Down-sizing (so to speak) .17 HMR

[Aryeh Jay]

For me, Swedish Mausers are my greatest regret also. Back in the early '80s I bought 3 for $75.00 each, brand new in the grease, wrapped in translucent wax paper; proofed at the factory, but unfired since. Sold two, gave one away as a gift. I should have bough 100, and kept them. The few that show up in that condition now sell for $800 and up.

I was an idiot.

That was how my Swedish Mauser was when I got it. The joy of being a (mostly) neutral country. I wiped all the grease off grabbed some bullets and went to go shoot it. My dad said “wait a minute sparky, you’re going to blow yourself up”.

That bore and every other cranny still had tons of grease packed in rock hard. It took half an hour with a hair dryer to soften it enough to be able to slowly work a cleaning rod down there and start a three day deep clean.

I bet you could just bury those guns without any case in those northern forests and dig them up 100 years later in great condition.