Best Old Military Rifles

[Ben]

I'd have to say 1903 Springfield, followed by a 98' Mauser in 8 X 57 mm

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=149699

[Bret4207]

This hasn't been mentioned- if you want an off the shelf hunting rifle, the Steyr 95 wins the contest. Light, powerful, a safety built for a hunter and adequate sights. Not too many looking for that anymore though.

For sheer pleasure of use I like the 91 Mauser. For accuracy the Swiss K-31 and 03 Springfield. For all around best of show- The Swede 96, M38.

[KCSO]

Good grief no Enfield fans! Fastest shooting quickest reloading and still relativly cheap on the market. I love Krags but they are way to spendy now, same with 03's and Garands. The most accurate out of the box are the K31's but they have about dried up and the price is right up there. Mausers are variable in price and there is a lot of cheap ammo yet. Mostly it depends on what strikes your fancy.

[Multigunner]

Good grief no Enfield fans! Fastest shooting quickest reloading and still relativly cheap on the market. I love Krags but they are way to spendy now, same with 03's and Garands. The most accurate out of the box are the K31's but they have about dried up and the price is right up there. Mausers are variable in price and there is a lot of cheap ammo yet. Mostly it depends on what strikes your fancy.

The Lee Enfields are fine rifles, but as NickSS and I already mentioned many of these rifles require extra work in reloading.
I tightened my No.4 up till it doesn't stretch cases and have had excellent results in handloading for it.
Handloading for the run of the mill Lee Enfield usually requires some specialized preparation in fire forming cases, such as the O-ring method so often mentioned on this forum.

A long in the tooth mauser can be even more difficult when it comes to fire forming,(first necking up, forming a false shoulder, then neck sizing) but those with excessive headspace wouldn't be considered as desirable anyway.

[wiljen]

1917 Enfield. Decent sights, accurate, and strong enough to make a mauser look dainty.

[catmandu]

I have to agree with wilgen.
M1917 Enfield - one tough old girl.

M1 Garand a close second. (its tougher on brass)

Paul in WNY

[gnoahhh]

1903 Springfield
U.S.Krag-Jörgensen
MI Garand
98 Mauser
K-31
1917 Enfield

My preferences, in about that order. Remember, the selection of .30 molds is better than any other caliber. The rest are ok. I've a soft spot for nice No.1 MkIII*'s, and some of the Mannlichers are pretty interesting. I just could never warm up to any of the stuff intended for peasant armies- accurate as some of them may be. Just because they're cheap isn't a big draw- I would rather spend that $100 on supplies to keep the good ones shooting than to simply add another gun to the collection. Just my opinion, worth the usual bucket of warm spit!

[Ola]

My Mosin M44 can barely hit the broadside of a barn at 50 yards. In fact, it's easier and less frustrating to let the rifle sit there and wait for the barn to come to it...

Do you have the one with fixed bayonet? Because the M44 was designed to be shot WITH the bayonet pointing forward and the position of the bayonet has a significant effect on the accuracy. It is not very accurate anyhow, but this is something that should be recognized with M44.

[Ola]

How about Arisaka? Here they used to be be popular (probably because the good availability). Shooters have been re-chambered them in all kinds of calibers. Even .300 WSM.

[emrah]

Ola,

Yes, I've tried it with bayonet extended. The bayonet changes point of impact, but not accuracy (grouping). Still working on trying to find the perfect sized boolit.

Emrah

[MtGun44]

Several good points made, Bret's list is pretty good.

'03 or '03A3 Springfield
Finn M39
Swiss K31
Swede M94 in 6.5 Swede
Chilean M95 in 7x57

are all very accurate rifles, listed in approximate order of accuracy that I have
seen personally.

I have fiddled a bit with 8x57 and know others have had great results but the
recoil and IME inaccuracy with at least 4 different rifles has soured me on the
cartridge. I have not given up totally, and have a couple of new examples that are
yet to be fully cleaned and tested, but at this point NOT a fan of 8x57, but huge
fan of 7x57.

[Mark Daiute]

Cut down trapdoor. Plenty of brass out there and even modest loads will take out anyhting in north America!

[greenwart]

My vote is the m96 swede with the K31 coming in second. Both are ideal cartridges though I prefer the 6.5x55 due to less recoil and if you want to mount a scope they are a bit easier than the K31. I own 2 in original military configuration and 2 sporterized Swedes. I also have two K31's in original configs. I also own a VZ23 which was refurbished by the Soviets. The action is quite nice but the barrel is marginal at best it has a huge throat and the grooves are way over sized and quite a bit of pitting probably due to corrosive ammunition. The 8mm has a significant recoil and beats me up to shoot it. If possible inspect the bore and condition before buying or buy from a dealer that has a great reputation.

Bob

[garandsrus]

The Swiss 1911 rifle is very cool also and not too common. There were only 133,000 made. It is an earlier model than the K-31 and is the longest rifle I own at 51.5". The K-31 is 43.6". Here's a comparison of the Swiss rifles: http://www.swissrifles.com/sr/detail/

John

[wallenba]

'03 Springfied =easy to load for but pricey
91/30 = cheap, brass can get hard to get and bores vary.
Mauser= pricey, but easy to reload for.
K31= priced right, almost all have decent bores. Brass is very difficult to get sometimes, but 284 Winchester brass is easily formed to 7.5x55 Swiss.

K31...if you can find one.

[leadshooter5]

My favorite is my 1949-produced No.4 Enfield. I replaced the rear sight with a windage and aperture adjustable Parker-Hale, and it loves lead boolits. I did have a No.5 jungle carbine though, with a grossly oversize chamber that really stretched the brass. May want to avoid, or carefully check out, the wartime produced guns.

[ksriverrat]

For right now I'm really liking the Springfield 03 & the Swiss K31.

The 03 because, it's well made, very usable for anything I would use a 30-06 for.

K31 because the ones I looked over yesterday were extremely well made, may be the most accurate rifle across it's production of any of the milsurp rifles. Thats what I am finding any way. Also it's straight pull bolt & how it works I find very intriguing.
Ammo or brass for it is not the hemroid I was making it out to be.

Of course I will be wanting a Mauser or 5........perpetual isnt it

[218bee]

1917 Enfield gets my vote.....and most any 6.5 Swede

[excess650]

For a shooter I prefer the K31 due to their excellent trigger, normally excellent barrels, 30cal 1-10.65" twist, capacity identical to 30-06, etc. Its safety mechanism is odd but it does have detachable magazines.

I had a Swede Type 38 but just didn't love the 6.5x55 cartridge. I have a cut down Turk K Kale and it may end up with a 308 barrel on it.

Truthfully, I've encountered used, older Remington 700 ADLs in 30-06 for low enough price to forget about milsurps. They already are D&T for scope, low bolt handle, adjustable triggers, good barrels...

[Who's this Guy ?]

Mosin-Nagant 7.62x54
Mauser 8mm Yugo/Russian capture 98K

Probably as other said would be on the cheap.
How far and what do you want to shoot, targets or to hunt etc.?

One gun not mentioned is the good ole' M-1 Carbine. It's a semi, plus they are still being made new, The ammo new is sold by the 50rnds and not the 20. You can reload for it pretty easy if you want to.

Plus if you go to the range, these young tactical crowd kids won't look at you funny because your using an old turn bolt LOL.....