.....I was working in the shop by myself yesterday when a fellow comes in packing a rifle case. Asks me if we would be interested in buying a Husky .243 rifle. I allowed as to how we might well be interested in a Husqvarna. He insisted it wasn’t a Husqvarna, but a Husky made in Tacoma, Washington, and unzipped the case to prove it.

Out pops the cleanest Husky M-5000 I’ve ever seen, topped with a Leupold 2-7x scope in Buehler rings! And when I say clean, I mean clean as in 99%! I asked him what he wanted for it, and he said it was probably worth $400 and he would like to get $200. After a couple of deep breaths and a few moments reflection, I said I could probably do that, and handed over 200 bucks before he could change his mind. He left happy, but not as happy as I was.

The barrel is marked Tradewinds, Tacoma Washington. The rifle is an HVA, of course. When my boss came in, I told him I wanted to swap my son’s push feed Winchester 70 .243 for it and he was fine with that idea. The boy’s 70 is like new, but it is one heavy son of a gun. I’m pretty sure that without a scope it weighs about the same as the Husky with the Leupold. And the Husky is just as trim and pretty as can be.

I’ll post photos pretty soon......

Otony

Those Husky's are great rifles! I have a 30-06 my Grandfather gave to me when I was 16. He loaned it to me for the opening day of deer season and told me if I shot a deer with it, it was mine. Up to that point, I had not yet shot a deer, and no one in our group had shot one in over seven years. At 10:30 that morning a buck came out on a ridge 200 yards away, and it was mine. When I came out to the truck for lunch, my Grandfather asked what I was grinning about and I told him that I had shot a buck. He did not believe me at first, but I dropped off my gear, went back out, and came back a short time later, dragging the deer. My Grandfather sat down at the campfire with that Husky while we were eating lunch, used his Swiss army knife to unscrew the buttplate, and wrote my name on the stock under it. I still have that rifle and it has since accounted for most of my deer. It is one of their carbines with the Mannlicher stock and with ammunition it likes, will shoot 1 m.o.a. or better all day long. I sincerely hope your son makes even more happy memories with his Husky than I have with mine.

My old brain tells me I've read your recollections of that hunt before, but even if I haven't that is a terrific memory to share. I sincerely hope my son enjoys his as much as you've enjoyed yours!

I lucked into a great deal on Winchester years ago, but didn't realize how heavy it would turn out to be. It is NOT one of the Featherweight series, and so far he has only been able to shoot it well from the bench.

I actually gave some thought to having the barrel contour turned down to relieve some weight, but the we would have to fit a couple of dutchmens in the stock to close the gap. Too much fiddling around to get where we wanted to be, and the Husky gets us there asap.

Otony

Husqvarnas, by any name, are great rifles. And, yes, I am prejudiced. So?