Going to the range tomorrow with my newest toy. I just got my Swedish Mauser back from the smith. I have had an old Model 94 Swedish Mauser for about 10 years. It shot ok with iron sights but my eyes aren't so good anymore. This little Swede was original military except for the stock which had been replaced with a modern sporter. Well, I know that these Swedish 94's can command a prety good price, but mine had absolutely NO matching numbers.....so as a collectors piece it wasn't worth much......Anyway, I had the bolt forged for low scope mount, Buehler style low swing saftey installed, Timney trigger added, drilled and tapped and the smith had a used Leupold compact 4 x 28. It needed an extension ring to get it to fit (no body length on the Leupold, only 9.2 inches)...but this is a sweet little carbine. Barrels only about 18 " long. This is going to be my swamp gun! I'll report back after the range trip.
I'm hoping for a decent 100-150 yard gun from this project and maybe it'll surprise me.

Just returned from the range. The gun shoots well enough for the swamp hunting I'll be doing. at 100 yards I got it to print about 1.5 " high with a group about 1.25". This was with a very hasty rest...no sand bags.....This gun is going to be the shortest, handiest little carbine in my arsenal. I'm actually surpised it shot this well with just a 18.5 " barrel! The swamp bucks are in trouble this fall.....and I'll be carrying a very light package!

I was going into shock when I saw that it wasn't matching and had been restocked. Sported 94 Swedes go for $350 to $400 around here, straight military $500 and higher!
Should be a great light carbine for you, the 6.5x55 is one orf my favorite cartridges. I am currently building a light carbine on a 96 action in .257 Roberts. Barrel is 21 inches, and light and trim. Hope it handles and shoots as well as your 94!

Yeah, I wouldn't have touched it if it was in the original stock and had even a few mathing #'s.....but as it was it was only worth being a shooter. The used Leupold I found at the smith's shop is a 4 X 28 fixed Rimfire model. It is just as sturdy as the non-rimfire models but is parallxed at 75 yards instead of 150 becouse of being used mostly for rimfire distances. It (the scope) is only 9.2 inches long and only 7.5 ounces.......what a little sweet package it is!. I'll post a picture one of these days. It shoots acceptably especially for a 18.5 inch barrel.....plenty good enough for my 30-75 yard shots. Good luck with your 96 project. Are you rebarreling to the 257 or are you reaming the original barrel to be a 6.5 X 257? That is another sweet wildcat.

Straight .257. Theoreticly it is for Mrs. Charley to hunt with, but maybe she won't like it and I can have it!

How much are you being charged for the barrel swap..in other words how much is the smith charging to remove the old 6.5 X 55 barrel and sell you and install the 257 barrel? Or are you doing some of the work yourself?

'cest moi. I can drill and tap, weld bolt handles, etc. Removing barrels is no problem, either. This is the first rebarreling job I've done, but so far, so good! Just waiting for a stock to come in, hopefully in about 10 days. Components come in another few days. I hope to have it up and running by whitetail season starting in November.

Great for you...that should save you considerable scratch..enough to buy a pretty upscale barrel I'd imagine, let alone some of the other components...trigger, safety..etc
Let us know how the project comes out...I've always wanted a .257 Roberts since my love affair with the 7 X 57 ..... Almost converted an old Japanese 6.5 carbine to 6.5 X 257 but the barrel wasn't worth it.

No, I didn't want to spend big bucks on my first, so i bought one of Midway's A&B barrels on sale at $70. From what I have seen, they are no better or worse than any other production barrel, and are likely at least as good as most military barrels. Have a Bueler safety, a Bold trigger and a Boyd's stock. I'll post some pictures when done. It really doesn't make financial sense to build a rifle like this. For what is spent on parts and tools, I could buy a pretty decent sporting rifle. I do it because I want to, not because I'm trying to go cheap!

I know what you mean. I've had one done up for me...(don't have the know-how or tools) and I could have bought a pretty nice rifle from a quality maunfacturer, and I'm not talking the bargain gun of the litter either. I have the willingness to learn and wouldn't mind trying it out on a few of the project swedes and 98's I've got in the cabinets. I'd be real interested in seeing your pictures when you get around to it, and also very interested in how the A&B barrel works out. I'm considering shopping for a Savage 110 with a burned out barrel and rough wooden stock and buying one of those packages that includes the barrle, the go-no-go gauges, the barrel wrench and what you need to do the swap. If I find the right beat up Savage in 30/06 or 270 I could have a wide variety of A&B calibers to choose from.....35 Whelen, 25/06, 270, or 30/06 in the package, and the 338/06 in the barrel. I'm not sure if any of the other A&B barrels would fit with the bolt face and magzine follower of the 30/06 but maybe a few others would work without swapping other parts.