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The Swede

LAH

Gold $$ Contributor
Not tack driving target stuff here, just something I did today.

I'm trying to learn the little Swede. It is a handy rifle & a joy to carry. The 6.5X55 cartridge is a joy to shoot. I’m shooting an unknown 140 grain bullet which came to me in bulk, maybe from Graf & Sons. The powder is a slow lot of 4895 which loads close to IMR4064. The present loads contain 37 grains with a CCI34 primer. OAL is 3.00”.

The rifle is carbine length with a cut down military stock. I changed the front sight to a black ramp. The rear sight has 3 leaves. The lowest one I filed into a square notch. This gives the same sight picture as my sixguns.

I prepared a target with a 4” bull on the back of a cereal box only to find I was out of black paint, so I used white. I set the target at the 50 yard mark which was in the bright sunlight & found no real aiming point. I fired 5 shots which I didn’t measure but considering the 4” bull I’m guessing the group was 4”. As I looked through the spotting scope I’m thinking about any sixgun would do that.

Next up was the 100 yard 12” plate. It was also painted white but sitting in the shade giving a fair sight picture. From the bench I fired 5 shots & the view in the spotting scope looked pretty good. The results are in the pictures below.

With that said, it is amazing how good a black ramp front sight & square notch rear sight work with eyes that will be 75 years old in October. The 5 shots measured 5 ½” with 4 measuring 2 ½”. The high, left shot could have been a bad sight picture, the military trigger, or me.

I knew the rifle shot good for what it is because I plink rocks with it. The offhand plinking showed the sights to on with this load & firing from the bench confirms it. Still have a pile of these bullets & look forward to shooting them all.

18805d12-abf2-4701-a36c-60bd25a084fb.jpg

c850e1bd-9c9c-4e8d-ae53-aeb28a81339e.jpg

545e5ce3-bd27-4b49-99a0-4c3e0f3a2a96.jpg

aeec2b75-10b7-4073-8909-e4b7f21bd3c7.jpg

52a6605d-404b-4609-afe9-2fd386cbc7b4.jpg

b3e5e50f-c450-4dad-bb82-ed294f9a5892.jpg
 
LAH, I have been a fan of the Swede for many years myself, although unfortunately I am finding it harder and harder to get small groups with 73 year old eyes... I have loaded for it using both 4064 and 4895 but found it really likes H4831SC behind those 140 or 142 HPBT Sierras. All my Swedes are still in original military condition, mostly M96's except for my concession to modern which is a model 700, Barlein heavy barrel, 1 in 8.5 twist , blueprinted, shoots very small groups.
 
Before the Swedes built the infantry rifles (long barrels) in 1896, they built cavalry rifles in 1894. This may be a cavalry rifle. See if it is marked 1894. How long is the barrel? The 1894s were too short to be imported as is and need to have a small piece added to make length and not be an SBR. I cannot swear to it but the step in the barrel in front of the sight looks just like mine and was added to make it legal.
 
That is what was added by the importer to get ATF approval, mine has one just like it from what I can see in the photo. I found mine at the antique show and it is in a Fagen semi thumb hole stock, that is a little rough but fixable. The older guy selling it insisted it was worth some money and he would not give it away, he told me he had to get $100 for it. I grumbled and moaned so he thought he was getting the best of me. If they were in original stocks they are quite valuable. I have dies, bullets and everything to load for mine, but fixing everything after the tornado has killed my shooting. BUT SOON I GET TO HAVE A DAY LIKE YOU!!!
 
Not tack driving target stuff here, just something I did today.

I'm trying to learn the little Swede. It is a handy rifle & a joy to carry. The 6.5X55 cartridge is a joy to shoot. I’m shooting an unknown 140 grain bullet which came to me in bulk, maybe from Graf & Sons. The powder is a slow lot of 4895 which loads close to IMR4064. The present loads contain 37 grains with a CCI34 primer. OAL is 3.00”.

The rifle is carbine length with a cut down military stock. I changed the front sight to a black ramp. The rear sight has 3 leaves. The lowest one I filed into a square notch. This gives the same sight picture as my sixguns.

I prepared a target with a 4” bull on the back of a cereal box only to find I was out of black paint, so I used white. I set the target at the 50 yard mark which was in the bright sunlight & found no real aiming point. I fired 5 shots which I didn’t measure but considering the 4” bull I’m guessing the group was 4”. As I looked through the spotting scope I’m thinking about any sixgun would do that.

Next up was the 100 yard 12” plate. It was also painted white but sitting in the shade giving a fair sight picture. From the bench I fired 5 shots & the view in the spotting scope looked pretty good. The results are in the pictures below.

With that said, it is amazing how good a black ramp front sight & square notch rear sight work with eyes that will be 75 years old in October. The 5 shots measured 5 ½” with 4 measuring 2 ½”. The high, left shot could have been a bad sight picture, the military trigger, or me.

I knew the rifle shot good for what it is because I plink rocks with it. The offhand plinking showed the sights to on with this load & firing from the bench confirms it. Still have a pile of these bullets & look forward to shooting them all.

18805d12-abf2-4701-a36c-60bd25a084fb.jpg

c850e1bd-9c9c-4e8d-ae53-aeb28a81339e.jpg

545e5ce3-bd27-4b49-99a0-4c3e0f3a2a96.jpg

aeec2b75-10b7-4073-8909-e4b7f21bd3c7.jpg

52a6605d-404b-4609-afe9-2fd386cbc7b4.jpg

b3e5e50f-c450-4dad-bb82-ed294f9a5892.jpg
Having a new safety placed on mine and the barrel cut back to 25". I use Reloader 22 with the longer barrel, get plenty of velocity with low pressures. The 129 grain works great for deer, I tried the 140 but they were too tough a bullet.
 
Anyone have any luck loading the Hornady 140gr ELD-M bullet for their Swede M38? I have a bunch of those bullets I bought way back when the Ruger Precision Rifle came out. (Long story shot , I shot a friend's Accuracy International Rifle, sold my RPR, fell in lover wth Berger Juggernaught bullet. I stll have a 6.5 Creedmoor rifle but I use it for deer hunting from my "lazy boy " blind.)
My M38 is stock military with a no drill scope mount and a 6x scope (NB.I am older than everybody on this thread who has admitted their age ;) )
 
Anyone have any luck loading the Hornady 140gr ELD-M bullet for their Swede M38? I have a bunch of those bullets I bought way back when the Ruger Precision Rifle came out. (Long story shot , I shot a friend's Accuracy International Rifle, sold my RPR, fell in lover wth Berger Juggernaught bullet. I stll have a 6.5 Creedmoor rifle but I use it for deer hunting from my "lazy boy " blind.)
My M38 is stock military with a no drill scope mount and a 6x scope (NB.I am older than everybody on this thread who has admitted their age ;) )
I shot a few ( about 100) and they shot fine with Reloader 22, more accurate then the Interlock, I went with 140 grain Interlock I believe and stopped them because they were way too tough for deer. The 129 works perfectly on deer.
 
Josh doesn't have any riles like mine that are just plain UGLY. Even the so/so ones he just builds a beautiful stock for them and then they are super good looking.
 
I worked in Palm Beach trying to make people happy that refused to be happy, that took a lot of the joy out of it. I do have an A5 copy out of walnut that is rough shaped and inleted on the mill. As soon as I get the tractor fixed, the mower running and out of here, and the trailer painted, and the shop cleaned up. Then I get to work on a rifle. Still fixing stuff from the tornado. Never hit a golf ball since they made me in HS. and never drank a cup of coffee in my life. The 2 earliest meanest carpenters I apprenticed for, all they did is talk golf and leave coffee cups full of snuffed out cigarettes for me to clean up. They taught me very little, like they were afraid I would take their job. I think Gene and Herb made up for it though, likely the best 2 I ever worked around in all my 45 years.
 
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