tional bore break-in to obviate fouling. I wanted to be sure the rifle had everything going for it, with all the time and effort put into it thus far.
Here are the two properly mounted Leupold scope bases on a Model 96 Swedish Mauser rifle. Note the added through-bolt in the rear base for the use of special cap screws to attach and adjust the rear scope rings.
The final stage in the precision scope mounting process involves the use of Brownell’s Scope Alignment Rods. The Leupold rings check out perfectly on the Model 96 Swedish Mauser.
Shown here are twenty-one 6.5mm bullets, few of which were available not so long ago. Among these are some of the finest big-game, target and varmint bullets made. All of these bullets fared well in the custom sporterized 6.5- 55mm Model 96 Swedish Mauser rifle.
I pretty much followed the Sierra, Hornady, Nosler and Hodgdon manuals, and kept things quite mellow, but not sissy loads either. With some measure of caution, I did not exceed 45,000 psi as is suggested in both the Speer and Sierra reloading manuals. Speer mentioned the Model 94 Swedish Mauser here, but Sierra included the Swedish Model 96 as well in this caveat. I had noted fairly flat primers with the PMC 139-grain fac- tory load, so didn’t push things. Some of my first loads displayed remarkable accuracy, even as I was lapping the bore and breaking it in. I was very encour- aged. I was particularly interested in the lighter varmint bullet performance. In my other aforementioned 6.5mm car- tridges, Hornady’s 95-grain V-Max – a well-made, polymer-tipped, boat-tail bullet – shot fantastic groups. I was able to generate some pretty high velocities with the 6.5-284 and 6.5-06, as well as my 6.5x42 NEJ cartridge. The 6.5mmx55 Swedish Mauser loads quite closely to the 260 Remington. But as I said earlier, decent velocity along with good accuracy was my goal, and this goal was reached. Sub minute-of-angle accuracy was in the realm with most of the bullets shown here, with a few of the match bullets by Berger, Nosler, Lapua, Hornady and Sierra approaching the half-minute ac- curacy level. The 95-grain Hornady V- Max was also in this category. As a most excellent varmint bullet I have included in Table I for comparison, the Hornady 95-grain V-Max bullet, along with several of the 6.5mm cartridges, loads taken from the Hornady 8th Edition Reloading Manual. As I stop to review the remark- able performance from this old rifle and cartridge developed 116 years ago, I see a rifle and cartridge transformed into a firearm that would compete with many modern-day cartridges and rifles.
This picture shows completion of the barreled action work on the Model 96 Swedish Mauser. The rear sight sleeve has been turned down and stamped with the caliber designation, the scope is solidly mounted and the Timney trigger installed. Note how nicely the trigger shoe is fitted rearward in the loop where a gloved finger can enter freely.
Page 112 Spring 2013
CONTACTS Sightron Inc.
100 Jeffery Way, Suite A Youngsville, NC 27596 (919) 562-3000
Timney Triggers 3940 W. Clarendon Phoenix, AZ 85019 (866) 4-TIMNEY
Leupold & Stevens Inc. PO Box 688
14400 NW Greenbrier Pkwy Beaverton, OR 97075 (503) 526-1475
www.leupold.com
Birchwood Casey 7900 Fuller Road Eden Prairie, MN 55344 (800) 328-6156
www.birchwoodcasey.com Brownells
200 So. Front Street Montezuma, IA 50171 (800) 741-0015
www.brownells.com
Redding Reloading Equip. 1089 Starr Road Cortland, NY 13045 (607) 753-3331
www.redding-reloading.com
Hornady Mfg. Co. Box 1848
Grand Island, NE 68802 (800) 338-3220
www.hornady.com
Sierra Bullets Inc. PO Box 818
Sedalia, MO 65302 (800) 223-8799
www.sierrabullets.com
Nosler Bullets Inc. PO Box 671 Bend, OR 97709 (503) 382-3921
www.nosler.com
Berger Bullets 4275 N. Palm St. Fullerton, CA 92835 (714) 447-5456
www.bergerbullets.com
Barnes Bullets PO Box 215
American Fork, UT 84003 (800) 574-9200
www.barnesbullets.com
Speer Bullets Box 856
Lewiston, ID 83501 (800) 627-3640
www.speer-bullets.com Lapua
Nammo, Inc.
123 Winchester Drive Sedalia, MO 65301 (660) 826-3232
www.lapua.com
PMC Ammunition Eldorado Cartridge Corp. PO Box 62508
12801 U.S. Hwy 95 S. Boulder City, NV 89005
www.pmcammo.com
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