I don't know why, but I've long had this dream of putting together a "truck gun" -- a rattle-bang beater that doesn't matter if it gets scratched or dinged, that will be handy when needed out in the field, and can be counted on to deliver an accurate shot when called upon. Oh yeah, and will be fed a steady diet of cast bullets too. I've long been a fan of the 6.5x55 cartridge (I'm of Swedish ancestry, and a long-time fan of the 6.5 bore), so it's little surprise that many of these truck gun dreams were centered around a Swedish Mauser carbine. Well, a few years ago, I was over in Sequim, doing a little coastal blacktail hunting with a buddy of mine, and we went into town to grab some lunch. While there, we dropped into a LGS just to see if there was anything interesting for sale. Sure enough, there was a 1943 Swedish Mauser carbine (Husqvarna) that somebody had dropped into a sporter stock (complete with a HUGE Monte Carlo cheekpiece), with a very friendly price tag on it. I looked it over, and the bore and action were in very good shape, so I bought it. It wasn't until I got it home, and I took the barreled action out of the stock, that I realized that the stock was inletted for something completely different. I shaved the cheekpiece down (so I could get my eyes down to iron sight level) and refinished the stock. The gun looked nice, but groups ran 12+" at 50 yards. I tried epoxy bedding the action. No improvement. I tried more epoxy bedding. Still no improvement. The crown, bore and throat all looked good, so I figured it had to be the stock/bedding. I got a military take-off stock from a buddy, and groups promptly dropped down to the 1" to 1.5" range (again, at 50 yards). So the old stock was disposed of (a knife-maker friend needed some walnut to make knife scales with), and this spring I settled in to re-shaping and re-finishing the military stock to make it handle the way I wanted. The pistol-grip and forend were both too big and blocky for my tastes, so I slimmed them down, and added more radius. I fitted a new steel butt-plate. I slimmed down the butt-stock, and sanded out a lot of the old damage (scratches, dings, chips, etc.) to the wood. I have no idea what kind of Mystery Scandinavian Hardwood was used to make this stock, but I can honestly say that I have never worked with a wood that takes stain this poorly. Oh well, it's a truck gun, not the Mona Lisa. I topped things off with a tung oil finish. To complete the package, I have a Lyman Model 57 that is on order and will be getting installed after it shows up (and the battlefield ladder sight removed). The Swedish Truck Gun now weighs about 7 1/2 lbs, handles and points very nicely, and groups well. I like it!
