M94 Swedish Mauser. Still in daily use by the Royal Guards
Note the rifles are loaded with live ammo during duties.
My copy:
Thats pretty cool. What do they guard?
They guard the Swedish Royal Family in their palace in Stockholm.
What’s not to love about the old Mausers? Simple, elegant, and functional - they are a great action.
Cool. I have some M96 and M38 but no M94…
ETA: interesting that they have turned-down bolts, while the M96 did not (the M38 again introduced that). I guess that the M94 was a cavalry carbine compared to the infantry M96.
When I was in Stockholm, I missed the palace. Wish I had seen them. That was 22 years ago. Will have to go back one of these days.
Så bra är det.
–
Haha!
In the third picture down from the top, (up close of the guys on horseback showing the rifles on their backs), the rifles appear to be cocked. I wonder if there is a round in the chamber.
WOW thats a long time. Hope they don’t have to defend against AK’s any time soon.
No way to tell. Cock on close without pulling the trigger will look the same whether a cartridge is chambered or not. At least the safeties appear to be on.
At least theirs don’t have the silly bbl extension our import laws used to impose (sorry Wes).
Mine has an older style sling, passing through the stock to lie on the left side of the carbine. It’s not original, but was cadged together by a previous owner from a M96 sling to look like the original. I have not seen any reason to change it. (Wes, is yours original?)
I wonder where I might find a sling like theirs?
And Wes, thanks for the photos. I did not know the M94 was still in service.
and when you’re done using them to protect royalty you can convert them to a hell of a nice little thumper. (M94, .45acp conversion, custom black walnut stock, Timney trigger, Troup Systems 1911 mag conversion, 16.5" barrel. Launches 185gn JHP at 2000fps with 50K psi loads, .460 rowland brass cut to .888).
Yes, I have all the stock components, no permanent mods. The rifle was originally bubba’d so I didn’t feel bad about converting it.
I was told by the member who posted the pic on MP.net that they are loaded while on duty. These guys are serious!
I was thinking about having mine restored: re-blued, and the wood re-finished. Would that be a mistake? After all, my Husqvarna M38 is arsenal re-finished. If I did that, I’d have that stupid muzzle extension removed.
I need to find a sling too! Mine is original, with all numbers matching except the nose-piece. I think that is legit, as early models did not have them. Mine was made in 1907.
Well, if they are actually protecting the royal family, they should be loaded. I have to assume there is another shift with something AK 4 or AK 5-ish.
Pressed the wrong button.
I have never seen or heard of one existing without the nose cap. Probably an arsenal change for the 94-14 conversion. Swedes did some major arsenal mods over the years with little regard to parts numbering. For example, the AG42 was converted to the AG42B wholesale, with little regard for matching numbers except bolts and receivers.
General rule is: arsenal refits and restorations are OK, anything else is not. But this is for collectors. You are already screwed by the barrel extension, and I do not believe that anyone is collecting those. In other words, it’s already been messed with and there is no reason not to mess with it further to restore it. But, if you do anything other than a “restoration,” you are not going to add value (probably the opposite). A true restoration (including a proper refinish) will cost significant bucks, more than you will make back from a sale, so I’d just leave it alone.
As for slings, I’ve heard that some people use the M/45 sling cut down to 49". See here:
http://www.kebcollc.com/cart/store.php?crn=231&rn=436&action=show_detail
I have many Swedish Mauser slings (and bayos with frogs) of several different designs, all arsenal but with variations in leather, buckle design (about four types), buttons, and attachment points (for frogs, army and navy had different styles)). I don’t know of any realistic standard, so I’d use the “trick” of using a M/45 sling.
Mine is 1918, with a mismatched nose piece, mag plate, and butt plate. Proper serial and disk for its time. No bbl extension though.