American Gun Ownership Highest In 18 Years

[derspiess]

As for milsurp, I have seen spam cans of Romanian surplus on various websites.  No idea what the quality is like, though.

I have a few rounds of Romanian 8mm left, plus a bit of Yugoslav stuff.  Can't bring myself to shoot it, knowing how expensive it is nowadays & how much I'd have to pay for more.  Used to buy Turk 8mm for like $2.99 per 70 round bandoleer

[Baron von Schtinkenbutt]

I have a few rounds of Romanian 8mm left, plus a bit of Yugoslav stuff.  Can't bring myself to shoot it, knowing how expensive it is nowadays & how much I'd have to pay for more.  Used to buy Turk 8mm for like $2.99 per 70 round bandoleer

I guess its all relative.  I never paid attention to ammo prices back then.  Still, Cheaper Than Dirt has milsurp spam cans for $0.49/round, which is on par with .308/7.62.  More expensive than surplus rounds for your Mosin, though.

Actually, a Mosin is probably going to be the first rifle I buy.  I haven't found a good local source besides Cabelas yet, though, and Cabelas is stupid expensive for them.

[derspiess]

Mosin is a solid choice.  They're plentiful, relatively cheap, have lots of historical value, and the batches imported from Ukraine the past few years have been in great condition.  Also very reliable.  Even the old ones I had with mismatched bolts all had headspace within tolerances.  And cheap, cheap ammo of course.

How much does Cabelas have on them?  You may be best off ordering one through a transfer dealer.

[Baron von Schtinkenbutt]

$200, which is their regular price.  They were $180 last week.  A transfer rifle would be at least $160 after shipping and fees, and I don't get to pick the one I want off the rack.

[derspiess]

True.  $180 for being able to handpick exactly the one you want isn't too bad.  I can tell you though that the Mosins AIM Surplus has are all in excellent condition.  I've bought a few from them in the past year or so.

[Caliga]

An 88?

[The Brain]

How is that even legal over there?

[derspiess]

How is that even legal over there?

They pulled the product and advertising

[CountDeMoney]

Caliga and Oldsmobile win the thread.

Regarding firearms over 100 years old...I dunno, man.  The only thing I'd trust to handle with any degree of certainty would be a book, nevermind a firearm.

If you buy something like that to put rounds through, don't mess with anything that old until you take it to a firearms expert first, vM.  Somehow that strikes me as safer than the derspiess-in-the-backyard-with-Warsaw-Pact-surplus-ammo approach.

MAH BUG LAMP

[Baron von Schtinkenbutt]

I'm not firing anything used until it goes through a gunsmith's inspection.  I don't care how new it is, if the chain of custody is not factory->gun store->me it's getting an inspection.

Plus, I'm viewing this as antiquing for straight dudes.  If I can shoot these, that's just gravy.  The Mosins were very well kept by the Soviets; they put millions in excellent storage conditions in case they needed to arm shitloads of Zaytsevs in the event of a war with NATO, so there is a good chance of getting a rifle that is both a collector's piece and operable.  Something like the Gew88, if it's in good physical condition I wouldn't mind if I couldn't shoot it.  The one I saw, unfortunately, needed refinishing.

[11B4V]

I'm not firing anything used until it goes through a gunsmith's inspection.  I don't care how new it is, if the chain of custody is not factory->gun store->me it's getting an inspection.

Plus, I'm viewing this as antiquing for straight dudes.  If I can shoot these, that's just gravy.  The Mosins were very well kept by the Soviets; they put millions in excellent storage conditions in case they needed to arm shitloads of Zaytsevs in the event of a war with NATO, so there is a good chance of getting a rifle that is both a collector's piece and operable.  Something like the Gew88, if it's in good physical condition I wouldn't mind if I couldn't shoot it.  The one I saw, unfortunately, needed refinishing.

Refinishing it will drop what ever value it does have. Most folks buy Mosins, Mausers and the like. Another good choice is a high numbered '03 Springfield or an M1917. If you want an investment look into an M1 Garand. CMP has them for 625.00.  All shoot 30-06 and you have a large range of ammo from plinking surplus Prvi to match grade. People generally buy cheap low grade surplus Mosins and Mausers, that is whats popular to the masses, which you should avoid, which leads to surplus ammo shortages because the rifles are cheap. You generally wont see any of these nimrods with a '03, M17, M96, M1 Garand.

http://www.thecmp.org/sales/m1garand.htm

Other choices
Yugo M48
Swedish M96
SVT-40


 

[The Brain]

A Swedish rifle? Only borked once?

[11B4V]

A Swedish rifle? Only borked once?

The Swedish 6.5x55mm is an excellent round. I own two rifles in this caliber. One a CZ550 and the other built on a custom small ring M98 mauser action.

[derspiess]

Swedish Mausers are some of the most highly sought-after.  The M48 or maybe an M24/47 is the best deal in Mausers these days, though with the golden age of milsurps still in memory I can't bring myself to call them cheap.

SVT-40s are nice pieces of history but you wonder how the hell they expected Russian peasants to maintain them.  And they are prone to breaking down after a while.  I bought one a long time ago that was in beautiful condition.  Took it out & shot it for a while (took me several rounds to get the gas valve setting just right).  Had it sit in my safe for a while and then flipped it for twice what I paid. 

[derspiess]

I also once had a Finnish M39 Mosin that was built on an 1897-dated Russian receiver.  Almost looked like it had never been fired.  The rifle was assembled in 1944, but since the receiver was dated earlier than 1899 it was classified as an antique and therefore not regulated as a firearm. 

The one M39 I have left in my collection is also 1944-dated.  It's VKT production, which is the most common.  But the cool thing about it is that on the underside of the receiver tang, it has a New England Westinghouse mark, meaning the receiver was originally part of an M91 made in the US during 1915-1917 and shipped to Russia at some point before the Bolshevik revolution.  At some point it ended up in Finnish hands, either around 1918 or during WWII, and then the Finns used the receiver to make an M39 rifle. 

M39s are very accurate rifles.  Also much nicer looking than any of the Russian Mosins IMO.