First red rifle what say you?
- Thread starter JasonP
- Start date
I love my sks.... I would say get a SVT 40 but the SKS has an advantage when it comes to price and I look at price first... The STV-40 is very nice tho and i plan to get one when they go on Sale locally. I got a mosin to but its not really my thing right now, Sks is funner and cheaper to shoot.
SKS first: Fun and cheap to shoot, won't hurt your wallet or your shoulder. Easy to maintain (especially for a semi auto). A strangely widely practical rifle - good for plinking at the range, practising open sight shooting out to 100 meters. Cheap surplus widely available. Decent hunting ammo makes it a great deer gun in the bush (ballisticly similar to a 30-30). Good "ranch rifle" for all around pest and predator control (cheap enough ammo to shoot gophers with, powerful enough to take badgers and coyotes). You can, not, break, this rifle.
Mosin 91/30 second: Full powered, decently accurate, indestructible rifle for under $200??? Are you nuts? Just buy it. Buy a couple crates of surplus and "plink" with a rifle that's in the .308 - 30-06 power range. What's not to love?
SVT-40 third: More complex than the SKS, but a semi-auto with the power of the Mosin. Not as accurate as a good 91/30, but can be fairly accurate if you get a good one. And what the heck, just keep squeezing the trigger until the gong rings. Cleaing an SVT is a bit more involved, and time consuming, than either of the two above, otherwise I would place it above the 91/30.
Mosin M38 and M44 4th and 5th: Round out your WWII reds with a couple of sweet carbines that throw a cannonball surrounded by a ball of flame. Depending on your budget, I might actually swap places with the 91/30 with one of these. Handier, easier pointing rifles than a 91/30, and much much less common. Also double the price, but for the quality of rifle you're getting, still a bargoon.
VZ-58 style last: I don't own one, but it is on "the list" (I own at least 1 of all of the above). The reason I'm not in a rush to get one, is that these are still in production. Price might creep up a bit, but they aren't going to vanish. All the other rifles will dry up sooner or later, which is why you should grab them first, and not end up kicking yourself for missing the boat.
Mosin 91/30 second: Full powered, decently accurate, indestructible rifle for under $200??? Are you nuts? Just buy it. Buy a couple crates of surplus and "plink" with a rifle that's in the .308 - 30-06 power range. What's not to love?
SVT-40 third: More complex than the SKS, but a semi-auto with the power of the Mosin. Not as accurate as a good 91/30, but can be fairly accurate if you get a good one. And what the heck, just keep squeezing the trigger until the gong rings. Cleaing an SVT is a bit more involved, and time consuming, than either of the two above, otherwise I would place it above the 91/30.
Mosin M38 and M44 4th and 5th: Round out your WWII reds with a couple of sweet carbines that throw a cannonball surrounded by a ball of flame. Depending on your budget, I might actually swap places with the 91/30 with one of these. Handier, easier pointing rifles than a 91/30, and much much less common. Also double the price, but for the quality of rifle you're getting, still a bargoon.
VZ-58 style last: I don't own one, but it is on "the list" (I own at least 1 of all of the above). The reason I'm not in a rush to get one, is that these are still in production. Price might creep up a bit, but they aren't going to vanish. All the other rifles will dry up sooner or later, which is why you should grab them first, and not end up kicking yourself for missing the boat.
SKS: had one, I found the stock too small but it's fun to shoot, very simple and you can get a Tapco or else if you found the stock too small. Truck load of after market accessories. Tons and tons of cheap ammo.
Mosin 91/30: You can ALMOST disassemble the entire rifle with a flat head screw driver, very simple and robust design. The ammo is just a little more expensive than the SKS (still about 30 cents or less the round). Very easy to do a trigger job. Accurate but not Remington 700 accurate. Lot of after market accessories. A bit long but you get used to it. Some are just 100$!
Make yourself a favor and buy both
Mosin 91/30: You can ALMOST disassemble the entire rifle with a flat head screw driver, very simple and robust design. The ammo is just a little more expensive than the SKS (still about 30 cents or less the round). Very easy to do a trigger job. Accurate but not Remington 700 accurate. Lot of after market accessories. A bit long but you get used to it. Some are just 100$!
Make yourself a favor and buy both
i disagree. sks first as they are easy to clean. svt's can be a little daunting to clean for a new shooter. If you want to get a svt before they dry up and the price rises I recomend buying a sks at the same time putting the svt away for awhile until you are used to shooting and cleaning guns.
^^^The only real pain is the bolt you have to unscrew to remove the stock from the receiver, once you buy or make a tool to unscrew it it's no longer a pain in the arse. It's a got a couple extra smaller bits once stripped down but come on, I'm stripping it down on a table and not in a trench lol.
Excellent thank you.
If I read between the lines, the answer seems to be "all of them."
That would be correct
Excellent thank you.
If I read between the lines, the answer seems to be "all of them."
Yah, whether or not that's your intent, once you start, it's pretty much the inevitable conclusion.
A little over a year after getting my first Red, my M38 is in the mail on the way to finishing off the majors (SKS, 91/30, SVT, M44, and now the M38). I keep telling myself I don't "need" a sniper Mosin or sniper SVT. I'll probably keep telling myself that even after I eventually get them
Ok. I need one now with wood furniture.
Off to look at the pics thread again.
I'm thinking non-restricted? I already have an AR15 and it's a pain sometimes I dont take it with just because I might want to go somewhere else after the range.
