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Military Firearm Restoration Corner

96 Sporter


z1r

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Hi All.

 

I got three 96 sporters a while back from Sarco. One turned out to be an 8x54K done by Vapen Falun which I'll post at a later date.

 

One 6.5x55 was drilled & tapped for a sidemount scope base. I sold it along with the bent (for scope clearance) bolt it came with and kept the stock.

 

The other 6.5x55 had an ugly rework of the military stock, a horrible welded bolt handle, and had some ugly sights & barrel band swivel. It did however have a super barrel and nice Husky 1944 dated receiver that had been drilled and tapped on top of the bridge for a receiver sight. Thanks to Pettson I located a GF sight and set about making a nice little sporter out of the otherwise ugly rifle. I removed the barrel, tightened up the headspace, and then recontoured the barrel removing the steps. I added a banded front sight and a barrel mounted swivel. Then I rust blued it and reassembled. I mounted the sight once it arrived from Sweden.

 

I snapped a pic of the little rifle this morning. It weighs in at a svelte 6.5 lbs.

 

 

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Thnaks Guys. The front sight is an old Lyman banded ramp. The barrel is actually 24" from the breechface, kinda strange. The barrel matches the receiver (numbers) and I'm pretty sure that in '44 they had stopped using the 29" bbl. All I did was recrown, didn;t need to shorten or otherwise mess with the muzzle.

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I CAN'T SEE IT! (waayh).

 

OK NOW I CAN. NOW I COVET IT (waaaaayh)!

 

The only problem I see with a rifle like that is that there's very little need for another one.

 

Scopes are ugly and cumbersome. I bet you can hit anything just as well with those sights out to 300. Anyone shooting farther than 300 is hopeful but not sure.

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  • 3 months later...

I actually made it to the range a few weeks ago and was very happy with the results. Some cheap hotshot ammo was all I could get, I left my expensive Norma ammo sitting on my desk. Even so, it shot about 1.5" at 100 yds. That leads me to believe that with some careful handloads I can do better. realistically, 1" is about as good as I can shoot.

 

I liked the very low level of recoil, even with the 140 grain loads.

 

The stock on this isn't super. One day I'd like to refinish and recut the checkering. But, I had it on hand, it cost me nothing, and it works well with the sight.

 

 

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That banded front sight looks a lot like a Redfield I picked up a few years ago that has been sitting in the parts bin waiting for a home. The problem is it came with no sight blade, and I can't figure out where to get a replacement. It's not dovetailed, but slides into a longitudinal slot, and is pinned in place. Is yours similar, and do you know where I might be able to pick one up?

 

By the way, nice rifle!

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That banded front sight looks a lot like a Redfield I picked up a few years ago that has been sitting in the parts bin waiting for a home. The problem is it came with no sight blade, and I can't figure out where to get a replacement. It's not dovetailed, but slides into a longitudinal slot, and is pinned in place. Is yours similar, and do you know where I might be able to pick one up?

 

By the way, nice rifle!

 

 

Mine has a dovetail. I might have one of the pinned sight blades. Any idea what the width of the slot is?

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The slot is .073" wide. Here's a photo:

 

Front%20sight%20003.jpg

 

I had a blade for one of those, just can't seem to find it, sorry. If I come accross it I'll let you know. I got mine on Ebay.

 

here's some that might work: http://www.e-gunparts.com/DisplayAd.asp?ch...perSKU=&MC=

 

http://www.e-gunparts.com/DisplayAd.asp?ch...perSKU=&MC=

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Here are pics of that Vapen Falun conversion to 8x54 K. The story, as I understand it is that the firm of Vapen Falun would convert your standard Swede 96 to a sporter. Of particular interest to me is that the rifle is all matching. What I particularly like is the way they cleverly converted the military stock. Look at how carefully the pistol grip was added. One day I'll refinish the stock (when I take the time to learn to checker, maybe 2020?). Shown is a 6.5x55 round and an 8x54 K. It is simply a 6.5x55 necked up to 8mm. teh original 6.6 barrel was bored out to 8mm. Really a neat conversion. And a great deal for teh $125 I think I paid. The rear sight was missing the folding leaf so I made a replacement. I'll have to get in some range time to adjust it to the correct height. If I ever get around to redoing the stock, I'll probably blue it too. For now, it's just gonna be for fun.

 

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Closeup of the pistol grip conversion:

 

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Rear Sight:

 

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