The stock disk shows bore diameter (6,46 thru 6,59) and condition (1, 2 or 3 or no stamp, no stamp being the best and 1 being the next best, etc.) and compensation for the type of bullet being used. Might do a quick search. I'm sure this subject has been well covered by several people. Probably with photos. Hope this helps. How often the tags were updated would depend on many factors. Length of time could be fairly short if the rifle was used a lot, very long if it saw little use. If it was in the boonies, it might not see much attention.

 

What he said and see this site: Stock Discs for 1894 & 1896 Swedish Mausers

Also, condition disc are nice but don’t necessarily truth them…they can have easily been swapped out by previous owners.

 

Don't go by whatever the stock disc indicates alone. Blank discs and the triangular stamp are available on the internet. Inspect the bore visually, from the breech as well as the muzzle.

 

Thanks Guys! I tried a search and had hundreds of results but couldn't find any pictures. The picture of the disk is great!
I surmise that if the arrow is over the bore diameter 6.51, like on this disk, that is the diameter. If is over the 0 it would be 6.50. If over the outside 9, it would be 6.59 and about worn out.
Would it be likely that the rifle was inspected before it was put into storage, and get a new disk? I know these measurements can't be relied upon, but short of measuring bores, it is probably better than nothing. Especially if you can believe the disk is as imported.
Thanks again

 

If it's over the 9 it means 6.49 or probably a new barrel. Anything at 6.56 or more meant time for the armorers to replace the barrel.

 

The inside 9 6.49, and the outside 9 6.59. So if anything over 6.56 will get a barrel replacement, we won't see any disks stamped this way? At least it wouldn't seem like a new disk with grading would be made for a rifle that is in the rebuild pile. Possibly even remove the old disk, leaving an empty hole when going in for a new barrel?

Thanks

 

When the bore wear, or other inspection criteria, reached unserviceable, the stock disc was removed and red sealing wax poured into the cavity, to make it conspicuous that the rifle was to be removed from service and sent to a depot for overhaul.

 

That red sealing wax, I haven't heard of before, but makes perfect sense that a rifle would be identified to need a rebuild without just removing the disk. I've seen rifles without disks, and wondered why it would be removed. I wouldn't think the importer would want an empty spot where the disk should be. I wouldn't think a new owner would remove a disk either, but I could see where someone would want to fill the hole with a new one, which of course would be inaccurate, and after passing through a few hands, some new owner might think it was original.

 

AG-43 Ljungman carbine

Never heard of a Ljungman AG-43 carbine.Is this one?Are they rare?

www.gunboards.com

Scroll to "swede's" post #25.
Plugging the depression would make the rifle conspicuous and presumably prevent someone from placing a new disc , either by mistake or intention.
We have seen other Swedish rifles that have the stock routed for a disc but no disc. These were usually commercially sold rifles for FSR - the Swedish Volunteer Shooters' Organization - so they were not in military service.

 

Another way to gauge the bore diameter is with a round in the muzzle . Better than nothing . Here is a photo of a m/41 military round ( 139 grain & '76 date ) inserted into the muzzle until it stops . There is about a .350" gap between the case mouth & muzzle of the barrel . This is a new m/96 barrel from SAMCO in the late '90's and marked "0" for bore size . I have bore gauges and it is a 6.50 m/m bore . That will give you some point to look at to evaluate a rifle bore . If the case touches the muzzle , it would be scrap for sure . It is RARE to see a Swedish Mauser barrel that is badly worn . The Swedes kept their rifle barrels in top condition !!!!!!!!!!

 

I'm sure others have mentioned this already, but these stock discs have been pulled off and reproduced and stuck back on etc that there's no telling if one is original to the rifle anymore bar very specific circumstances. for example, sometimes if you have a lacquered on range plate on your buttstock and the lacquer is also on the stock disc, then you know that the stock disc is original at least up to the point the arsenal lacquered on the range plate.

 

Lacquered stocks? That is not an original finish for a Swedish Mauser. If you come across a Swedish Mauser with a lacquered over stock disc, it is a bubba.

The only legitimate lacquered stocks were Soviet Mosin Nagants and Swiss K31's with beech stocks. The Finns dabbled with lacquer briefly with the M28 rifle.

Retraction; I reread "Jareds06" post again and see he is referring only to a decal range label, and not the entire stock.

 

Lacquered stocks? That is not an original finish for a Swedish Mauser. If you come across a Swedish Mauser with a lacquered over stock disc, it is a bubba.

The only legitimate lacquered stocks were Soviet Mosin Nagants and Swiss K31's with beech stocks. The Finns dabbled with lacquer briefly with the M28 rifle.

Retraction; I reread "Jareds06" post again and see he is referring only to a decal range label, and not the entire stock.

I think he is talking about like this shown below. Where a clear coating was applied to hold on a range decal (and sometimes overlaps a disc).

Edit: I see the retraction but left up for others that are unfamiliar with that practice.

 

"Stewbaby": I agree we should keep your pic and these two posts for the benefit of those not familiar with the Swedish Mauser. My first was a bubba'd Husqvarna that had been Minwaxed!

 

On the subject of stock discs, I found this 1898 M96 sold on the Liberty Tree collectors website:

Looks like an elm stock. Since the rifle is dated 1898, I am guessing that at some point it was overhauled and had the stock replaced. (Note the 90 deg angle at the heel of the butt.) Then when the stock was routed for a disc, the wood split around the bit. So a "patch" inlay was used to repair it. (This is my conjecture; nothing said about this on the website.) The grain does not match, but the precision of the repair is outstanding.

 

That disk looks a bit different. Is it newer or older? How would you read it? Did the bore diameter change any from when the rifles were 1st produced to the new replacement barrels? Was there a sweet spot that was discovered where a barrel was likely to preform it's best? I ask this because there is quite a wide variation in barrel sizes on the disk.
Thanks

 

6.56 m/m was considered in need of arsenal replacement . Early new barrels were 6.49 m/m and once HVA took over small arms production , they made new barrels 6.51 m/m . I do not recall ever seeing a bore disc marked higher than 6.53 m/m . Of course , I have not seen every Swedish Mauser with a bore disc . Maybe HVA found the sweet spot , but I have never heard about it ??????

There were at least two versions of the bore disc . See the first two disc on the Dutchman's website .

Stock Discs for 1894 & 1896 Swedish Mausers

 

I dug out my M96 rifles to look at the disks and found 2 with 2 screws. One of then had a numbered sticker near the heel, with the same number on a sticker on a rubber attachment slipped over the bolt knob. The disk on this rifle had: 3/IK2, and a rifle number below that. I haven't seen a rifle numbered like that in pictures, or with a disk like that either. Is it odd?
The other 2 screw disk was very much like the disk with the L and 62a, but mine is 62b. I also found a 1920 with a SA mark, I hadn't noticed that before. I didn't know they had SA marked M96's. Also came across a 1898 date, which I think is good for being an antique. I also have one with a 1935 date so that is a replacement barrel? I hope I didn't get too far off topic.
Thanks

 

We need photos so we know what you are talking about !!!!!!!!!!!! If the receiver date is 1935 , it is most likely the replacement . It all depends on the serial number . Yes , there were over 80,xxx Swedish Mausers sold to Finland . Most were repurchased after the war by Sweden . Not all "SA" marked . Only a small percentage judging by the scarcity of "SA" marked receivers in the USA .

 

I have the serial number wrote down as 97506 for the 1935 it is all matching except cleaning rod. I put everything back away. What pictures would like to see, or need to see, I will get it back out. I knew I should have taken pictures, especially of that black rubber tag on the bolt, but still can. At 1st I thought it was a importers marking, but realize that is not unlikely.
The SA mark looked typical. The rifle has basically been in one place since it was imported, so I'm sure it is not faked. Do you need pictures of the disks?
Thanks

 

Overall, both sides. Closeups of the receiver date, serial number and inspector's initials, rear sight, bolt, any other details you might find interesting would be a good start.

 

I think I have been confusing, because I'm talking about 4 different rifles. 1) The 1920 is SA marked. 2)The 1935 is just a 1935 dated matching M96, just hadn't seen one anywhere with this late of date.
3) & 4)These are two more rifles with the two screw Disks in them. I don't remember the dates on those two, but one of them had a rubber tag with the number 81 slid over the bolt knob, and a 81 sticker near the heel on the stock, I thought that might be unusual.
I was afraid that talking about 4 rifles would be confusing, because what I'm typing and what I'm thinking aren't always clear, but seem clear to me at the time(late night).
I dug my M96 rifles out to see what disks were on them, and discovered rifles 1&2 were different. I was pleased to find an SA marked rifle. The fact that the Finns didn't start marking their rifles [SA] until 1942, and that most weren't marked until after the war, and into the 50's, probably explains why the 80K bought and sold back to Sweden, don't show an [SA]. Since the [SA] is a property stamp of the Finnish Army, the Finns probably knew the 80k were not going to remain their property, and why take the time to mark them, especially when they had so many Mosin's and others to mark, including Civil Guard rifles.
I have put all the rifles back away, and when I get them out again(soon). I will start a separate threads on 1) & 2) with pictures.
On the two with the two screw disks, I will take pictures of the disks, and post here. They are better related to this thread, and I was curious where they served, and if there is any significance with the #81 tags on one of them.
Thanks
Thanks

 

The serial # 97506 would be for a 1901 dated m/96 rifle . So , yours is a replacement receiver . Most likely it has a thumb cutout for loading stripper clips . There were some made without the cutout in 1935 for 89 fm23/36 target rifles with serial #7401 to #7489 .

 

I'm certain it has the cutout. Is it fairly unusual for a receiver to be a replacement? My notes on the disk say it is a 6.51 with both 2 & 3 arrowed on condition. So the condition was downgraded. My take on this would be they re-used the barrel, when the receiver was replaced, or shot the new barrel quite a bit after.
Thanks

 

Replacement receivers are fairly common . What % is unknown ? When receivers failed specs , all the remaining parts that were useable had the original numbers , so only the receiver needed replacing & numbered to match . The barrel would probably be replaced as well . The Swedish bore grading was very high and even a #3 will shoot well . You just have to try it out .

 

The sticker near the heel is likely the date it was last rearsenaled and placed in storage. I leave them on as part of the provenance.

 

Here are pictures of the rifle with the older type stock disk and the 81 labeled stock and bolt knob. So you guys think the 81 is short for 1981? It seems to me it might mean something else, because if the rifle went in for a refurb in 1981, wouldn't the old disk be removed and the new style attached? What the stock disk says about the rifles history is very interesting to me. Much more so than barrel wear.
Thanks