15 replies to this topic

[glockstr]

I acquired a 1903 Carl Gustaf M94 carbine in a trade. All the numbers match, barrel, bolt, magazine plate, safety and firing pin. The metal looks to be in great shape, good bluing, no rust at all and no holes drilled. Unfortunately it was put into a hunting stock and of all things the person scratched his initials on the barrel's first step just beyond the receivers ring.

My goal in the trade was to build a scout rifle and I have no interest in restoring the Mauser but I don't want to ruin any possibility of someone restoring it in the future. So what say you folks? Could this rifle be enough of an interest for a collector or is it degraded enough to go ahead and sporterize it?

[ken98k]

I say it's your rifle, go for it.
The museums already have their own.

[AzRednek]

Collectors want everything original. Initials don't necessarily ruin collector's value as soldiers have carved their initials or those of wife, g/f, children etc and it might give a war relic some character. The hunting stock however pretty much has ruined its appeal to collectors for anything other than parts. Sport it!! Plenty of guys here that will walk you through the process.

[Dr.Hess]

The Site URL being "sporterizing.com," we 'round these here parts tend to say "go for it." I think there is a site somewhere that will curse you for even thinking about it, but we don't talk about that place.

Like Ken said, it's your gun. Do what you want with it.

[mauserman69]

Do it to it. Like the others said, it`s yours don`t worry what the purest say.

[pacrat]

My goal in the trade was to build a scout rifle and I have no interest in restoring the Mauser but I don't want to ruin any possibility of someone restoring it in the future.

Since your only interest is as a sporter and the collector value is already been ruined. Go for it. It is yours to do with as you see fit.

If on the other hand it was still a complete 94 carbine. It would have much more value as a collectable and you could sell it to someone for their collection and use the increased funds for your sporter and come out ahead.

It's not always about being a purist. A little common sense goes a long way, being as how it is so uncommon nowadays. In my younger and less enlightened days I turned $600 dollar rifles into $200 rifles by supposedly improving them into sporters.

Now I've learned to check before I chop.

[glockstr]

Thanks folks! I will start working on it when funds come in to get it re-crowned and go from there.

[ClaudeH]

Is there a legal issue to be considered?

I think the original M94 carbine barrels were a tad short to be legal in the US, and when they were first imported the importer had to weld an extension piece to the end of the barrel.

Now, I believe, they are legal without the extension piece. But if you sporterize it and it is no longer in C&R form, wouldn't the short barrel be a problem?

[Jeff H]

Is there a legal issue to be considered?

I think the original M94 carbine barrels were a tad short to be legal in the US, and when they were first imported the importer had to weld an extension piece to the end of the barrel.

Now, I believe, they are legal without the extension piece. But if you sporterize it and it is no longer in C&R form, wouldn't the short barrel be a problem?

Not a chance I would be willing to take with the BATF myself.

Being a 94, one could possibly trade it for a couple M38s in decent shape. When I bought my 94 it was $300 and the M38s were going for less than $150. I trimmed an M38 back to 20", added a Boyd's walnut stock which I took a lot of wood off of and D/T'd a TC Contender base to the last barrel step and it was a gem handling and shooting.

[CurtInAtl]

Have you checked the length of the barrel yourself? I am pretty sure that they had a 17.5 or so inch barrel.

[donmarkey]

And remember length is measured from the bolt face to the crown. Not the receiver.
Don

[Tinman]

Minimum legal rifle barrel length is 16 inches with an overall rifle length of 26 inches. With that in mind, I had a 94 swede that had the added on 1/2" of barrel and it was a tack driver at 100 yards. I think either would be great to have. I'm down to five now. I sent two to my brother.

[ken98k]

Minimum legal rifle barrel length is 16 inches with an overall rifle length of 26 inches. With that in mind, I had a 94 swede that had the added on 1/2" of barrel and it was a tack driver at 100 yards. I think either would be great to have. I'm down to five now. I sent two to my brother.

Are you sure it had length added to it? I've never seen that but, I have seen many that have had the muzzle counterbored as a means of repairing a bad crown.

[Jeff H]

Are you sure it had length added to it? I've never seen that but, I have seen many that have had the muzzle counterbored as a means of repairing a bad crown.

I know mine was an add-on as the seam was apparent and the extension was unblued but had a patina that made it not so garish as bare metal. Looking into the end of it, it gave the appearance of having been counterbored because the bore of the extension was ocnsiderably larger than the actual rifle bore.

[Jeff H]

Not that this is gospel, and I no longer own a 94 to check, but this (see link) is fairly typical of what I have always heard about the barrel length issue on the 94 Carbine. I noted when I read this again that the legal import length was 18" and the Swedes were just under that - not under 16", but under 18". I find this believable because it was explained to me by either Taurus or Rossi some years ago that their import barrel length limit on handguns was 3". I found it odd that they catered to my favorite "short" barreled revolver length and ask what prompted the 3" in lieu of the more common 2". I was advised that they had, in fact, not gone to 3" to please me specifically, but to meet import restrictions.

http://findarticles....ag=content;col1

Like I said - not necessarily gospel, as he may be repeating the same stuff I have heard for many years but a quick measure of an original will tell if there is enough barrel to lop a bit off to get to a nice crown. I wouldn't bet the crown is damaged at all anyway as the extension provided a fair amount of protection from nicks and dings, while it may not protect it from cleaning rod wear.

So, what's the status of this project? Anything to take pictures of yet?

[gun nutty]

This link lists 17.7" as the "issue" barrel length for the '94 Swede:

http://www.northcape...om/swmauser.htm


This link lists the 94 barrel length as 449mm (17.7"): (449 / 25.4 = 17.677 ~ 17.7)

http://www.gotavapen...e/rifles_se.htm