I've got a few Swede's, 2 in military config (1 long, one short), and 3 in sporter condition, 1 Turkish 98 Mauser original, 1 Hungarian Steyr in 8X56R original (straight pull bolt), 1 long Moisin Nagant original, 1 British Enfield in .308 (yes, .308, it's an Indian variant), a couple SKS's, 1 chopped up Japanese 44 carbine in 6.5, and a few WW2 era Makarov's. All in working order.
My dad's collection is very extensive, and some of those will find their way into my gun lockers, some into my 2 brothers'.

My favorite would have to be the Swede's, mostly because of the round itself (6.5 X 55) and the quality of the actions and barrels on the surplus guns I've acquired.

I love hunting with old military surplus rifles. Killed the hog below with a Finnish M-28 version of a Mosin Nagant. Anytime you think Mosin Nagant rifles aren't that accurate, get your hands on one of the Finnish variants and hit the range. Vastly superior to the Russian versions.



Here is my M-39 Finnish Mosin Nagant. As you can see the Finns also used a much higher grade of wood stock in their Mosins as well.

That Mosin Nagant M-39 is pretty sweet looking. I like using my German Mauser small ring 98 8mm. I am anxious to take a bear with it. Thinking about getting into reloading so I can load some 8mm Ballistic tips.

I agree with you about the 7.5x55. But I'm not sure how you can hunt without a safety (unless you hunt with an empty chamber).

As far as a custom rifles on a Swiss action, Apparently, that if you're going to have some caliber other than the original and because of the complicated machining involved, the original barrel is left in the action. It's cut off and used as a sleeve to thread the custom barrel into. 308 is a common custom caliber, but in my opinion no better than the 7.5x55. I've also read about 30-06 and 300 win. mag. being used.

I saw a guy walking on the mountain with a MAS 36 during deer season. I didn't get to talk to him but was kind of curious about the safety because they never had one. He was off a ways but the bolt looked closed.