Aim low is pretty much rule of thumb for me on sights set for non-spitzer ammo or sights that start at a few hundred meters.

At 50 yards at my range I have quite a few guns I'm aiming nearly 8-10 inches below the target to get it to hit where I want it to.

 

You could use Hornady's 160 grain round nose bullet, if you reload. Unmodified carbines use it (I have one) and it enhances accurcy. The rifles originally used it, but were modified for the spitzer in the '30's. I believe they were somehow modified for the later bullet, and I don't know how, but maybe yours escaped the modification.

 

After test firing many different loads through 14 different Swedes , scoring 1000's of targets at my clubs military rifle matches where many people used Swedes , I have found the 160 rn to be about the worst for accuracy . But what is called accurate depends on the shooter . My wife only shot her M-38 in the matches and used a 107 boattail spitzer bullet and was good for 2 1 ich or less 5-shot groups at 100 yards . The only way the rifles were modified was the sight .

 

Look at the base of the front sight and the blade itself. There should be a number stamped on both, and they should match, e.g. -1, +2, etc. To get a POI down to a 100 yd target with M91/40 ammunition, with a 140 gr bullet, look for a front sight blade that is 2 higher. For example, if the number stamped on the blade is -1, then a +1 blade will do the job.

 

Or you could put a dab of epoxy on the front sight blade and then trim to zero to what load you want to shoot . Unless you use the original ammo , you are not going to get anything to match up with the original sight at all distances .

 

These rifles are 100+ years old and have been through a few shooters, or MORE, and a few different front sights, before we acquire them. I doubt the OPs rifle will shoot to the sight settings with 140 or 160gr bullets. Take it to the range, target it and go from there.

I am frankly surprised when I get a milsurp that prints bullets to POI @ 500 meters with the sight on 5”. And SO HAPPY!

 

I was talking about the total ballistic curve through the whole sight setting , as no US made bullet will have the same BC as the original bullet that the sights were calibrated for . Age does not change the calibration .

 

Just to make sure we are on the same page here... When you say, "the old sights", do you mean original V-notch rear and pyramid front? If that's the case, you just got a true Unicorn. Finding any m96 rifle with unmodified matching sights is next to impossible, especially here, in the US... And finding an all-original factory matching rifle with Vee sights is even harder than that. I know, it's a long shot, considering that you've mentioned the range plate, but still.... That's my Holy Grail of all Swedish rifles, and I haven't even seen one in the wild as of yet...

 

Just to make sure we are on the same page here... When you say, "the old sights", do you mean original V-notch rear and pyramid front?

Kradem, Can you post a picture of the sights? I assume we are talking about the common sights found on these rifles, but Watson raises a great question

 

if your rifle is shooting high with the issue front sight swedish zero was i believe 300 meters) and the rear sight is down to it's lowest setting, the easiest way to correct this is to buy one of the "tall front sights" listed on ebay or from sarco and then trim it down so that your rifle now shoots to point of aim for you at whatever distance you zero at with your chosen ammo. cost is less than $20 and you retain the original front sight.

 

I know that this thread should be on the Swedish subforum, but most people here are familiar with the swede Mausers. If you ever come across an m96 with original unaltered sights, don't even think about "improving" anything. There are only a few rifles like that floating around, mostly in hands of serious collectors or someone who simply doesn't know. Even on the Swedish forum there are only a couple of guys claim to have one, though I haven't seen a photo posted yet. So, my point here is, just be aware that such an animal does exist albeit extremely rare, even in Sweden. Those guys were so anal about filing their sights into the U-notch, only a few rifles escaped the conversion. It was done as an arsenal program in the early '40s as I recall. They even had a special jig devised for that. Whenever you come across an m96 long rifle, always check, just in case....

 

Hi. I have a couple old ones, uncleaned, in cosmo. Can you give an expanded description, of what an..."original rear site" looks like?

 

"It has a great barrel and has the shooter's guide plate for newer ammo."...
The OP reported that his M96 has the sight range correction plate, so its sights are the "updated" version with a semicircular rear notch and flat parallel sided front blade. Unless, of course, someone retrograded the update to the original "Kimme und Korn" V-notch and barley corn sights.

Suggestion: with a Swiss needle file, deepen the semicircular notch to form a "U." Do not widen the notch; just make it deeper.

 

You know, funny you mentioned that, I remember long time ago someone posted an article in Swedish about some guys in the army not being satisfied with the conversion, so some did retrofit their rifles back to the old sights for the competition/target shooting. I sort of see their point. While the U-notch and flat top front is easier and more combat friendly, you can get really precise with that barley corn provided that the light condition is perfect. Like I said, I had one with U-notch rear and Chilean barley front and really liked that combo... Either way, always check if the number on the rear sight is original matching, just in case...

 

As I recall those were not regular soldiers but rather competition shooters, nobody would let some grunt start switching sights around. The whole article was in Swedish language, but a Swedish GB member was kind enough to translate it for us. Also, it does depend on how deep the V-notch is. Take the m94 carbine for example, it's awful, the '95 Chilean is almost as bad, way too shallow. Now, while I have not seen an all-original matching m96 with V-notch in the wild, long time ago, at a gun store, I did hold a sporter in my hands that still had the original sights intact. The front was original barley corn, and the rear Vee was matching to the rifle. I did spend short time studying what was left of the poor thing and even took some pictures of the sights for the future reference. Those photos are long gone unfortunately, but if I ever see one again (highly unlikely), I'll know exactly what to look for. Thinking back, I should've bought the dang thing, it even still had half of the original stock, but unrestorable, tapped for the scope, welded bolt, all the usual Bubba tricks... Back then, I knew that was rare, just didn't realize how rare... Anyway, those sights provided a very nice picture, so I can see why some target shooters would prefer them.