Got a new Husquavarna

[SidecarFlip]

Just bought a new in the box Husquavarna (not chain saw...lol) chambered 762x54 from the 60's, never fired, from an estate, still had the preservative in the bore.

What a beautiful rifle and I hear they shoot very well, too bad the trigger takes Charles Atlas to pull it, but thats fixable. Just ordered a Huber ball bearing 2 stage trigger for it and a Vortex Diamondback 4-16 scope. Got in touch will Talley, getting a set of one piece Mauser (it's a Mauser 98 action) rings on the way as well...

I guess Smith and Wesson imported them back then. I also understand the receiver is top notch and the cold forged barrel is, as well. The bolt is very close tolerance, much like a custom built receiver, no slop at all.

I'll probably load 168 Bergers in Federal match brass (and load ladder it of course).

Will be my Michigan deer getter and maybe an 'out west' rifle if I can bear the thought of marring the beautiful walnut stock that is....

...and I thought Husky only built chainsaws

 

[cowboy]

They build lawn mowers too - Nice find.

 

[gohring3006]

Hope its not like their saws.
If it was, it would vibrate so bad the screws will fall out, it won't oil right, and it will take a month to get parts. LoL.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Can't say anything about their saws, I have a couple Stihls,. The older ones are better than the newer ones (Stihl) (that seems to hold true for a lot of things today...)

I checked out the Internet about the rifle and Chuck Hawks, whoever that is, raves about the rifle.especially the action.

In my mind, Mr. Hawks must have muscle bound fingers because the trigger is murder...but will be addressed.

Going to need a Pachmyr Decellerator pad too. It has a solid butt plate, typical of rifles from yesteryear. I guess the old timers had shoulders of steel (and smoked Lucky Strike non-filters too.)

At least everything is fixable. It has substantial bottom metal with a hinged floorplate. Though I haven't had the stock off (yet), it appears that the barrel is free floated (there is space all the way from the foregrip to the action between the works and the stock.

One thing I noticed right off was all the screws are slotted instead to hex caps or torx (don't think torx was around back then), Will have to be especially careful with the slotted screws, my quest is to maintain it in as pristine condition as possible (while still using it)

Ran the Hawkeye down the tube and through the front of the action after I cleaned it. No sign of any corosion anywhere other than a very tiny rust spot on the bolt, it's 100% pristine and I'm not fooling with the bolt, it has a beautiful engine turned pattern on it.

Don't want to say what I paid other than it was really cheap, really cheap. The owners widow just want to rid herself of the gun (and others). I wasn't gping to buy any rifles or handguns, the wife and I actually went to look at some antique Eastlake Furniture but the Husky caught my eye so I took it home...

 

[mountainman56]

Congratulations on a great find. Back in the day having one of these was something to brag about. Excellent mauser action and a very accurate rifle.

I bought one several years ago that's been re-chambered to 300 WM. Not a pleasant rifle to shoot in the least as it's very light. I figure to re-barrel it in 6.5x55 or 7x57 someday with classic high gloss blueing and re-finish the beautifully figured stock.........just cuz.

 

[alcesgigas]

Sounds like MM56 had the Featherweight version. I hunted with one in '61 and '62; it was very light and without scope. In spite of that it was reasonably accurate for its day, but I think the recoil made me question which end had more energy. It was a drop-stock--AKA Tennessee--30-06.

 

[cuznguido]

Tis a travesty to post of such a thing without a single pic. The Mauser gods are NOT happy.

 

[westcliffe01]

Flip, some of us had been wondering what you had been up to...

 

[SidecarFlip]

I'm not much with pictures but I'll get one on here if I can...

Even my wife (who really don't care for guns) thinks the Husky is a beautiful rifle, I do too.

What really impresses me is the build quality. Sideplay on the bolt when extracted is minimal, about the same as the Pierce custom receivers I have, my Savages are like hot fudge compared to the Husky.

It came with an early model Talley 2 piece ring set (no scope) 1". I don't like the rings, I prefer a one piece mount, but I mounted a 4-16 Vortex Diamondback HS side parallelax anyway. Got antsy. I called Talley this afternoon and have a set of Mauser 98 medium rings in 1" on the way. I like dealing with Talley and all my rifles have their ring sets...

Anyway, with the Vortex mounted and no rounds in the floorplate magazine, the rifle weighs just under 8 pounds, I'm figuring 8-1 with 3 in the galley and one in the chamber. Thats light for a wood stocked all steel rifle IMO. Chuck Hawks (whoever that is) says they shoot 'lights out', I guess we will find out....

I did a load to the lands in Lapua brass tonoght (dummy cartridge) and a fully stretched out round cycles just fime (I actually did 3 rifles tonight), the Husky and 2 Pierce Precision Rifles, all 308's. One Pierce full out titanium receivered, Macmillan Stocked and Bartlien barreled, wearing a Leupold VX4 side focus and the other a Savage 11 lightweight hunter, rebarreled Bartlien and a Manners Prototype stock, wearing a 30mm Vortex Viper in 6.5x24 so I've been busy.

Have to load ladder all 3 yet plus I'm doing a 30 cal WM Titanium receivered Pierce rifle with a Kreiger barrel and radial brake. Making lots of noise on my private 250 yard range....

I think I have enough for now.... My 'toolbox' is pretty full. My wallet is pretty empty.

 

[westcliffe01]

Did I miss something ??? 7.62x54 (russian ?) Wikipedia gives the bullet diameter as 0.312" instead of 0.308" for the 7.62x51 or 30-06...

Were you planning on shooting the old girl with 308 bullets ?

Case type Rimmed, Bottleneck
Bullet diameter 7.92 mm (0.312 in)
Neck diameter 8.53 mm (0.336 in)
Shoulder diameter 11.61 mm (0.457 in)
Base diameter 12.37 mm (0.487 in)
Rim diameter 14.40 mm (0.567 in)
Rim thickness 1.6 mm (0.063 in)
Case length 53.72 mm (2.115 in)
Overall length 77.16 mm (3.038 in)
Case capacity 4.16 cm3 (64.2 gr H2O)
Rifling twist 240 mm (1 in 9.45 in)
Primer type Berdan or Boxer Large Rifle
Maximum pressure 390.00 MPa (56,565 psi

vs

Parent case .308 Winchester
Case type Rimless, Bottleneck
Bullet diameter 0.308 in (7.82 mm)
Neck diameter 0.345 in (8.8 mm)
Shoulder diameter 0.454 in (11.5 mm)
Base diameter 0.470 in (11.9 mm)
Rim diameter 0.473 in (12.0 mm)
Rim thickness 0.050 in (1.3 mm)
Case length 2.015 in (51.2 mm)
Overall length 2.750 in (69.9 mm)
Rifling twist 1 in 12 in (30 cm)
Primer type Large Rifle
Maximum pressure 60,191 psi (415.00 MPa)















vs

 

[SidecarFlip]

Did I miss something ??? 7.62x54 (russian ?) Wikipedia gives the bullet diameter as 0.312" instead of 0.308" for the 7.62x51 or 30-06...

Were you planning on shooting the old girl with 308 bullets ?

Case type Rimmed, Bottleneck
Bullet diameter 7.92 mm (0.312 in)
Neck diameter 8.53 mm (0.336 in)
Shoulder diameter 11.61 mm (0.457 in)
Base diameter 12.37 mm (0.487 in)
Rim diameter 14.40 mm (0.567 in)
Rim thickness 1.6 mm (0.063 in)
Case length 53.72 mm (2.115 in)
Overall length 77.16 mm (3.038 in)
Case capacity 4.16 cm3 (64.2 gr H2O)
Rifling twist 240 mm (1 in 9.45 in)
Primer type Berdan or Boxer Large Rifle
Maximum pressure 390.00 MPa (56,565 psi

vs

Parent case .308 Winchester
Case type Rimless, Bottleneck
Bullet diameter 0.308 in (7.82 mm)
Neck diameter 0.345 in (8.8 mm)
Shoulder diameter 0.454 in (11.5 mm)
Base diameter 0.470 in (11.9 mm)
Rim diameter 0.473 in (12.0 mm)
Rim thickness 0.050 in (1.3 mm)
Case length 2.015 in (51.2 mm)
Overall length 2.750 in (69.9 mm)
Rifling twist 1 in 12 in (30 cm)
Primer type Large Rifle
Maximum pressure 60,191 psi (415.00 MPa)















vs

You did.

It's chambered 308, not Russian. Plainly states that on the barrel at the receiver end. It's a Mauser 98 action built by Husky, Imported by Smith and Wesson in the 60's.

168 Bergers in Lapua brass.

You move yet? If you didn't stop by and I'll let you have a look. Might let you have a seat at the shooting bench as well......

 

[westcliffe01]

"Just bought a new in the box Husquavarna (not chain saw...lol) chambered 762x54 from the 60's, never fired, from an estate"

That was the part that confused me. 7.62x51 would be the equivalent of a 308 Win, otherwise it is a hybrid...

No, Have not moved yet. Divorce proceedings dragging on for months and months. Nasty business. Looks like I am going to rent a hanger at a local airfield to store my possessions since I am likely to lose the house. For about 9 months I was driving past your place on the way to 75 heading to Dayton on a weekly basis, but have stopped doing that now. Usually got back to dundee well after dark on a Friday eve, no not good timing for a social call...

 

[SidecarFlip]

As you know, I've been there and done that marital thing before and lost my arse as well. It seems like possessions always 'vanish' in a divorice. I wouldn't consider another one )divorice) ever, I have too many physical possessions now, besides, Amy and I besides being married, are best friends and it hasn't changed in 30 years...

The Husky FFV was imported into this country in 1957 and is a Model 46 Grade A according to the Husky website. The recedivers were all hand fitted and lapped individually (which explains why it has so little sideplay in the horizontial plane).

It's almost as old as I am but it's sure in better shape...lol

Stop if you can. I'm not fully retired (still work for the company ocassionally) so I'm usually home if I'm not farming (summer) or hunting (winter). Put in a nice 250 yard range out back with a shooting bench and accurate target stands at 100, 200 and 250 yards.

I still have the Atlas btw.