No Ballards or Hepburns came home with me from the Denver Show but I did get something I really wanted and was very lucky to find. A Swedish Husqvarna 33a "Fågelstudsare" (bird rifle). To explain, the hunters used these to shoot capercallie (sort of like a turkey) from trees (maybe very tall trees as will become apparent.) With their history of making Remington rolling blocks they just downsized and streamlined the action and made these chambered in a variety of calibers  (6x36R, 6.5x42R, 8x42R, 8x57R/360, 9x47R, 9.3x57R/360, 9.5x47R, 10x47R, and 10.5x47R) with 26 inch (6 and 6.5mm) and 28 inch octagonal barrels in fine Swedish steel, of course. The extractor is a sliding bar and extends quite a bit. They began production in 1877 and continued until 1912 or so. The early ones (1877-1892 Model 33) had a straight grip and from 1893 on (Model 33a) had a pistol grip stock. Some had a half fore stock but I like the lines of the full fore stock (even has a cleaning rod in thimbles underneath). The early ones apparently had walnut stained birch stocks but the later ones like mine got walnut butt stocks and walnut stained birch fore stocks and maybe all walnut later (Marlinguy, what does yours have?) They have a 3 folding leaf rear sight supposedly set for 60, 80 and 120 meters (hence the very tall trees.) Mine is in 9.3x57R(360) - a takeoff on the popular British 360 2 1/4 - with 6 narrow lands and a .351 bore diameter and .366 groove diameter. Sort of a 38-55 but using lighter bullets of around 200 grains. This worked out great as I have a Husqvarna Cape gun in 16 gauge/9.3x57R(360) so was all set to go. This one does have a tighter throat as I had to shorten my usual load OAL by 2.5mm. The action is case colored and the block and hammer appear to be nickel or chrome plated in a matte finish and the trigger in a bright finish. The cleaning rod is brass. The fore stock is held on with 2 classic cross bolts and the long screw of the front sling mount. The end of the fore stock is protected with a shell of what appears to be horn. The serial number is under the barrel ahead of the action and the only other marks are 2 very small undecipherable proof type marks there. The bore is perfect and I quickly ran a few rounds through it at 100 yards yesterday and am pleased with the results. I'll get serious with it when I get a tang peep mounted. I'm happy!

Not a problem, I was curious myself. She weighs a svelte 6 pounds 14 ounces.

Not seen by me, either. But, I like it. Good find, particularly in a chambering you're set for already. 

I have one as well, same caliber. Great shooting rifle. Mine has a stud for a tang sight, missing of course, rigged a lolli pop sight from Dixie. The ramrods on your rifles, do they look original? Mine was missing made one.

What interesting rollers. Can the case be easily made from the Russian 57R? Looks like it would be a great "all around" rifle/cartridge for Schuetzen as well as BP competitions.

The cases I made were from 9,3x72 cases. I think 30-40graig works as well.

9.3x57R(360) is easily made from 9.3x72R (since it is a stretched 360 case) just by shortening. Marlinguy have you ever considered that on a bad Monday morning at the factory a barrel rifled for a 9.5x47R, a ~.374, got chambered to 9.3x57R and installed? Yes, the front sight dovetail is small, .296 (say 9/32), but I have a spare 17A and a file (for the 17A!) 40-65 Tom, here is the business end of the rod. The jag part is iron and the other end of the brass rod has the same plain stepped, rounded end as the jag.

Thanks, Looks like I  will have to mill a slot to make it closer. The load was 19grs of 5744, cast 253gr lyman 366408 bullet in cut down 9,3x72 cases.  Shot 8 times, checked the group thru the scope and got scared and stopped shooting

I have one similar to that, but not full wood unfortunately.
They shoot a treat. A lot of fun and easy to load. There was one at an auction I was at a while later, it was listed as 9.3 X 57, it went to an absentee bidder. I wondered if he knew there should of been an R after the 57.

Yes, it was a choice for the 33. It was a bottle neck target round that had a base much larger than the 38-55 but the rifling was only .007 or so larger than the 9.3. So a mistake in chambering could explain yours. I've been taking some measurements for tang sights and have come up with a choice using the lowest Lyman 17A front sight and a Marbles tang sight for the Marlin 39, Stevens Favorite et al. That combo should get me to 200 meters OK which was what I was looking for for 200 meter silhouette. A Remington roller sight was way way too high, a Stevens 44 sight had a bad tang angle, and a Winchester sight was out because I would have had to have a special tang/stock bolt made.

Marlinguy and I are working on some theories of rifle age and wood supplied. Mine is serialed higher that his but his is all walnut. There is another possibility that my foreend has been replaced. There is a number stamped on the foreend's front cross bolt/keeper/slide/lock (just what are those things called anyway?) that isn't part of my serial. If Marlinguy's and 45-60tom's are serialed to the rifle then we have a clue. By the way, 45-60tom, what is the wood on yours?

Boy oh boy,  never been a big roller fan---'kept for the #2s,    But I'd love to have one of those full stocked in one of the 6.5mm cartridges.     Im more than a little nuts about 6.5s anyway.

Beautiful rollers. Thanks for sharing. Frank

Thanks for the info, Tom. Your serial falls between Vall's 18xxx and my 35xxx. I looked again and the rear forend wedge has the correct number, it's just the front wedge that is different. I'll have to pull the forend again and look for the penciled number to see which wedge it matches. FYI, the serial is repeated on the left side of the upper and lower tangs.

DW I am not a big fan of the Rolling Blocks either but I have a Love affair for this one the styling is unique and I find it to be extremly attractive. It is also the first one that I have ever seen and a real Jewel in my book.

JLouis

I'll let you know how accurate mine is in July. I'll be taking it to the annual long range shoot, and hope to see how it does out to as far as 1000 yds., if I get a good tang sight on it!
I better check the twist on my larger bore and see what it comes out at?

It looks like a bullet .88 - .94 long, will be your best bet. The 1.0 Lg bullet @ 1.3 SG is very marginal. 1.5 - 2.0 SG is a excellent.

1st one is 1.0 Lg

2nd, is .88 Lg

3rd, is .75 Lg

BTW, what retains the BB & hammer pins?

Frank

Look close at the picture of the right side of the receiver. Screw slots when loosened and removed allow the pins to be pushed out.

Frank, thanks for running those numbers. My 178 grain is .752, my 202 grain is .826, and Tom's 250 grain is 1.02 if his mold is the same as mine was. I found another site that I think is implying that we can get a "letter" for our rifles for $12. I'll have to contact them to see if this is the case. (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)

I took my rifle to the gunsmith to get the tang sight mounted and when the light came through his window just right he noticed something that I had missed. Very very lightly stamped in fine print was HUSQVARNA on the left barrel flat just in front of the action. I had found a photo of one that showed this stamp and a Husqvarna crest on the top of the barrel and a serial number of 47xxx. If they numbered them in sequence there are a lot more of them out there somewhere (maybe hanging over the fireplace in every back country cabin in Sweden.)

QuestionableMaynard8130 wrote on Jun 1^st, 2016 at 9:33pm:


As far as I know none are being imported. If you find one in ANY caliber, better grab it and make your 6.5 out of it.

Mine is also stamped HUSQVARNA on the barrel flat and also the crown on top. If any one would like to try my bullet, I can cast some up.

Tom, thanks for the offer on the bullets. 40 some odd years ago before I had my 366408 mold cut down for a 9.3x72R that I had at the time I cast some bullets and have been lugging them around for years. I just loaded a few in 9.3x74R to see how that would do. It will probably be a while before I get around to trying them in the Husqvarna depending on how my lighter bullets do. Come to think of it I even have a stash of Norma 193 grain soft jacketed and some RWS or DWM ones somewhere also. Grisen, thanks for the additional information. QuestionableMaynard, I think there is a half stock one in 9.3 available in Albuquerque from a private party that was at the Denver Show if you want to rebarrel. He was up in the front third of tables on the north section on the end of the main E-W aisle. Maybe someone who has a show map can put a name on him.

If it is a 33 and not a converted military sporter, I could be interested.

The one I know off in ALbuquerque was in fact barrelled in the Danish round.  It is owned by a friend and I know he never shot it.

OK, I contacted the Denver show chairman and he gave me the probable dealer from Albuquerque that had the half stock 33. If anyone is interested, PM me and I'll send his contact name and number.

Yes, I heard from them today also. Said they could only provide the year. Was there a charge for that information?
So both yours and Vall's were before 1893 after which they only made the full stocks so they must have been ordered that way.

One more note from the factory. The oldest book they have available is 1902, so could not provide "factory letter" for mine, just year made

Picked up my rifle from the gunsmith. It now has a Lyman 17a front sight (the lowest and cut down to fit the 33a's narrow slot) and a Marbles tang (Marlin 39a et al.). The job wasn't totally straight forward (no pun intended) since as it turns out the cast off of the stock is also present in the tangs. I hadn't bothered to notice this originally but once pointed out is quite obvious. Now to get out to the range. I have 6 10 shot loads ready to go based around what looked good from my first trials with the factory sights. We'll see.

oneatatime wrote on Aug 2^nd, 2016 at 8:02pm:


Great info! I need to check mine closely, as I didn't notice cast off in the stock or tangs. Now I'll give it a closer look before proceeding with sight changes!

Well I finally got up the nerve to D&T my tang for a better sight! Had a Marbles "Special Flexible Base Sight" in an oddball spacing, and nothing to put it on. So D&T the Husky and installed it. Should be a huge improvement over the 3 leaf express sight on the barrel, plus give a much longer sighting radius! Not sure how far it will reach out, but the express wouldn't reach much past 125 yds. without holding over.

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calledflyer wrote on Oct 4^th, 2016 at 9:02pm:


Thanks! I was surprised how easily the casehardened frame D&T'd! Remington Rolling Blocks can be very tough, and I've snapped off taps trying to do them before. But this Husky went really well, and seemed like the casehardening was not nearly as hard.

Sounds very interesting!

Haven't heard of a .22CF Husqvarna 33, but since you mention seeing another, it seems it may be possible. Possibly a factory conversion done later? Or some limited run? Very slow twist!