rechamber m96/38 6.5 to 6.5/284

[deadkelly]

iam going to recrown the muzzle and dock off a wee bit from the
chamber end of my barrel,then rechamber it to try and regain some lost accuracy.it still shoots fine for hunting medium sized game though.(3 in @ 100 meters) but my rifle was the one that made most of my friends buy 6.5's now i can out shoot mine useing theres,thats just not cricket.and last night i came across
the case dimensions for the 6.5-284 .what iam wondering is can the sweedish action take it,is the mag long enough ,will the .010
bigger rim of the sweed mater(as i know people rechamber to 6.5x57)iam not so much fussed about extra fps although if it costs the same why not thanks

[Brithunter]

The Swedish mauser will not take the pressures of the 6.5-284. The action was designed for a cartridge producing pressures of around 46,000 CUP the 6.5-284 is a modern hig intensity round and not a good idea especially as the material around the small barrel shank will be made thinner due to the larger case diameter.

Why not look out one of the new surplus Swedish barrels and fit that?

[deadkelly]

Originally posted by Brithunter
The Swedish mauser will not take the pressures of the 6.5-284. The action was designed for a cartridge producing pressures of around 46,000 CUP the 6.5-284 is a modern hig intensity round and not a good idea especially as the material around the small barrel shank will be made thinner due to the larger case diameter.

Why not look out one of the new surplus Swedish barrels and fit that?

thanks for the reply.those sweedish barrels
have seemed too have dryed up down here in australia.i have been after one for a while,a friend of a friend has one and i have been trying for over a year to get my hands on it.my local gunsmith said for he'll recrown slightly dock both ends and rechamber it for the same money old mate wanted for his sweed
barrel.i go to all the gun shows and thats what iam allways looking for but so is everybody else,and now our gun laws are so tough on importing gun bits and parts.and the price of a new barrel and chamber job is the same as some of the new cheaper
rifles oh well thanks again cya

[deadkelly]

i do have a 31 lb mainspring ,and just read that its quite common for rifles accuracy to go right out the window,and my cocking piece has had some metal removed for the low safety,so its lighter and stikeing harder.so i'll put my old mainspring back in and see what happens ,hopefully i won't need to rechamber it after all . by all.

[Rapier]

Here we are again..... mate. I have built over a dozen Swedes. If your military barrel is OK, you do not need a 6.5 anything rechamber job. The 6.5x55 will get you near the performance of the 6.5x06 and the 6.5x284.

You should seperate the BS from the facts regarding the 94, 96 and 38. PO Ackley in his books rated the Swede as the very best 95 style action for conversion. Many Swedes have been converted to 22-250s without ill effect. As a matter of fact there was a smith in Canada in the 1960s that specalized in the 22-250 conversion. Not that I reccomend the conversion, but you should be aware of the 65K potential.

In the old Hogdon reloading manual it lists loads with a stock 96 that produce 3,000 fps with a 140, using H-4831. The business about the folks not knowing pressures 40 years ago is hog wash. Thruth is politics had not entered SAMI at the time. Today SAMI reduces a spec so a new cartridge can be introduced to out perform an old case. I have used to old manuals for years and never had a blow up or felt my life was in danger, hell, I am old too, we grew old together.

The Swedes said their rifles were made with a special steel and would take high pressures, hype or no, they did furnish the steel for the mfg of their guns outside the country, most notably by German factories.

With an 85 grain bullet you can easily attain 3,500 fps. The bullet weights between 85 and 140 will do a very good job as well. The accuracy you should be looking for is right at .5 inches with the military barrel after it is recrowned and free floated. Replace the trigger with a decent drop in, like a Timney.

The rifle pictured is my personal 96 that has a re-shaped military barrel. It shoots sub .5 inch groups, with the loads as noted and has done so for about 20 years. The Swede is a fine little rifle.

If you could get it, and need it, I would send you one of the three mdl 38 barrels I have, brand new in the white.
Ed

[deadkelly]

my m38 has timmney trigger floated barrel synthetic stock thats had steel pilars made for the action screws,a wolf heavy main spring (that i'll take out)and timmney low saftey.it used to shoot
1 moa before i had the barrel floated pilars and mainspring, saftey, and trigger added that was all done at once.i have allways had a 2-7x32 leupold scope in one piece mounts.i have shot it for a while i have been busy and won't shoot it for at leased a month or so.but iam taking out the mainspring next time
and putting the old one in...i would love one of those m38 barrels
or maybe 2 if you would part with them,although theres a bit of paper work involved from both ends??? i rang my local gunshop this afternoon he said i can do it but its a bit of stuffing around??
i'll speak to him again tomorrow. the last load i was using was
39 gn of AR 2208 with a tipan 120 gn or rem 120 core lokt
@2735fps on my crony.AR 2208 is similar to imr 4064. but i found
the core lokt bullets just pass right through like a fmj even at very close range 30-40 yards.(thats on goats and pigs) they all
fell very dead though on the spot kills.most ammo thats loaded comes in 140gn(factory)i think there to heavy for our medium game.my friends only shoot factory ammo cause they have read about the m96/38 action being weak and think my reloads sounds
to sharp ,by what you said earlyer they seem very mild..ok thanks again mate and would love those barrels cya.

[Rapier]

You struck upon the guideline accuracy I use to determine if a gun is a candidate for conversion, a 1 inch group. Sounds like you have a good conversion. Thought about this some more, I guess I have built over three dozen Swedes.

I have a step by step, how to, article prepared for another site on the conversion process with photos. I have not figured out how to post the photos into the article as yet. The article is in Word format.

In the US, gun parts, such as a barrel, are treated about the same as a length of plumbing pipe. So it is no problem for me to ship. I suspect that you might need an act of the government to get the pipe in hand.

One thing to note about the Swede is the collared firing pin and the gas ports on the bolt body and on the right side of the front bridge/ring of the action. These are safety features and constitute a very real difference from other 95 style actions.

Of course, the Swede collectors cry when they see a "chopped" Swede, but,,, if God did not want them converted he would not have made the so good and so cheap...

If you can receive the barrel, let me know by PM with address, etc.

By the by, the Swedes were very picky, with mfg specs, I have replaced about a half dozen barrels and have yet to need to re-chamber a barrel or reset the barrel, bolt and action fit unless someone fooled with the thing. You can almost always just screw in a new barrel and it headspaces right up.

Now getting the old barrel off can be a real chore and does require a front bridge action wrench, not a ways wrench. Use a ways wrench and you will twist the action, sure as shooting. They must have employed Swen the terriable as a barrel tightner.
Ed

[deadkelly]

i just had a busy few days ,had our american civil war 2 day week
end as well as a gun show that was a 2hr drive each way,ok speaking to some 6.5 fans at the show they told me to pack my forend (cause there barrels were made to be in contact with the stock) and if it shoots better bed it .now the smith that worked on my rifle said it didn't need beding ,and because the forend is hollow it would need heaps of filling ?but it used to shoot realy well probably better than me... like one of the blokes said a barrel
don't just give up the goast over night,and it wouldn't be the new
trigger or saftey. he says he can't see the mainspring being the
problem ether ,most people pick on the stock or action screws or maybe the pillars ? well i guess i have a few things to try then.
i still would like a barrel it should be no problem if i do the right paper work i'll get back about that one...i have the new bertram
bullet co catalogue and seen some of his stock ,its good to see somebody taking on the realy big and hard to find cases and bullets bloody good stuff ,his email is bbertram@bigpond.com
well its past my bed time till next time cya folks.