Suggestions for a new shooter

Tinman204

Tinman204

CGN frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
19   0   0
Location
Rural Manitoba
I'm a new shooter and I'm finding that I'm interested vintage rifles more then the new fancy stuff. I was wondering if some of you more experienced gun owners could recommend a good first surplus rifle to me. Quite afew people I know own an Sks so after shooting them I'm of course interested in one of those. It would be a lot more fun and more my style if i had something different then my buddies. Before I make my decision, I figured I'd look at some other options available on the market. Any suggestions, pictures etc would be great!

Thanks, Steve
 
Well, if you want something a little different than your buddies, you pretty much can't go wrong with a SVT 40. It might take a little more cash to buy and shoot, though. A few of the site sponsors have them for sale at the top of this page, another cheaper option might be the Mosin Nagant, if you want a bolt action.
 
A K31 will spoil you for any other rifle, but the ammo is expensive. A nice Mauser 98 is also a joy to shoot. Everybody needs at least eight Mosin Nagants, and you should not be allowed to vote in this country if you do not own a Long Branch Lee Enfield.
 
tadam05 said:
Well, if you want something a little different than your buddies, you pretty much can't go wrong with a SVT 40. It might take a little more cash to buy and shoot, though. A few of the site sponsors have them for sale at the top of this page, another cheaper option might be the Mosin Nagant, if you want a bolt action.
Click to expand...

An svt 40 is something that I've looked at online but have yet to hold one and see how it feels. A Mosin Nagant is more inline with what I'm after, a big bolt action rifle.
 
rdelliott said:
A K31 will spoil you for any other rifle, but the ammo is expensive. A nice Mauser 98 is also a joy to shoot. Everybody needs at least eight Mosin Nagants, and you should not be allowed to vote in this country if you do not own a Long Branch Lee Enfield.
Click to expand...

lolol Hey now! I do not own one ;)

You can't go wrong with a Mosin.

My only advice to you Sir, should you choose the Mosin route is this:

1. Do your research on what to look for specifically to identify a good shooter Mosin.

2. If it is going to be your first Mosin, do not buy one without being able to handle it and inspect it prior to purchase. Especially the bore!

3. If you can, get the M44 carbine version. A little more pricey (still very cheap overall) but maybe one of the most solidly built, reliable rifles ever produced. They are built TOUGH!

If you need any further advice feel free to PM me.
 
What known faults do the Mosin nagants have? When checking the bore I want to make sure the barrel is in good condition? Or is there something more I'm looking for? Also the Lee Enfield interests me a lot because my grandfather was a british soldier in WW2 so I'm attracted to owning one for sentimental reasons.
 
Tinman204 said:
What known faults do the Mosin nagants have? When checking the bore I want to make sure the barrel is in good condition? Or is there something more I'm looking for? Also the Lee Enfield interests me a lot because my grandfather was a british soldier in WW2 so I'm attracted to owning one for sentimental reasons.
Click to expand...

Your biggest check would be the bore, if you could buy one off another shooter the cosmoline will be gone already and you can remove the bolt and check that the bore is not pitted, the rifling is still relatively sharp and the crown of the muzzle is not badly damaged.

The rest of the things like a warped stock are more tricky to spot but can be fixed with ease and no major alterations to the rifle itself.

Also you can do a non permanent trigger job on them that will drastically improve the accuracy (your being able to shoot it better basically lol) with stuff you probably have laying around your house right now.

Check the barrel bands that hold the stock together, make sure they are tight and not loose/streched and holding the stock firmly.

Check to make sure that the front sight post is does not look very short, the front post should end about half way up the "circle" of the front site. If it shoots low you can always file it down to zero the rifle, it's a lot harder to add material. If the post is too short you could be shooting 12-16" high at 100 meters :eek:

If all those are as they should be, odds are you just picked up a good accurate shooter grade Mosin or at the very least enough to work with to make it very accurate.
 
Tinman204 said:
What known faults do the Mosin nagants have? When checking the bore I want to make sure the barrel is in good condition? Or is there something more I'm looking for? Also the Lee Enfield interests me a lot because my grandfather was a british soldier in WW2 so I'm attracted to owning one for sentimental reasons.
Click to expand...

The Mosin is built like a tank, not the prettiest rifle but its a very very well proven design. Usually,Mosin were sighted in with the bayonet attached to the rifle so the point of impact can differ if you shoot without bayonet. As the bore condition, its like any milsurp rifle. You want a bore with sharp rifling, no heavy pitting or rust. Bore with slight pitting appear a bit frosty but if the rifling is well defined, they will shoot good. The muzzle(crown area), must be free of dents or accuracy may suffer. Manys model of Mosin you can come across, M91,M91/30(plentiful as hell right now),M91/30 sniper and sniper clones, M38 and M44(same rifle except that the M44 have a side folding bayonet). Lee Enfield are wonderful, accurate, very smooth action and packed with history. As for anys milsurp, you look for the best possible condition, bore condition is more important that the finish.:)
Joce
 
The problem is that if you shop in person at a store with Mosins when you ask for one they'll go out in back or down into the basement and bring it up clutched in a wad of brown butcher's paper. And they won't set it onto the counter until there's a butcher's paper wrapping for it. You see they come out of the crate slathered with cosmoline. So inspecting the barrel before buying is simply a non starter. The only way to inspect a barrel is to buy one from someone locally that wants to sell.

The good news is that really they are all in rather nice shape. But just in case be sure that you have an understanding with the store that if it should turn out to have a huge rust ball in the bore or side of the barrel that you can return it for a substitute.

And when shooting milsurp ammo out of it be sure to clean away the corrosive primer goop each time.

Oh, and buying and wearing a thick wool greatcoat in the colors of the Great Patriotic Army serves well as a recoil pad.... :D

And yes, if you like old style stuff the Mosin's entry fee is extremely attractive. Not to mention that they are hellishly fun to shoot... even if the plain battle sights are made to work better with young, sharp eyes.... :D
 
Tinman204 said:
I'm thinking the best way for me to check the bore is with my fiber optic snake camera? Or am I getting too fancy? Lol
Click to expand...

The best way to check the bore is like I said, try and find a local seller who has one that he wants to sell vice a dealer. Simply remove the bolt and look down the barrel from the muzzle end while holding the ass end up to a light bulb etc.

Like someone else mentioned, most dealers will either a) Have Mosins that are clogged with cosmoline making it impossible to tell proper condition of the bore or b) Try and pawn off the ####ty guns on people who don't know as much to seperate the thresh from the grain of their stock and get offended when you ask to check the bore or strip the rifle to check it....ask me how I know that lol :(

If you get it off a previous owner you save money, you can remove the bolt hold it up to a light bulb and look right down the barrel to inspect the rifling and the smoothness of the metal/lack of pitting and corrosion free of cosmoline as it will all be cleaned off by the owner, you can also ask them personally how it shot etc.
 
Or you can just call TradeEx and ask them to pick one with a nice bore for you. If you can't buy in person, they're great to deal with; among others, the rifles are usually better than their website descriptions say. Also, the support the milsurp community and routinely donate prize rifles to the EOHC milsurp shoots. They're a class act.
 
Mosin's are a pretty good starter, I've got to agree. I found the long forestock of the rifle to be somewhat gracefully actually.
That's why I bubba'd mine with an ATI saw and screw bolt handle and scope mount.
Don't do this...f:P:
I've since traded up up an M-39. Which is not as gracefull as an M/N 91 IMO.
No more bubba'ing though.
Shop around and get something cool that someone else has verified as high quality; so it cost's a tad more...what's 100 bucks? A tank of gas?
Get a Westinghouse or an Finnish rework; M-27 or such. Something worth keeping and showing off.
Lee Enfields are cool but more expensive to buy ( unmolested anyhow ) and shoot.
SKS's are like the Town bicyclecou:
 
rdelliott said:
Or you can just call TradeEx and ask them to pick one with a nice bore for you. If you can't buy in person, they're great to deal with; among others, the rifles are usually better than their website descriptions say. Also, the support the milsurp community and routinely donate prize rifles to the EOHC milsurp shoots. They're a class act.
Click to expand...

Agreed on Trade EX

I just had my first dealing with them. I needed a new ejector/interupter for my M44 and the order was $4 under the minimum requirement.

They still let me order the 2 parts I needed.

Very fast to deal with and very impressed with them all around.
 
Polar_Hunter said:
Another thing to consider is the availability of ammo in the area where you live. I can purchase 303 br anywhere in my area but 7.62x54 is rare as hens teeth.
Click to expand...
Gotta buy bulk; crates and crates of it!
Hey, why is that white cargo van with blacked out windows still parked across the street? Probably nothing...
 
Thanks for all of the input. I'm feeling a lot more comfortable buying an old gun now! I think the Lee Enfield is out for now, British 303 ammo is costly and rare around here and 7.62 x 54 seems fairly cheap and plentiful. I still would like both but I'm looking for something I can shoot on a more regular basis.
 
Tinman204 said:
Thanks for all of the input. I'm feeling a lot more comfortable buying an old gun now! I think the Lee Enfield is out for now, British 303 ammo is costly and rare around here and 7.62 x 54 seems fairly cheap and plentiful. I still would like both but I'm looking for something I can shoot on a more regular basis.
Click to expand...

Lee Enfields never did anything for me personally.

I have shot a few of them and I'm just not a fan of the bolt system, the safety, the sights, the look of them, the caliber (price especially :eek:)

I know they are very accurate, very reliable and very sturdy, lots of history, but still it's a personal thing.

I'm sure I'll get flamed hard core for this stance but I couldn't care less about the Enfields personally lol

Get a Mosin Comrade!
 
Tinman204 said:
Thanks for all of the input. I'm feeling a lot more comfortable buying an old gun now! I think the Lee Enfield is out for now, British 303 ammo is costly and rare around here and 7.62 x 54 seems fairly cheap and plentiful. I still would like both but I'm looking for something I can shoot on a more regular basis.
Click to expand...

The surplus ammo is pleantiful just now and cheap to buy. But it's terrible for accuracy. You'll soon be wanting to look into reloading so you can see what your rifle, whatever you end up with, can REALLY do.

And for most rifle rounds and even handgun ammo reloading is where it's at. You can produce the big majority of rifle rounds for half or less the cost of factory. And for anything in a handgun which starts with a ".4" you KNOW you can reload it for a small fraction of the cost for factory.

Not to mention that you can reload rifle calibers with nice "cheap match" or good hunting grade bullets for about 40 to 50 cents a round. The cheapest milsurp corrosive ammo seems to be around 30 to 35 cents a round depending on time and supplier.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom