I am overwhelmed at all the cool old stuff on the EE. Where does a guy start? I originally started buying cheap Russian stuff. Svt-40, SKS, mosin nagant. Then I bought a Jungle Carbine no 5 and a no 4 lee enfield. Now I'm looking at a Ross and a Krag. But the good ones are pricy. The cheaper ones always have a crack in the wood stock or pitting or some other crap. Should a guy on a budget stick to the SKS and buy a few and tapco them? I like to plink with my rifles not keep them for best.
A lot of good stuff in the EE.
- Thread starter Nelson84
- Start date
For the most part, tacticool stuff is garbage. Pay for quality when you can, stuff holds its value. BTW, the cheap russian stuff is only cheap for now. You might want to keep that in mind before you get out the hacksaw.
hunterinthewoods
Regular
- Location
- Nova Scotia
If you like to plink then stick to rifles with cheap surplus ammo , or you will be forced to reload if you want to shoot alot.....
You can reload most fullbore military cartridges (and a lot of larger commercial ones) with plinking loads for TEN CENTS a shot. That's 2 bucks a box. You use the HARRIS UNIVERSAL LOAD and you are away. BTW, friend BUFFDOG (on this forum) uses this as his gopher-sniping load out to 300.... and his scores are scary. Nothing to sneeze at.
Friend bought a pre-'64 Winchester Model 70 about 6 years ago, got it for $300 because it was spiting flames and soot out of the rear end and doing frightening things to the brass. Took it home and figured the problem. It was marked .300 H&H on the factory barrel but it also was marked .300 WM. The previous owners had been firing .300 Winchester Magnums out of the thing, not knowing that rifles for this round generally are marked as .300 WIN MAG. The rifle was actually a .300 H&H which had been chambered for the .300 WEATHERBY, prior to the introduction of the WIN MAG. So my friend ordered in 100 rounds of .300 Weatherby brass.
The problem then became the condition of my friend's heart, which was pretty iffy at that time. He wanted to shoot the rifle but he wasn't sure if his ticker would take the pounding. It wouldn't have, of that I am pretty sure now. So he got a couple pounds of SR-4759 and got out his big Sierra manual....... and we spent his very last Summer on the range, shooting a .300 Weatherby which was actually putting out less power than a .30-30...... and making tiny, tiny groups all the time. My kind and generous and intelligent friend Gavin Tait ENJOYED his rifles to the last.
But a fact is that those loads we were using in that Weatherby cost about 35 cents a pop. This is MUCH better than $4 a shot for factory ammo.
You can reload full-house loads for almost ANY military-type rifle for under 60 cents, so there is NO point in not getting the best out of them..... something you will NOT do with surplus ammo. Much of it is surplus for a REASON, else it would have been burned-off in machine-gun exercises.
Rifle with a crack in the stock? REPAIR IT. You can learn how. I did. Just takes an hour and a bit of patience. It gets to be REAL fun when a 1906 Remington semi-auto arrives on your doorstep with the Butt split into THREE major chunks..... which are slathered with old-time LePage's wood glue which has set up almost as hard as diamond!
Build up a NICE collection, save money and learn something, all at the same time: 3 for the price of 1!
Can't beat it! And the price of the 1 can be minimal to start: even better!
Friend bought a pre-'64 Winchester Model 70 about 6 years ago, got it for $300 because it was spiting flames and soot out of the rear end and doing frightening things to the brass. Took it home and figured the problem. It was marked .300 H&H on the factory barrel but it also was marked .300 WM. The previous owners had been firing .300 Winchester Magnums out of the thing, not knowing that rifles for this round generally are marked as .300 WIN MAG. The rifle was actually a .300 H&H which had been chambered for the .300 WEATHERBY, prior to the introduction of the WIN MAG. So my friend ordered in 100 rounds of .300 Weatherby brass.
The problem then became the condition of my friend's heart, which was pretty iffy at that time. He wanted to shoot the rifle but he wasn't sure if his ticker would take the pounding. It wouldn't have, of that I am pretty sure now. So he got a couple pounds of SR-4759 and got out his big Sierra manual....... and we spent his very last Summer on the range, shooting a .300 Weatherby which was actually putting out less power than a .30-30...... and making tiny, tiny groups all the time. My kind and generous and intelligent friend Gavin Tait ENJOYED his rifles to the last.
But a fact is that those loads we were using in that Weatherby cost about 35 cents a pop. This is MUCH better than $4 a shot for factory ammo.
You can reload full-house loads for almost ANY military-type rifle for under 60 cents, so there is NO point in not getting the best out of them..... something you will NOT do with surplus ammo. Much of it is surplus for a REASON, else it would have been burned-off in machine-gun exercises.
Rifle with a crack in the stock? REPAIR IT. You can learn how. I did. Just takes an hour and a bit of patience. It gets to be REAL fun when a 1906 Remington semi-auto arrives on your doorstep with the Butt split into THREE major chunks..... which are slathered with old-time LePage's wood glue which has set up almost as hard as diamond!
Build up a NICE collection, save money and learn something, all at the same time: 3 for the price of 1!
Can't beat it! And the price of the 1 can be minimal to start: even better!
Well said Smellie!!
To the OP, buy what you like, TRY and buy what you can afford!! As for buying guns in poor condition, most things can be fixed!! I get way more pleasure out of taking a neglected "worth nothing" gun and cleaning it up, then I'll ever get out of buying a mint and very expensive example.
In the last 6 months I've learned how to fix cracks, clean a badly fowled bore, reload, do bedding and even cast my own bullets which I just finished doing about an hour ago. There's a lot of fun to be had buying something different like a krag or Ross. Some of the nicest people I've met in my travels happen to be ross owners!
To the OP, buy what you like, TRY and buy what you can afford!! As for buying guns in poor condition, most things can be fixed!! I get way more pleasure out of taking a neglected "worth nothing" gun and cleaning it up, then I'll ever get out of buying a mint and very expensive example.
In the last 6 months I've learned how to fix cracks, clean a badly fowled bore, reload, do bedding and even cast my own bullets which I just finished doing about an hour ago. There's a lot of fun to be had buying something different like a krag or Ross. Some of the nicest people I've met in my travels happen to be ross owners!
I see all sort of stuff that my first thought is "wow, gotta buy it".
Then sober second thought sets in, and says "WTF... I haven't even used half my guns in the last year, what am I going to do with another one?".
Curse you, oh sober second thought. You're a killjoy.
Then sober second thought sets in, and says "WTF... I haven't even used half my guns in the last year, what am I going to do with another one?".
Curse you, oh sober second thought. You're a killjoy.
think of them like an investment, name a surplus gun you could have lost money on that isnt prohib? lee enfields? hell, stipper clips have gone up almost as fast as precious metals, same for magazines. how about mausers? or mosins? imagine what original SKS stuff will go for when you retire, the crates dont even come with strippers much anymore.
Winchester30-30
Regular
- Location
- Fraserwood, MB
i just got my ross and paid around 900 for it, full wood, never saw any service strictly target and training rifle, i will tell you if you like your guns and like shooting the ross is definatly the way to go
best 900 of my life ever spent
best 900 of my life ever spent
Happens to me all the time. Have six guns in the safe I've yet to shoot but mind you one is a "safe queen" also range has been closed for a while now. So many guns too little time to shoot them all but lots of time to buy just can't starve myself to feed my gun habit
Think when the range opens up again half the safe will be out that day.
Lee Enfield
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Republic of Alberta
Buy quality over quantity
I'll have to agree with you there! My collection is small but of the guns I do own they are all in really good shape except for my Turk Mauser. Its in good condition for a Turk but that's not saying much!! My Sporter no1 mk3* is #'s matching, my longbranch is a coveted A.G Parker target rifle and my Ross is absolutely mint and shoots the same.
I've bought all of these guns in the last year and the most expensive was my longbranch at $390 the rest were bought in the $100-$250 range. They are all good shooters and I don't feel outclassed by anybody who comes over with their guns to shoot!
With patience and a keen eye you can buy nice, shootable milsurps for reasonable prices, I have and I'm far from being an expert!
Also buy what tickles your fancy. I don't buy firearms for their resale value, or because it is what everyone else is buying that particular type. When I buy one, I look at it and something about it has to speak to me, otherwise it stays where it is.
