the metal, but it WILL slowly cause lug setback, as it is exceeding the ductile resistance of the hardening used at the time. This will eventually cause headspace issues, leading to ruptured cases... see the aforementioned gas relief issues. On a 98 on the other hand, even if the steel were softer, the lugs can only set back the tiniest fraction before the third safety lug engages, and 3 lugs even in a soft (by modern standard) receiver WILL stand up to anything up to light magnum range; and even if they didn't, the excellent gas handling of the design keeps the shooter mostly safe.

v35

Good point on the additional safety of a third lug.
David Basiji published a comprehensive study of Swedes in Jan 1999.
He stated the '96 Mausers subcontracted to Germany and marked Waffenfabrik Mauser Oberndorf, were made between 1899 and 1901.
Steel formulations,heat treating and hardening techniques of Sweden were requirements as Swedish steel and processes were considered superior.