Husqvarna Imperial Custom 6000 series, 1967

The Imperial Custom 6000 rifles were made from around 1967 to 1971.

Husqvarna Våpenfabriks AB started making sporting rifles based on the 1896-pattern Swedish Mauser action until 1946, when a change was made to the pre-War Belgian FN Mle.24 pattern.  In 1971, Husqvarna merged with the government-owned Carl Gustafs Stads Gevärsfactori to form the Forenade Fabriksverken (FFV). Afterwards, the rifles were marketed by Viking Sport Arms AB and in North America sold by Smith & Wesson under the S&W trademark.

If you think it's odd that what most of us think of as a chainsaw and motorcycle company should make rifles, you should know that Husqvarna was founded in 1620 as the “Jönköping Rifle Factory” by decree of the Swedish king.  The company produced its last hunting rifle, the 1900-series, in 1967.  (The motorcycle division was sold off in 1987 to Cagiva, becoming part of M.V. Augusta Motor S.p.A., from which they were bought by BMW in 2007.  In 2013, BMW sold Husky to  Pierer Industrie AG which re-united it with Husaberg and renamed it Husqvarna Sportmotorcycle GmbH with production now out of Austria.  Read more of this complicated history at Birth of a Legend.)

For some pics of Steve McQueen on a Husky in its glory days, see a previous post.