# Swedish Mauser 6.5x55 buy or not?



## rlzman68

NO NO NO when you buy a rifle you buy one for life it's not like you buy one every day. Buy a good quality rifle something you can be proud of and keep for a lifetime and enjoy many good times with. A good rifle should be a life long purchase.


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## Sasha and Abby

The 6.5 will kill anything you care to shoot at.


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## Longshot

Hello ccccrnr. The Swedish 6.5x55 is a very nice Mauser. I will have to disagree with rlzman68. It IS a rifle to be proud of and IS a good rifle that will last. I don't own one myself, but would like to pick one up some time (been looking for the sniper model with scope at reasonable price). I have a couple friends that have them and have shot a few and every one has been a shooter. It's a very capable round in a rifle that has always surprised me with how accurate it is. The price sounds good so if it fits you well and you like the rifle I would not think it to be a bad purchase.


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## Hatchie Dawg

I don't know about the rifle but I've shot the cartridge three seasons and have been very pleased with it. Light recoil, good accuracy, and excellent performance on deer are the qualities I noticed.

I do generally have to order my ammo though.


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## mr.trooper

Swedish Mausers are some of the best ever made. Sweden stayed Neutral in the wars, so there are NO "short-cut" or wartime production models. They are all up to peace time spec, and they are all machined to precise tolerance.










































A Lot of people think of wartime K98s and Yugos when the subject of military Mausers come up. you can see from the pictures above that the Swedes are on a much higher level.

The rifle, an M38 carbine, is more accurate than I can shoot. With those open sights and surplus ammo, it get about 2 MOA. with a rear aperture sight and some match grade ammo, I'm sure you could shoot 1 MOA or better with irons.

As for the cartridge, it gets about 2,200 ft-lbs of energy at the Muzzle. Not very "impressive" if you give stock to numbers on paper. BUT, the good news is that this translates into light recoil. MORE good news is that the long thin bullets you see in the above picture give the 6.5 Swede phenomenally high ballistic coefficients, so it holds onto those precious foot pounds for a very long time. That same bullet geometry also gives it high sectional desities, allowing them to penetrate more deeply than bullets of similar weights in larger calibers.

The end result is a cartridge that has a flatter trajectory and deeper penetration than it has a right to, for such little recoil.

:beer:


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## jp

The mauser is a great gun!

Is the gun you are looking at original or has it been sporterized? Has the stock been cut off or altered? Ea part should have a matching number and if so and not altered prestine! As it is altered the value goes down quickly.

My son last year took 2 super bucks with his 1901 model and open sights. This caliber is extremely deadly. Not much kick but alot of knock down due to bullet density. Even a great Moose gun in Europe!

Remember that these guns could go 500 yds with open sights. There is also a drop in synthetic stock that can be purchased if you desire to keep the weight down and trick it out and not loose the value.

The value of these guns are only climbing due to the lack of availability.

Brass is still available and you can buy shells over the counter yet.


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## rasmusse

I don't think you can go wrong for the money if this is an unaltered Swedish Mauser. The model 1896 has a 29 1/2 inch barrel, the model 1938 has a 22 inch barrel. (If it has a 17 1/2 barrel it is a model 1894 and a steal at that price, if unaltered.)

The 6.5x55 SE is an exceptional cartridge, extremely accurate, light recoil and superb penetration. One of my sons has killed many whitetail deer with a model 1896. The cartridge is easy to reload and there is a wide choice of 6.5mm bullets. I know Federal makes factory ammo and there are probably others too. You can probably get ammo even cheaper if you shop online.

The Swedes never used corrosive ammo so the bore should be in fairly good shape. If it has the original disk on the stock, that will tell you the condition of the bore.

I think any unaltered Swede Mauser in the $200+ range is a good buy and a good investment.


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## Longshot

Thanks for the photos mr.trooper. Nice looking rig. I have seen a few at the gun shows, but none for a good price yet.


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## rabidsquirrel

I purchased a model 96 swedish mauser approx. 3yrs ago . It has performed above and beyond ... I was amazed at the penetration with the first whittail I harvested after purchasing the rifle . I have shot many a different rifles in my short 40 yrs . 22, 30/30, 30-06, 270, 7mm, 700mag, 5.56, 7.62, and the dreaded 8mm . (if you've shot one you know : ) for size ( mine had been chopped down a bit by previous owner to accomodate use on a 4 wheeler) (professional well done job), accuracy ( after a day @ the range sighting) is deadly accurate tested so far up to 400m with scope. and packs a huge punch into a low recoil round . I've never had to shoot anythng twice... I paid $150 for mine at a gun show. Even though its been modified it still ranks as probably one of the top two rifles I've ever owned.. plan on passing rifle to my kids...


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## alleyyooper

Your other picture had been moved.

The 6.5x55 is very simular to the 260 Remington round. Both are well liked by many shooter/gun lovers.
I feel a gun is a life time afair so when I buy one it is because I like it. I then will keep it forever.

Your call

 Al


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## snowslayer

If I were you i would buy the swede. they are awsome guns. they shoot straight. they are one of the best shooting military rifles made in my opinion


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## 8x56mn

The 6.5 has killed many of elephants. I have a 6.5 mannlicher Shoenaur, best shooting little rifle. Took it to Africa.


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## Yankeebillie

the 6.5 is a great shooter i have one and love it


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## omegax

Swedes are GREAT. 6.5 Swede is grossly under-rated. The Lapps have been using them to kill moose for a long time. I'd say you can pull off killing just about anything with it. They were ahead of their time on the 6.5mm bullet.

I WISH I'd run into a Swede for a decent price when I had money to burn. It's not like they're making any more of them. Just keep it in stock condition or at least keep your modifications reversible. If you absolutely must put a scope on it, find a mount that doesn't require modifying the gun. I hate to see something that I'd like to collect turned into just another sporter (I'm not a snob or against sporters. I'm just against turning nice rifles into hack-jobs... hack up crappy examples 'til your heart's content).

Man... now I want a Swede! I'd like to see how it stacks up with my favorite mil-surp: the K-31 Swiss.


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## BKeith

The only reason the 6.5x55 is similar to the 260, all the load data keeps the 6.5 at about 45,000 psi and the 260's is close to 60,000. They do this because there are so many of those old swiss rifles around and they are scared to bump the pressure data up because of their age. In a good action with a good barrel, the 6.5x55 will out class the 260 in every way.

As for the 6.5 bullet, it is one kick**s bullet. Very accurate in a good barrel and holds it velocity very well down range


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## People

I second hacking poor examples only. I had the chance to buy a k98 once and I mean it was sweet. Until they did horrible things to it. When they were selling it they tried to tell me it was a kick butt example of a k98. They did have the parts they cut off but why? I offered him 50 bucks and he could keep the scope. Wow that was funny how they reacted to it. I could not resist telling him how he literally turned a rifle that was worth several thousand bucks to a piece of junk. He had an early model of a K98 with all milled parts and from a quick look it was either all original or one hell of a knock off. I did not see any parts that looked out of place.

With that being said the 6.5 is a very good round. I know I would not hesitate on buying one.

Chuck Norris began selling the Total Gym as an ill-fated attempt to make his day-to-day opponents less laughably pathetic.


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## texcl

I have owned several of the M96 swedish mausers and also a M41B which is the sniper version, they will all shoot MOA or better as long the bore is in excellent shape, you need to check the before dropping any money on any rifle.


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## Scooter

Both the rifle and the caliber are top notch! I am a huge 6.5 fan to begin with having owned and shot several variations of the different 6.5's including the 6.5x47 to the .264WM. I love them all little recoil great accuracy and killing machines. But keep in mind if reload you will be best off with the heavy for caliber bullets in your military mauser.


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