The Schultz & Larsen company in Otterup, Denmark was a venture formed by a gunsmithing shop and a very successful target shooter to make precision rifles. In 1919, they are able to purchase a bunch of German arsenal tooling for pennies because of the Treaty of Versailles. They made a number of rifles, both military and sporting, in the 1920s and 1930s. In the aftermath of World War Two, they turned to using surplus German K98k rifles as the basis for hunting and precision sporting rifles. They make a series of different models (1952, 1958, and ultimately 1969) with various improved features.
The model 1969 is the final version, which uses a German bolt and receiver fitted with a heavy new barrel (typically in 6.5x55mm), a new stock with a significant pistol grip (similar to the Swedish CG63), a very nice Danish target trigger, and a set of precision aperture sights. The rifles were a staple of Danish competition shooters for several decades.
Thanks to the Southern Iceland Shooting Association for helping me film this and other cool guns in Iceland!
“(…)Plowshare(…)”
Now I am confused, how is target competition rifle linked with this agrarian tool?
I thought that was a bit of a stretch myself…
“Swords to ploughshares”
A former military weapon is repurposed for a peaceful purpose.
Starting 1953 they produced a wonderful bolt rifle with a peculiar very advanced bolt. using the 7 x 61 & 7 x 61 Sharpe & Hart cartridge, an American development. Commercially loaded by Norma, it was available for about 50 years before been dropped. It is regarded as the first 7mm high speed cartridge. It achieved a limited popularity. Apparently, as the designer copyrighted it, the large manufacturers did not develop any interest in it.
“(…)the first 7mm high speed cartridge(…)”
How do you defined that and why 7 x 73 Super Expres vom Hofe https://naboje.org/en/node/15514 introduced in 1934 is not that, despite projecting heavier bullet at greater velocity (11 g @ 1000 m/s vs 10 g @ 920 m/s)?
it’s an analogy from the bible, turning weapons of war into peaceful tools: the military issue K98 is the sword, and the civilian target rifle is the ploughshare.
The 6.5×55 is the gold standard of all 6.5 mm cartridges based on time in service, worldwide acceptance and setting the ballistic level for practical cartridge/rifle combinations in the military/hunting/target cartridges. The only close competitor to it is the 30-06, which requires a somewhat longer and heavier action and has more recoil to deal with.
The difference between the Vom Hofe and Sharpe and Hart cartridges was two significant factors
1) the Sharpe and Hart was developed after WWII and had access to a better group of slower burning powders to enhance ballistics and reduce barrel throat erosion.
2) Better barrel steels, and non-corrosive priming.
Also, we cannot forget the .280 Ross and the Newton cartridges for the original high velocity champions from before and around WWI.
Long about the end of 2008 I received a call from a good friend that had paid a visit to, what is for him a local gunshop, that being AIM Surplus. He knew I was into the 6.5 Swedish cartridge and called me to say that there were these just imported target rifles that had just come in and said they looked like something I’d be interested in getting ahold of. Well, sight unseen and upon his recommendation as well as $450 Bush’bucks later I was ever so much pleased to see a nearly pristine M-58 Schultz & Larsen. Which after seeing Ian’s video, is in much better condition than the one he was fondling (lusting after?) in the vidjho! It is one of those times in my life I was in the right place, at the right time, and had the $$$ available!
So, for any that are interested, there were a very precious few of these ultra great shooting target rifles that made it into the US in the latter 2000’s. Keep an eye pealed, as they are out there, and do come up for sale upon occasion!!!