Milsurp's today, where to start?

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I'm looking to start my introduction into milsurp's (better late than never) and could use some recommendations on what would be a good buy today.

I would like to obtain at least 1 bolt action and 1 semi auto, what options are still "affordable" these days?

For bolt action I would really love to get a Mauser. I know the K98's seem to be the most desirable and the prices reflect that. What are some of the more affordable Mausers? I have heard good things about the Swedish and Yugo models. Can these be had for less than $1000?

The Swiss straight pull models are also intriguing (k11-k31). Are either of these a good buy today? is commercial ammo still available for these or are they strictly for reloaders? What price range can I expect for these models today?

For semi autos I'm a little less certain on what I want. I already own a SKS and am not that interested in a SVT40. I would love an M1 Garand but they seem to cost north of $2,500 these days.

What other semi-autos are worth considering? I am specifically interested in American and Western European examples

Cheers.
 
A nice Russian SKS is the best of the vintage semi-autos.

If you want a K98 get one. If you want the "best" milsurp, IMO it is the "Mauser Original" marked Peruvian 1909.

Unless you have a specific interest in the history of Yugoslavia, I would avoid the Yugo Mausers, they're really not that nice.

I never cared for the Swiss K31 or the SVT 40.

If I was starting today I would look for:

Really nice Russian SKS
Finn M30 or Polish M44 Mosin
Swede M38
"Irish" Lee Enfield

Whatever you do, don't buy junk.
 
you should buy what you like or maybe you want to collect from countries or periods ...

all milsurp seems to go up in price. but k98 can be had for 1000-1500..

before you collect semi autos make sure you are not putting big money into something that will be banned to win the next election
 
The thing about the semi autos is that unless you have a very specific interest, like collecting the variants of the Swedish AG42 or FN49, the SKS is the best of the bunch.
 
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MiG25 said:
A nice Russian SKS is the best of the vintage semi-autos.

If you want a K98 get one. If you want the "best" milsurp, IMO it is the "Mauser Original" marked Peruvian 1909.

Unless you have a specific interest in the history of Yugoslavia, I would avoid the Yugo Mausers, they're really not that nice.

I never cared for the Swiss K31 or the SVT 40.

If I was starting today I would look for:

Really nice Russian SKS
Finn M30 or Polish M44 Mosin
Swede M38
"Irish" Lee Enfield

Whatever you do, don't buy junk.
Click to expand...

I guess I started off with the best, a 1951 Russian, all matching SKS. Purchased for $220 at Canadian Tire haha. The M38 is what I've been leaning towards for bolt actions. I know they don't have the war pedigree like the German examples but it's not and compact and from the sounds of it, quite accurate.
 
Teac said:
you should buy what you like or maybe you want to collect from countries or periods ...

all milsurp seems to go up in price. but k98 can be had for 1000-1500..

before you collect semi autos make sure you are not putting big money into something that will be banned to win the next election
Click to expand...

Really as low as $1000? I was seeing Russian capture k98's around a year ago going for $1500+ and more recently seen examples well north of $2000. Would the EE be the better place to find a decently priced one vs retailers?
 
That...actually might be a good idea. Two birds with one stone.

I was considering doing something with 7.62x51 (Garand and Mauser) but 6.5x55 would work as well. Is there much maintenance required for the AG42's? what are they going for these days?
 
Not sure I would be comparing an SKS to a SVT 40...
Two completely different s/a IMO.
I really like the SKS's, but absolutely love the SVT 40.
Another bolt is the Mosin Nagant 91/30 or M44 which also use the 7.62x 54r cart.

edit: If you're not doing a load development (soft) for an AG42, it can be pretty hard on the 6.5x55 case.
 
Personally the M1 garand is by far my favorite milsurp and my favorite gun to shoot. Great sight, great trigger, reliable, and they dont look scary for the average non gun owner. A semi auto with a legal 8 round clip in 30-06 or .308 that might not endup on the next oic is hard to beat.They also got great history and goes ping.

For the bolt action I would recommend first german k98 and second a swedish mauser, either a m96 or m38.
The swedish are definetly the best gun but youll have a hard time finding ammo for it, unless you reload. But the k98k is personally the most aesthetically pleasing and fill with history. There are nice russian capture out there for around 1200$.
 
You could do an Israeli mauser in 308 and a garand in 308. Could do a Swede mauser and an Ag42 both in 6.5x55mm I will note if you don’t reload properly for the ag42 with destroy or lose a lot of your brass unless you thread a plug into the gas system. Could do a 8mm mauser with either a Hakim (ag42 in 8mm built by Egyptians) or an Egyptian FN49. Could do a South America mauser in 30-06 or an American mauser (1903 haha) with a garand or a 30-06 FN49 (personally in 30-06 I’d favour the garand as more parts are available if needed). Could get a mosin and an svt40 probably the cheapest pair unless you buy a nice Finnish mosin. If you are serious about milsurps and have the money look for an Fn49 in 7x57mm and then get a Spanish mauser to go with it. I really enjoyed the 7x57mm and would love to try a semi auto in it. All depends what you are looking for. If you want a shooter get the garand because you can wear it out and fix it. If you want a cool semi my favourite one is still a G43/K43 but you have to get an adjustable gas system and still should reload properly to shoot it but dam I think that flapper lock is neat!
 
First step is deciding what your interested in and what you want to do with it.

Best thing is to try and handle whatever you can get your hands on to see what you like before you buy.

From the sounds of it your looking for something with factory ammo, and reasonable cost.

For semi-autos the choices are relatively limited for available rifles. SKS, SVT-40, AG-42bs, Hakims, FN-49s, M1 Garands, M1 Carbines. Yes there are others but the cost and availability are scarce. Out of that list the only 3 I actually enjoyed/found worthwhile was the M1 Garand, M1 Carbine, and SKS. Every other one there was some issue. SVT-40 was unreliable. FN-49s I found unreliable and uncomfortable (tested multiples). AG-42b was soft shooting and a cool rifle but you have to be very careful as it doesn’t like sensitive primers and can have a out of battery detonation (happened to me). Best of those was the M1 Garand, good sights, easy to use, easy to load with 8rds, and common ammo (mine is in 7.62 but the .30-06 ones aren’t bad either).

For bolt actions, I would lean more towards whatever your interest is, handling first helps. P14 or M1917 are great choices. Lee Enfields are as well, leaning towards No 4s myself. M38 Mosins are tons of fun. Always a variety of Mausers to choose, Swedish ones tend to be good value options. My number one recommendation is a K31, but I am not sure how available that ammo is now.

Reloading makes many cheaper options more viable but you have to put the effort in to make it happen.
 
Just going to throw in my two cents on something I’ve seen you, and some other touch on.

Don’t avoid buying a milsurp that interests you just because it’s cheap and someone thinks it’s cheap for that reason alone. Most of my favourite rifles were cheap and considered plentiful garbage just 5 years ago, and now are more scarce and expensive. Yugo Mausers are hit and miss but at the moment still affordable and manageable to feed. If you need an example of that look at how Lee Enfields have shot up in price, often even just over being complete units without much consideration for the quality of build.

I would look at M48A Yugos, P14/P17 enfields, M44 Mosin Nagants for bolt actions.

For semis something like the Finnish Suomi M31 is a strong consideration, they’ve jumped twofold in value, shoot 9mm and come with both stick and drum mag options. As for the Garand, they occasionally show up at $2000 even, I’ve even seen slightly less for mismatched and 308 configurations, and at least you know it’s never losing value.

They’re more hit and miss than mass produced goods, it’s a lot of antique shopping really, you take a chance on online sales or you go in person and be prepared to walk a couple times until you find a good rifle. Definitely utilize the internet, places like forgotten weapons, or YouTube are your friend, always look up what you’re buying and find out, I almost jumped on a 1903 for what I thought was a good price until i found out at the last minute about the serial numbers and brittle barrels. At the end of the day, no matter what you find, they aren’t making more of them, and every year they become a little harder to find.
 
I bought my first milsurp rifle in 1980. M38 Swede. I still have it. Very accurate and soft shooting. Still a good choice. I have owned and shot most of the common (and not so common ) military rifles. My favourites - M39 Moisant Nagant, 03A3 Springfield and a Garand. Except for 308 (7.62) and 3006 most are really handloading propositions. I shoot mostly cast bullets so shooting is still relatively inexpensive.

I loved to shoot my Norinco 305 (M14) in military type matches but as we all know we can't be trusted to do that any longer!!!

Find something with a good bore at a reasonable price and have fun.
 
I would get pre war Mosin for a bolt gun and go from there. Cheaper than a K so as ammo. Friend and I just got a crate of Yugo 7.92. 1100 bucks if you can find it. For semi auto go SKS. Inexpensive (who am I kidding) but least less expensive than other options. Thing is like a cockroach, will survive nuclear blast and than some. Plus it can be costumized in many different ways, than of course you need another SKS to bubbafy lol “Dip you hand into the industry” and if you like it go from there. Once you will get into it you wallet will never stop complaining.
 
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