Svt40
- Thread starter taz1977
- Start date
PinkyPlinker
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Kenora, ON
I did, and I'd do it again.
PinkyPlinker
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Kenora, ON
Check who wrote the stickies up top.
I never understood why ad's would say Podolsk/Kavrov in the Sale title
always thought I was missing something. Cleared up only 3 manufacturers that Officially made this rifle... I bet ya they could cook up a mean SVT40 from parts/steel in the Kyber Pass btw Afghanistan and Pakistan.... If I wasn't so Albino and red haired I'd love to make a backpacking trip thru there.
I've looked at buying some more milsurps lately, but the pricing does seem to be ridiculous. I know Milsurps always go up, they never get cheaper and I'm not reminiscing about the days where you could buy Enfields and K98s by the crate.
In 2011 I bought a SVT40: $300, Mosin98/31: $110, AG42: $225. In 2012: K31 $300.
The prices seem to be about triple that now. I don't get it (especially K31s considering they don't have that world war panache and they came in by the crate.)
Can anyone name a time in the last 50 years where milsurps have appreciated so much, so fast? Is there a certain reason?
In 2011 I bought a SVT40: $300, Mosin98/31: $110, AG42: $225. In 2012: K31 $300.
The prices seem to be about triple that now. I don't get it (especially K31s considering they don't have that world war panache and they came in by the crate.)
Can anyone name a time in the last 50 years where milsurps have appreciated so much, so fast? Is there a certain reason?
Here is a write up by my good friend Dennis K. of Empire Arms, it pretty much sums up the military surplus situation.
"While on that topic, when EMPIRE ARMS began buying and selling "truly handpicked military firearms" over twenty years ago it was a far different environment than we now find ourselves in.
#
Back then milsurp items were being imported by the MANY THOUSANDS from a variety of overseas sources (and many truly thought that the party would never end). in 1995, for instance, we had 1700 Swedish mausers in stock that sold very slowly, as there was only NORMA ammo available (at $35 a box) to shoot in them. #I travelled to Stockholm to bid on over 26,000 more Swedish mausers, not because we wanted those rifles, but because along with the guns came many millions of rounds of 6.5x55 ammo which we desperately wanted and needed to feed the rifles we already had in stock!.
#
That type of situation simply no longer exists in today's World. #The overseas milsurp "well" has finally dried up COMPLETELY, and many of the importers that used to bring those things into the U.S. either no longer exist (bankrupt, like SAMCO Global Arms, Federal Arms and Interarms) or have scaled back and modified their operations to marketing solely modern material (like the once-dominant Century International Arms).#
#
99% of our material today comes from our 17,000+ customers by way of collections and estates built up over many years. #What this means is that instead of acquiring inventory by the hundreds or thousands of the same exact item (as we did in the past) we are obtaining items by onesies and twosies of each type. #There is much more variety today, but instead of having 20,000 Russian-captured 98k's at our disposal (as we did in 2been 002) it is hard to find five of them in one place (and most collectors simply do not understand this reality). #EMPIRE ARMS will continue to search out interesting material for our customers, but the availability will be less than it has in the past and the prices will never be as cheap as they once were (or even are today)."
"While on that topic, when EMPIRE ARMS began buying and selling "truly handpicked military firearms" over twenty years ago it was a far different environment than we now find ourselves in.
#
Back then milsurp items were being imported by the MANY THOUSANDS from a variety of overseas sources (and many truly thought that the party would never end). in 1995, for instance, we had 1700 Swedish mausers in stock that sold very slowly, as there was only NORMA ammo available (at $35 a box) to shoot in them. #I travelled to Stockholm to bid on over 26,000 more Swedish mausers, not because we wanted those rifles, but because along with the guns came many millions of rounds of 6.5x55 ammo which we desperately wanted and needed to feed the rifles we already had in stock!.
#
That type of situation simply no longer exists in today's World. #The overseas milsurp "well" has finally dried up COMPLETELY, and many of the importers that used to bring those things into the U.S. either no longer exist (bankrupt, like SAMCO Global Arms, Federal Arms and Interarms) or have scaled back and modified their operations to marketing solely modern material (like the once-dominant Century International Arms).#
#
99% of our material today comes from our 17,000+ customers by way of collections and estates built up over many years. #What this means is that instead of acquiring inventory by the hundreds or thousands of the same exact item (as we did in the past) we are obtaining items by onesies and twosies of each type. #There is much more variety today, but instead of having 20,000 Russian-captured 98k's at our disposal (as we did in 2been 002) it is hard to find five of them in one place (and most collectors simply do not understand this reality). #EMPIRE ARMS will continue to search out interesting material for our customers, but the availability will be less than it has in the past and the prices will never be as cheap as they once were (or even are today)."
