Kind of a gamble; buy one now while they are affordable & hope like hell the surplus appears again.
After the surplus gets here(if...) they would get scarcer I'd imagine.
what should be my next mil surp rifle
- Thread starter trapandhunt
- Start date
After the surplus gets here(if...) they would get scarcer I'd imagine.
Lee Enfield No.4, M1 Garand, K98
Mosin and SVT-40 are ok, but I do not like the hard recoil and harder to find ammo.
SKS is great, cheap ammo, fun to shoot. Get a Yugo if you can find one!
I have never tried a Springfield so I cannot comment.
Boils down to budget and interests (period, country of origin, ...).
Nic
Mosin and SVT-40 are ok, but I do not like the hard recoil and harder to find ammo.
SKS is great, cheap ammo, fun to shoot. Get a Yugo if you can find one!
I have never tried a Springfield so I cannot comment.
Boils down to budget and interests (period, country of origin, ...).
Nic
Its a five round, looks like an after market item due to the rarity of the originals, as with most other SVT parts and components. Does anyone know if the Drugonov (x54R) strippers will work in the MN and SVT?? I've solved the ammo problem for a brief time with a purchase from an Estate sale, but still looking for mags, svt tool, and strippers.
K31. Trust me. I never really understood why people bothered with them until I tried shooting one. Great workmanship, accurate as hell, bolt that makes a Lee-Enfield's feel like a Mosin-Nagant's...
- Location
- Scarborough, ON
Well that's not really a fair comparison, the K31 being a straight-pull and all. It's a nice gun but for me there's something that just feels right about working a "normal" bolt gun.
trapandhunt
Regular
- Location
- the rock (nl)
thats a really nice collection fiddler im thinkin on same rifles let me know how they shoot how they work out for ya
trapandhunt
Regular
- Location
- the rock (nl)
i finaly got my next gun. its a 1944 russian moison nagant m44 matched numbers except magazine excellent shaped refurb, not a spot of rust and great bore picked it up locally from another member of my gun club. Got a ammo pouch, sling, dual chamber oiler, few rounds of brass soft points and a few once fired nrass on four stripper clips and some mil spec bore solvent all for goood deal quiet happy with it 
Good enough!
You now HAVE your 'next rifle', so now you can start looking for the NEXT one! And there WILL be a 'next next' one: this is incurable, but it is also a lot of fun.
By now you will have had an awful shock at the price of ammo for your 7.62x54R. Even the cheapest is a buck a shot. You can bring this down to about 60 cents if you handload, and that gives you good moose ammo, too. If you are willing to run your own slugs, same as the old-timers ran their own cast-net balls, you can turn out pretty decent practise ammo for about 20 cents a shot or even a touch less. It isn't rocket science by any means, and you can put together a pretty good basic set of reloading tools for about 100 bucks. You are into military rifles,and the really nice thing about this is that (1) almost all the casings will take the same caps, and (2) most all military rifles can run well on 4895 powder. You only really need to stock one type of caps and one type of powder. The 7.62x54R can be loaded with the same slugs as a .303 and it has enough power to fill the deep-freeze with 1 shot: it is almost a perfect equal to the .30-06.
Don't be feart of asking questions, either. We all started off in this world naked, knowing nothing and defenceless. By this time, most of us wear clothing, we do know a bit and we are VERY well-armed! We got this way by asking questions!
Have fun with the New Toy!
You now HAVE your 'next rifle', so now you can start looking for the NEXT one! And there WILL be a 'next next' one: this is incurable, but it is also a lot of fun.
By now you will have had an awful shock at the price of ammo for your 7.62x54R. Even the cheapest is a buck a shot. You can bring this down to about 60 cents if you handload, and that gives you good moose ammo, too. If you are willing to run your own slugs, same as the old-timers ran their own cast-net balls, you can turn out pretty decent practise ammo for about 20 cents a shot or even a touch less. It isn't rocket science by any means, and you can put together a pretty good basic set of reloading tools for about 100 bucks. You are into military rifles,and the really nice thing about this is that (1) almost all the casings will take the same caps, and (2) most all military rifles can run well on 4895 powder. You only really need to stock one type of caps and one type of powder. The 7.62x54R can be loaded with the same slugs as a .303 and it has enough power to fill the deep-freeze with 1 shot: it is almost a perfect equal to the .30-06.
Don't be feart of asking questions, either. We all started off in this world naked, knowing nothing and defenceless. By this time, most of us wear clothing, we do know a bit and we are VERY well-armed! We got this way by asking questions!
Have fun with the New Toy!
Really just buy what you like most. I don't agree with disparaging remarks about 44 and 45 production K98k's being substandard. The cosmetics, yeah, but as far as function and accuracy they are every bit as good as the pre war Mausers. The Germans were nothing if not thorough and they didn't send their soldiers off to war with unreliable rifles.
I think every WW2 milsurp collector should have one of the following, each being a standard infantry rifle of every major player of history's greatest conflict:
M1 Garand
.303 Enfield (if you are Canadian, a Longbranch of course
Arisaka
K98
Soviet 91/30
Start there, each of the above are still relatively easy to come by and can be found affordably.
From there a collector can start aquiring Italian, French, Hungarian, ect (not to lessen their involvement, but the above are by far the most popular collected).
Just my thoughts
M1 Garand
.303 Enfield (if you are Canadian, a Longbranch of course
Arisaka
K98
Soviet 91/30
Start there, each of the above are still relatively easy to come by and can be found affordably.
From there a collector can start aquiring Italian, French, Hungarian, ect (not to lessen their involvement, but the above are by far the most popular collected).
Just my thoughts
Get yourself a lee enfield in VG+ or better condition. Don't buy an enfield (or any milsurp for that matter) that has been fiddled with, modified, or is in questionable condition. Look for all matching parts (bolt and receiver specifically).
Back to enfields...
Ammo is commonly available and affordable.
Lots of reloading equipment is available for the the .303 british and this calibre is appropriate for almost all medium and large game hunting applications in Canada. The rear aperature sighting system is second to no-one, they are very reliable rifles and deadly in the hands of someone that knows how to make them work.
Don't listen to any of the other additions to this thread (unless they recommend a lee enfield). We all know know what the world's best bolt action battle rifle is right? They're just embarassed to admit it. The Lee Enfield of Course.
Honestly for your first surplus service rifle I'd go for a nice example of the No4Mk1 first, a M17 Enfield in .30-06 next, then an Israeli K98k mauser in 7.62 NATO third. You need to be able to source ammo easily and all of these calibres can be sourced at your local Canadian Tire.
I mean really, what other "Milsurp" is still in active Military Service? Oh yeah, the CNo4Mk1*, what a coincidence...
Heck, I've competed with them successfully out to 500 metres on numerous occaissons. I don't often advocate one rifle over another but I will with the enfield.
If I could have only one rifle in the world
It would be a new CNo4Mk1* or CNo4Mk1/3
Even if it's covered in muck, mire and moose guts you can still chamber a round and shoot the darned things.
I know, I've done it.
Just don't cheap out and buy crap condition. You can polish a turd all you want, it will always be a turd. Spend more cashola and get a nice one. They're out there just be patient and be prepared to strike when one comes available.
Back to enfields...
Ammo is commonly available and affordable.
Lots of reloading equipment is available for the the .303 british and this calibre is appropriate for almost all medium and large game hunting applications in Canada. The rear aperature sighting system is second to no-one, they are very reliable rifles and deadly in the hands of someone that knows how to make them work.
Don't listen to any of the other additions to this thread (unless they recommend a lee enfield).
We all know know what the world's best bolt action battle rifle is right? They're just embarassed to admit it. The Lee Enfield of Course. Honestly for your first surplus service rifle I'd go for a nice example of the No4Mk1 first, a M17 Enfield in .30-06 next, then an Israeli K98k mauser in 7.62 NATO third. You need to be able to source ammo easily and all of these calibres can be sourced at your local Canadian Tire.
I mean really, what other "Milsurp" is still in active Military Service? Oh yeah, the CNo4Mk1*, what a coincidence...
Heck, I've competed with them successfully out to 500 metres on numerous occaissons. I don't often advocate one rifle over another but I will with the enfield.
If I could have only one rifle in the world
It would be a new CNo4Mk1* or CNo4Mk1/3
Even if it's covered in muck, mire and moose guts you can still chamber a round and shoot the darned things.
I know, I've done it.
Just don't cheap out and buy crap condition. You can polish a turd all you want, it will always be a turd. Spend more cashola and get a nice one. They're out there just be patient and be prepared to strike when one comes available.
