[Claven2]

I got this unit disc on an M96 I acquired recently. 1902 C.G. made rifle with early matching swept buttplate walnut stock. Rifle is all matching too, doesn't appear to have any renumbers. Well worn rifle.

It does have the range plate and the muzzle IS threaded for the blank firing adaptor. There is a doweled repair where the toe of the stock sheared off, but was glued and doweled back together - looks like a REALLY old repair. No crown cartouches on the wrist.

Is it feasible it would have a unit disc of this type, or has a bore disc definitely been replaced with an early rolling block disc?

 

[swede]

Unit Disc ?

Anythng is possible , but I would guess that someone added the rolling block disc . Many Swedish mausers came into the USA & Canada without any type of brass disc . That may be the case with your rifle and a collector has added what ever type disc that he could find . If you remove the disc & there is a center screw hole , that would indicate to me that your stock once had a bore disc . Not likely that any unit disc would have been attached after a bore disc . The wood auger has a center point which you can see in the center of the disc cutout , but it is not deep enough for a screw . So , you should be able to tell the differance .

 

[Claven2]

Well, it doesn't really look like there's ever been a center screw. Just a pilot ***** form the drill.

But I had thought all M96 unit disks were of the later type, ie:

1
34

12345

Is it even possible to have the earlier type on an M96???

 

[swede]

RB disc ?

The threaded muzzle was not used until the 1950's , so it is highly unlikely that a rolling block disc would remain attached or be added to your stock at that time . I have a Husqvarna M-38 with a unit disc , so it is possible that your rifle had a unit disc & threaded muzzle at the same time . From what I have seen , a RB disc would not be correct on your rifle . It does not fit the time period , but I have not seen every Swedish mauser . You will have to decide what you want to believe .

 

[Dutchman]

I concur, its a rolling block disc.

As well, a round dowel toe repair isn't likely to be Swedish, IMO. I could be wrong but we don't see this type of repair. Post some photos of the repair so we can have a looksee, if you would.

Dutchman

 

[Claven2]

I'll try to get some pics posted, but one of the "dowels" was a bit loose when I got the rifle, so I was able to remove it, clean it and re-glue it in place. The "Dowels" are really just round wood plugs with slot-head screws beneath them. The screws are the really old looking type that you can't find at hardware stores anymore and were well patinated. I'm satisfied it is a very old repair. When the plug was out, I did notice what looked like some old type of wood putty or something similar in the screw slots. It also looked really old and crumbly.

 

[Claven2]

Quick update on the stock disc, I took a screw out of another stock disc on an M38 and was able to thread it into the center mark on the M96's disc inlet, so I'm satisfied it is not the correct disc. I'm going to replace it with an early pattern spare bore disk I have.

 

[swede]

Toe Repair .

I have several examples of Swedish mausers with doweled toe repairs . One carbine has 2 dowels where the stock is split from the buttplate screw ( one 1/2 inch dowel & one 1/4 inch dowel ) . All appear to be Swedish arsenal repairs , in my opinion . No dowels have been removed , so I do not know if there are screws underneath the dowels . The others are single dowels only . The wood finish leads me to believe it is an old arsenal repair . I do not see any wood filler here .

 

[Claven2]

ok, here are some pics.

 

[Dutchman]

Didn't notice that you're in Canada.

Don't know why this is but I've noticed different characteristics of military surplus guns in Canada as opposed to U.S. specimens. Could be that they've been in Canada longer than we've had some types in the U.S. Don't know why but I try and pay attention if something comes up and its from Canada. Non-original put-together m/41 and m/41b sniper rifles or scopes and bases are an example of this. In years past the differences in Swedish unit discs wasn't known. The only time it gets more confusing is the mid-1890s when both 1895 Mauser Oberndorf carbines and m/1867-89 rolling blocks were in use at the same time. But unit discs passed out of normal use at some point around WW2 though I'm sure there are exceptions to that. If you check the links note at the top of the forum and visit Mats' Weapon page he has a fantastic page on disc interpretation that covers this type of disc. This is why we're sure of it's origin.


Dutchman <with many Canada-English cousins in Canada>

 

[Dutchman]

I have several examples of Swedish mausers with doweled toe repairs .

We started a thread once on Swedish military rifle stock repairs but I don't know what happened to it. This topic by itself would make a splendid subject for a photo study, ja ja?

I still have quite a few loose stocks but few, if any of them, have repairs. Only one beech stock with a knot patched with a square piece of wood that's on the website on the beech page.


Dutchman

 

[swede]

Toe Repair ?

I would have find which of my guns has the toe repairs & look for sure , but it seems to me that the dowels were made of a similar matching wood type & centered to the butt stock . Not offset or light colored like the typical pine wood dowels seen in American hardware stores . Mine are only cracked , not seperated at the buttplate screw like yours . Perhaps I can use a stud finder to see if there are metal screws under these dowels . My guess would be " NO " . My thought is that your repair is NOT a Swede arsenal repair . Then again , I have not seen every Swedish stock repair . You can make your own opinion .

 

[Dutchman]

I've done a couple toe repairs just like this except I use 3/8" hardwood dowel and no screw. I drill a hole and tap in a glue covered dowel and finish off the dowel ends after it all sets up with clamps. That way the solid 3/8" cross section of a maple dowel is what holds the repair and not a screw that can loosen up or rust and shrink or otherwise become loose.

This is why I wanted to get more into this the last time we got into stock repairs. Its a very interesting area to study. (if you have no life otherwise

Dutchman

 

[Claven2]

Well, for starters, the repairs in my stock are really not dowels. More like patches. They are made of a similar walnut and the end grain is not exposed. The patches' grain runs with the stock grain. Also, the break is not at the buttplate screw.

The buttplate screw is above the crack and seems to have had no effect on the toe break.

Finally, when I got this gun, the owner claimed he had gotten it from the importer (in the 1980's) and the repair was already like this. Though, I suppose some private owner in Sweden could have repaired it? I kinda doubt it though - the rifle really shows service use. Quite alot of service use, in fact. It only has maybe 30% blueing left.

 

[Dutchman]

It could've come from Sweden that way. I doubt it came from military stores, though. If I had to guess I'd say it was a shooting club rifle. Most of the rifles first imported were from military stores and shooting clubs. The private owned rifles have come much later, as those coming in small numbers now. If we could examine the whole rifle we might find characteristics typical with what I'm saying. Maybe not but we can't tell without looking at it from stem to stern, so to speak.

Dutchman

 

[Claven2]

I'll post better pics in the near future, but honestly this is FAR from my first Swedish Mauser. With the exception that it's an early "swept" buttplate model and it has the toe repair, it's otherwise 100% identical to any other matching M96. No other characteristics to differentiate it, I'm afraid.

It is a well used and worn rifle though. The wood even has bullet point nicks from where people tapped their charger clips before using them.

One thing that IS different though, is that this rifle retains an earlier pattern bolt with only the one small gas escape hole. All my other Swedes have a second large gas escape hole on the bolt body.

 

[swede]

Your bullet point marks were probably made when the firing pin was disassembled . I have seen this before . The recruit probably spent many hours on KP duty for that offense .

You will find Swede bolts with one , two or three vent holes . Some older bolts were updated with an additional vent hole or possibly two . Others were not updated .

 

[capnduane]

RB unit disc

Claven2, sure would like to work a deal with you for that unit disc, would look great in the empty hole in my 1870 carbine!