What would you do...

1899

1899

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...if you wanted to start, on a budget, a collection of bolt action rifles that actually saw action in WW1 and WW2?

Which rifles would you choose and why? I am pretty much a newbie when it comes to these old rifles, hence my desire to hear from the fountain of wisdom here on CGN!
 
plinker - thanks, they are certainly on the top of my list. Do you normally go by date to get an idea if the could have seen action?

I should also have mentioned that I'd be interested in eventually getting something from each nation that served.
 
Nagants, saw action in every 20th century war, refurbs are dirt cheap at the moment, lots of variety out there. Ammo can be a bit of a PITA to source but the trick is to buy by the crate when available
 
Well italian firearms tend to be on the cheaper side, same with the russian arms. Though both of them require you to start reloading if you want to keep costs down.

Enfields would be your best bet. 300-400$ range and ammo can be found everywere.

French firearms and japanese tend to be less common and high priced. Reloading seems to be your only option.

American firearms command a premium , M1 , garrand, and springfield.

Germany mausers are in the same price range as the american rifle (poor condition starting at 500 up to 1000 for a nice unit), the semi autos are rare and pricey.

Pistol wisfor those on a budget you have webley/enfield , tt-33, p-38, all of which can be found under 300

Keep in mind you excluding some great shooting firearms like all of the swede firearms (both bolt and semi) , and the whole swiss straight pull line up. Don't limit yourseld in that area as these firearms are noted for build and accuracy.
 
I decided to collect WW1 German firearms and some German WW2 ones as well. These include but are not limited to Gewehr 88s, 98s, Kar98s and Kar98ks. You can find Gewehr 88s that went to Turkey for a decent price with plenty of history attached to them when you factor in the Turkish war of independence along with 20-25 years of German service.

My opinion would be to pick a specific area of interest (British WW1 firearms for example) and focus in on that desired area. You will find alot of interesting variances and features that are not always discussed on forums or written into books.

Whatever you do decide, happy collecting and be sure to fill us in on what you have decided.
 
Of the French rifles, the Mle 1886 Lebel are now getting scarce but Berthier rifles are still fairly easy to find and reasonably priced. Berthiers were also still a primary arm in 1939.

The M1891 and M41 Carcanos are easy to find and not over priced

Finding an "un-Finned" M1891 Mosin can be a challange but not impossible and in most cases priced along with the Finn ones. Grab a 91/30, M38 and M44 Mosin while they are still plentiful and cheap.

No 1 MkIII and No 4 Rifles are plentiful yet but good examples are getting harder to find.
 
I don't plan or have a vision for my collection. When a good deal comes up , I go for it. I have no idea what I'm going to buy next. Ammo is also a factor, you'll want to feed it at some time. Russian ammo is everywhere, so it makes sense to get Russian rifles when they are so cheap. It won't last forever, especially the ammo. Get it by the case while you can.
 
for basic and budget i would:

mosin 91/30 with hex receiver and CCCP markings
steyr or budapest M95 long rifle
carcano 91/41
turked G88
berthier of some sort
K98k
longbranch #4
M1917

you could probably get the first 5 for around $1000. keep an eye out for the unusual though, like the long portugese M904 with the DMGLM markings or swede mausers with the SA mark.
 
Nabs said:
My opinion would be to pick a specific area of interest (British WW1 firearms for example) and focus in on that desired area. You will find alot of interesting variances and features that are not always discussed on forums or written into books.

Whatever you do decide, happy collecting and be sure to fill us in on what you have decided.
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Nabs give good advice here. I'd recommend deciding whether you want to do a broad range of collecting or narrow it down. You might want to tie your collecting into an area of Military history that interests you besides WW1 and WW2 weapons that saw actual service - that will help keep focus.

I began by collecting semi auto battlefield rifles from WW2 (AG 42B, M1 Garand, SVT40) then decided to expand my collection with the corresponding service bolt action rifle (M96 Mauser, P17 - no 1903 yet, Mosin Nagant M91/30) As my interest in Military History are primarily the Eastern and Baltic fronts, and I learned more about who used what where, I became interested in Finnish weapons and now weapons of the Baltic and Eastern Europe.

But by all means if you want to go broad, go for it. In my own case I just found starting with a narrower focus helpful and then I later expanded my collection as my interests broadened (and I could devote more $$$ to my hobby).
 
1899; I select for shooting first. In my mind a rifle is a castrated club if you can't find/reload ammo for it,no matter how rare or interesting the rifle in question maybe...I want to be able to shoot the thing! I would rather own a minty 50's enfield that has in most likelyhood only "seen" action in Moose territory,than an abused '41/42 Longbranch that could have seen over seas service....keyholes all over the target...make me sick!
As for the earlier smle's,a safe assumption is that an enlisted man in Europe somewhere cared for it...a long,long time ago. For me it MUST still shoot!
As for collecting a sample from every country involved in BOTH WORLD CONFLICTS you have my head spinning bud!....I can't even imagine what that arsenal would look like! Come to think about it I have been to the War Museum in Ottawa on several occasions:p
 
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