It followed me home.

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Got everything including a long-enough cleaning rod and looks like I'll have a chance to shoot her this evening! 100rds of factory PRVI to get cases, cheaper than new unloaded brass. After the new gongs are hung I will shoot a test target first to get a baseline on the accuracy and check POI/POA, then I will put the paper away and do some serious gonging!

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Well, I'm happy. The rifle is a joy to shoot, no recoil shield needed even for thirty rounds in an hour.

PRVI ammo shot 3-3.5" groups, POI was about 4"R and 4"H.

That's close enough for 8" gongs @100, but I had difficulty with the 6" and really had to concentrate to get offhand hits. I have enough ammo for two or three more sessions, then I'll start loading with all the nice new fireformed brass and find out what it can really do with some good Sierra bullets and some cast too.

Dog alone knows where the jacketed and the cast handloads will POI, supposedly that rifle is sighted in for the mil ammo with the front post drifted all the way to the right, might have to rig a scout mount for it. I have yet to see a rifle shoot anywhere near its best with PRVI ammo, but it is excellent brass that will take dozens of loadings if neck sized and not loaded overly hot. I think I will see a significant accuracy improvement with some Sierras & Varget, and I ought to be able to do at least as well as the PRVI with one of my two different 6.5 moulds & some reduced 4895 loads.

Anybody had one of these to play with and what luck did you have?

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Here's the photos........

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I am loving this rifle more and more. I bought a nice leather non-mil sling for more comfortable and stable offhand shooting. Much better.

Still working through the Prvi ammo, hitting the 100yd 6" regularly offhand no problem now. My friend has a mint m96 carbine, and if I wanted a short fast pointing hunting rifle it would be much preferred, but this full length rifle is perfect for offhand shooting. It would be nice if the handloads will come a little closer to POA, but if not I'll just replace the rear ladder sight with a scout mount and put a red dot or a 2X Leupold handgun scope on it. The 6MOA dot on my tiny Bushnell just covers the 6" gong at 100yds. The 8" gong shows a white ring when the dot is centered. All I need.

I was reading on the Swedish Military Rifles Forum that in Europe they made a bunch of different aftermarket m96 peep sights, both hunting and target versions, before and after the war. Many of them don't require d&t holes for mounting and leave a collectable rifle undamaged. I haven't joined, but I've been an avid lurker. Here's the link: http://forums.gunboards.com/forumdis...Firearms-Forum They have a separate forum for sporterized Swedes. This one is only for intact mil rifles, parts, loading info, etc.

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Update: The Leupold 2x EER is very happy in its new S&K mount. The rifle is an offhand shooter's dream. I have started load development with 3031/140GK. I had read that the m96's don't do their best with boattail bullets and preliminary results seem to agree. I've shot the first four increments and I'm seeing the same basic 4" groups at each step up. I didn't have enough time yesterday to shoot load #5 which is about 3/4 up the charge table, but I am believing what they told me. Still, in other 6.5x55's the hotter loads all tightened up, so I will keep testing up to red line to see what happens as it's a rare rifle indeed that won't do well with Sierras. I have a donated-to-the-cause red box of flat base 140's to try. If it likes them better as I have been told I'll have to try a box of Nosler btips. I do have some 140PARs, but this will never be a hunting rifle and I am not going to try them in her. Don't know if I could live with the shame of a rifle that prefers bullets from the red box.

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Last night I got two nice 3" groups from VGET/140GK load #5, guess I'll keep on going up to see what happens. Maybe the rifle hasn't read all of the trending info about how she's not supposed to like boattail bullets. Language barrier. Can't expect a 109 yr old lady to learn English. What do you bet, will the groups tighten up as I go on up towards red line or will they open up again?

[SkyKid]

Only one way to find out

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We'll have to wait until after Fryeburg Fair to find out. My shooting buddy and owner of the private range I use will be working his tail off for the next month. I'll be staying off the roads until "swivelneck season" is over and all the leaf peepers have gone home and the only road hazard is the occasional moose. For you non New Englanders, here's a link: http://www.fryeburgfair.org/