doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Husqvarna Model 103 AS Combination Gun Restoration

As you may recall, when I first got this strange creature the rifle barrel (formerly 12.7x44R based on residual rifling) had been bored out and an insert in .22WCF added. Metal was worn, but not dinged up and stock was dry and needed (still needs) to be refinished. Barrels were separating at the muzzle.

Sent the barrels out to a guy in Oregon and he relined the rifle side to .38-55 - the best option available to me. He tried to epozy the barrels back together, but did a poor job. So I sent the barrels to Marks Born Again Bird Guns to be resoldered and rust blued. Got them back recently, so thought I might post a pic or two, but cannot seem to figure out how to attach images from files. A little help.

I have still yet to find any published information that Husqvarna ever made a Model 103 in a combination gun. So I suppose this must be a special order of some kind. Too bad the Swedish Bubba had to wreck the original rifle barrel.

Posting Photos

Interesting airfield type stamp on the flats. What happened to the rear lug?

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

Any speculation as to why there would be swastikas stamped on the barrel flats of a Swedish double?
Jim

The rear lug has been repaired via having broken lug rewelded. Apparently a small piece of metal was lost.

The swasticas have no connection with Nazis in this case. It is my understanding that they were inspection marked indicating a high level of craftsmanship or superior grade weapon.

So despite the beating that this gun has taken over time, it was apparently a high-quality special order at one time and I am endeavoring to bring it back to as close to that condition as possible.

The swastika was used by the Swedish steel manufacturer Sandvik as a quality control label until about 1940. I have no information about when they started using it or why. It may have predated the time when it was adopted in Germany. However, it is worth mentioning that, before WW2, many conservative Europeans did not at all dislike what was going on in Germany. Only after the war did the swastika become a totally unacceptable symbol because of its association with the cause for, and the events during WW2.

There is a book (in Swedish only) about Husqvarna shotgun manufacturing between 1877-1977. The information it gives about the markings on this barrel says that the swastika is a “steel quality label, company label, which was abandoned during WW2” (The Sandvik name is not provided). The stamp in the upper left corner is the pressure proof mark. The “P” is the mark of the assembler, Carl Petterson. He was active between 1902-1955. 18,5 means 18.5 mm bore diameter before the choke. The word “CHOKE” means that the choke is full. The model 103AS is pretty rare; only about 700 were made.

lefaucheux: glad you came out of the forest to join our merry troop. Nice and interesting tid bit of info. Any insight on the following mark on the underside of the left tube near the Imperial Eagle?



Sandvik's site - for history select "About Us" tab at the top right, then click on the "+" next to "Sandivk Materials Technology" top left and the select " Sandvik History": http://www.smt.sandvik.com/

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

And this one being an as yet undocumented example in a combination gun makes it that much more rare. Breaks my heart what was done to it, but I am trying to bring it back to something like its original self.