Dummy's Guide to Mil-Surps

[osteodoc08]

I've read several threads with interest here lately. Certainly if there ever was a time to collect cheap milsurps, it was before I was of age (and knowledge) to buy them. So now is as good a time as any to get some milsurps before I regret not purchasing them 20-30 years down the road. The purpose will be of shooter grade representations of that particular arm. Currently I have the US arms squared away with an 03A3, P14 Eddystone, M1 carbine and M1 Garand. I'm not into ultra rare or super collector grades. Just good, solid shooter grade rifles to pass along to the kids if there is interest, as cast boolit shooters for fun and for a collection of representative military arms on a budget.

Are there any good reference materials for me to read through. Any good places to purchase from. Ones to get now or ones to avoid?

[upnorthwis]

Get a K31 Swiss from Simpson Ltd. for $325-$350. They're known as target rifles disguised as military rifles.

[ShooterAZ]

The CMP usually has a good supply of books (they used to anyway, I haven't checked recently) on US military rifles. As far as a good source to buy surplus rifles, J&G Sales always seems to have a good variety in stock.

[wrench]

A few well respected places to purchase...
http://www.empirearms.com/
http://www.simpsonltd.com/
http://www.allans-armory.com/aa.php
and the very good milsurp forum: http://forums.gunboards.com/

A Swiss K31, Finnish M39, Enfield rifles, some of the Yugoslav mausers are all still pretty available at decent prices. If you reload cast (of course), the sky's the limit for shooting.
I love getting those old military guns out to the range.

[OptimusPanda]

This is a good book to pick up.
"Bolt action military rifles of the world".
It doesn't have anywhere near all the variants and rarer rifles. Although you ought to be able to see most of the normalish stuff, get an idea of history of them, and what to look for in the wild. The pictures are pretty good too.

[Texas by God]

You still need a Trpdoor, a Krag, & an AR15 to square away your US segment. Settleing for mildly sportered samples will save you money maybe. The Swiss K31 will spoil you for the money. You will expect that accuracy from other milsurps and it won't be there. My .02. Best, Thomas.

[30calflash]

A Swiss K31, Finnish M39, Enfield rifles, some of the Yugoslav mausers are all still pretty available at decent prices. If you reload cast (of course), the sky's the limit for shooting.
I love getting those old military guns out to the range.

These, plus any other caliber Mauser in decent shooting condition. I'm partial to 6.5 Swedes and 7.65 Argy's myself.

IIRC this one has a lot of everything up to the 1960''s http://www.alibris.com/Small-Arms-of...861?matches=47

Luck in your search, 30CF

[mtnman31]

Some fun MILSURP shooters that are still reasonably priced:
Spanish FR8 (shoots the readily available 7.62x51)
Swiss K31's (as mentioned, very accurate)
Swiss Vetterli's (if you don't mind a little tinkering with cartridges and possibly converting the rifle)
French Lebel Rifles
Remington Rolling Blocks
Yugoslav M48 Mausers
Russian Nagants
Swedish Mausers (also very common to find these very accurate)
Italian Carcanos (brass can be expensive and seems to be made only occasionally)
French MAS-36 and MAS-49 rifles

Shooter grade rifles in all of these should be available in the 200-500 dollar range. If patient you may even be able to find a few under 200. Some of the calibers are unique and reloading is the only way to shoot them without breaking the bank.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Back before the internet was all the rage, I'd get a annual magazine called Mil-surp rifles, I'd read that cover to cover many times over...I have no idea if it's still around or not, I see one called "military surplus" on amazon?

My own tips would be, try to find un-molested examples.

another tip, be it an old one...US made is always better (for increasing in value) then foreign made. The Rifles that made me money, besides an old Krag carbine I stumbled into, was US made lend-lease to the brits...or US made nagants to the Czar ...both made me some major coin. But that info is decades old, I have no idea "what is what" on today's market?

[osteodoc08]

You still need a Trpdoor, a Krag, & an AR15 to square away your US segment. Settleing for mildly sportered samples will save you money maybe. The Swiss K31 will spoil you for the money. You will expect that accuracy from other milsurps and it won't be there. My .02. Best, Thomas.

I have several AR variants.

I was looking at a Remington Rolling Block but didn't know enough about it to make an informed purchase. Rifling was pristine but exterior was maybe 50%. No significant pitting. I know there are several variants.

I did indeed forget about the Krag. I'll have to scrounge one of them and maybe get a nice Springfield M14 variant.

Thanks for the book ideas. I'll add a few to my Midway order tonight.

[Mk42gunner]

One thing I will recommend is that you get a couple hundred rounds of brass for any rifle you get that isn't one of the readily available standard rounds. Also if you get a rifle that requires a clip to function as a repeater (Berthier, Carcano, Mannlicher) get several of the clips, for that matter M1 clips aren't as common as they used to be either.

Robert

[Shiloh]

Got one that came from Century Arms about 15 years ago.

Shiloh

[samari46]

You also need to get a nice U.S Model of 1917 enfield in 30-06. Regarding the clips or stripper clips. Get as many as you can afford, many of them used to get thrown away when they were common or cheap. I got lucky years ago while at a gun show. Dealer had original M1 Garand enblock clips in the original gov't packaging and since it was a Sunday made me an offer I didn't refuse. Same for Moisin clips, British 303 chargers, mauser and the list goes on. Frank