Beautiful Rifle! 

JLouis

Swedes call these cute rifles "Fågelgevär", bird rifles, cause they were often chambered for smaller caliber rifle cartridges and used to shoot "black grouse" (orre and tjäder) out of tree tops, often in deep winter when skis were necessary. This remains a popular form of hunting, although such hunting with rifles is now largely limited to remote areas in northern Sweden, such as Härjedalen, Hälsingland and Norrland, in January, February, even March. 

Swedish name for this hunting is "ToppJakt" cause the grouse are shot when they are feeding in tops of conifer trees. Nowadays shots are often out to 200M and modern lightweight turnbolts with 6X-12X scopes are common. Common shooting position is prone in snow, sometimes well over a meter deep. There are many youtube videos of such hunting. Here is one of a tjäder (capercaille) hunt. (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)

I don not know what is typically used. I see 222Rem, mentioned are various 5,56mm, 6mm, 6,5mm, even 7mm cartridges, 6,5X55 of course. Even see mention now and then of 30-06 and other "big game" cartridges, often with full mantled bullets. In a country where hunters have only a few hunting rifles, or a kombi or drilling for all their hunting, most any caliber can get used.  Factory ammo for several widely used rifle cartridges is available in "target" loads, usually with full mantled lighter bullets and lower velocities -- these seem to often be used for toppjakt and smaller animals. Hand loading seem fairly common, although hunter folks I know personally stick to factory ammo and a single box of ammo can last years and kill multiple critters (moose, deer, boars mostly).

oneatatime wrote on Nov 6^th, 2018 at 6:54pm:


That "turkey" is really a BIG grouse. American turkeys are really just big chickens. The other "black grouse", orre, is clearly a grouse and, like sage grouse, gathers up and mates at leks, and yes, lotsa fighting among males while females watch and wait.

Yes, noticed that plastic on muzzle too. Not sure how widely used that trick is -- suspect a lot.

That type of hunting is rather physically demanding, even more so cause temps can be -20C or lower. Yet to see an old guy in one of these toppjakt videos. And yes, I have yet to see one of these hunt videos where the wind was blowing nicely -- suspect both bird and hunter opt to do something else on those days. Not at all like sitting in a "jakttorn" (hunter's high seat) some were in southern Sweden waiting for the drivers to move a moose past you.

You must have been doubly or triply lucky that day, 1) really nice M33, 2) late manufacture. Could 3) be that is/was unfired?