So what’s the lastest and greatest best deal on a military surplus rifle?

[Earlwb]

I don't think there are any good deals anymore. After WWII there were millions of guns that flooded the market. Thus good deals were to be had everywhere. But in the 60 some off years since then, the surplus guns have been exhausted. There aren't that many left anymore. The French MAS rifles were probably the last and those are pretty much all sold off now too. The French tended to hang onto stuff long after they quit using them. Now there may be some small countries with a warehouse of old guns still moldering someplace. But those will be small quantities. I suppose that the Russians and the old iron curtain countries may still have large numbers of Mosin-Nagants though. Russia had sent a bunch of Mosins to Venezuela recently. But the surplus prices in the stores isn't all that good for them though. At least I feel it isn't. Other surplus guns wind up being sold for what I feel are high prices. I still remember buying Japanese and Italian rifles for $100 for five of them. With Mausers going for $40, Argentine Mausers at $40 each and Saimese Mausers at three for $100. Then SKS rifles were $79.95 each and brand new Chinese Mosins were going for less than $100 too. Unfortunately that was years ago, But then my brain has trouble getting used to inflation. So maybe $40 dollars back then is now worth $400 today, I don't know.

[izzyjoe]

I got in on the tail end it, in 90's I remember the cheap milsurp stuff, but I didn't have a lot of extra cash. I did buy a nice SMLE sporter in a bishop stock, wished I'd keep it. Then around 2000 I started buying Mausers mostly the Turk stuff, but they made very nice customs! Those days are gone, and will never come back. That's why a lot of guys have started building savage, AR's, cause there easy to work on, not cheap, but easy, cause it doesn't require a lot of tooling.

[LAGS]

I was lucky.
Back in 2008 I picked up several Yugo Mausers and Russian Capture 98's at very good prices with the intent that I knew I was going to be out of work for a while with the recession.
I wanted something to play with while I was sitting at home.
I took some of the ones that were not worth cleaning up and shooting in original form, and installed new barrels and took the ones with bad stocks and either sporterized them or built new stocks for them.
And all the bad ones were stripped down and used to mix and match the parts to make up a complete restorable rifle.
I took a lot of the Mismatched parts and built some nice Customs that I am going to hang on to.
I still have about a dozen in the original form in the Better condition that I have not done anything with them.
But recently, I am downsizing and tried to sell off most of them.
There was only Limited interest because everyone around here wants AR's or AR parts guns.
They can buy a complete AR for the same price as a lot of the Mausers are going for now.
No one even wanted to give me what I paid for them ten years ago.
I guess I will just sit on them some more, or use them like I did with the sporters , and use them in Horse trading for other things I wanted.
But back in 2010 when I was originally working on them, Everyone else was out of work and did not have the money to buy what I had.
But most of those people want the same deal I had bought them for, because they remember the deals they couldn't afford at the time.
Even LGS's wanted to give me a Dime on the Dollar for them.

[Bigslug]

Consider your boat missed.

The last big influx was in the early '90s after the Soviet Union went bankrupt and sold off a lot of their surplus and WWII German captures in exchange for ready cash. Much of the similar era goodies from their Eastern Europe satellite states came over at the same time.

A lot of British, Swedish, Swiss, and French stuff came over at the same time - probably both to make money and to get those evil firearms out of their socialist utopias.

Now the well is drier and there's more resistance to getting them into the U.S. Amusingly/irritatingly, CMP is still bringing Garands in from overseas, but M1 carbines, with their detachable magazines, are too close to "assault weapons". It's simple supply and demand - your $70 Russian SKS is now good for just shy of a thousand bucks.

Your best bet is to haunt the gun shops for when some guy who loaded up on these in 1995 dies and his relatives hock his stuff.

[RED BEAR]

I really like the old top break revolvers you can pick them up for little to nothing if you look even if they need a little work most parts are still available. And the little 32's are very cheap to shoot.

[tdoor4570]

I like the idea that something was made 100 years ago. Its an antique and built like a Sherman tank versus the cheap mass produce rifles today. I’d like to see what’s left of an axis, Mossberg, or 788 in another hundred years. I’d take a modern rifle for hunting over mil surplus all day long. I just would like a few for its history, keepsake, and plinking.

I'm just the opposite, I'll take a mil surplus over a modern rifle any day of the week. they just work when you need them, anything forged in combat will work in the field.

[LAGS]

@ Red Bear
I am with you on the Old Top Breaks.
I have a whole collection of them I picked up for next to nothing.
The ones that had the barrels or cylinders that were too rusted to shoot, were then Sleeved to a smaller caliber and are shooting just fine.
I sleeved the .38 S&W's to .32 , and converted some of the .32's to 25 ACP or .22 RF
I even sleeved a .32 RF to .22 LR with a barrel liner epoxied in and sleeves for the cylinders epoxied in since .32 RF cant be found, and the barrel was Iffy at best to try and shoot in .32 with the Ramset primer adapters.
I call the collection my Suicide Specials.
This is only part of my collection

[jimb16]

I thought I was overpaying when I bought a Mosin sniper for $350. I see them selling at shows now for $1000-$1200. YIPES!

[RED BEAR]

Lags thats a nice collection. My wife asked me if 32 was the only caliber made any more.

[Earlwb]

I thought I was overpaying when I bought a Mosin sniper for $350. I see them selling at shows now for $1000-$1200. YIPES!

The run of the mill common ones were going for $400 each when I last looked recently. I remember when they used to sell for $29.95 and then on to $40 to $50 each.

[toallmy]

Yesterday I bumped into a fellow that handed me a Argentino 1909 , and said if will work for you give me a 100. Dollar bill when you see me . It's been in the closet since the mid 80s when the county banned center fire rifle deer hunting . A lot those rifles that were imported are still around .

[Texas by God]

Yesterday I bumped into a fellow that handed me a Argentino 1909 , and said if will work for you give me a 100. Dollar bill when you see me . It's been in the closet since the mid 80s when the county banned center fire rifle deer hunting . A lot those rifles that were imported are still around .

And you bought it, right? Right? Right?
I was smack in the middle of the second Milsurp boom. I bought several Enfield 38/200 revolvers from Martin Redding for $25 each, Swede 96 rifles for $49, Egyptian Hakims for $100, SKS and a case of ammo was $100 and so forth. I bought a Beautiful 7x57mm Mauser 1935 Chilean barrel(unissued) for $15. An original Mauser 93 made for the Turks was $65. On and on and I’ve nothing to show for it but it sure was fun!!

[Earlwb]

I remember those rifles too I had bought some at the time as well. I liked the huge Egyptian Hakim 8x57 rifle. It was large, heavy, and cumbersome, but it was fun to shoot with the mild recoil. I didn't envy the soldiers that had to carry it in the hot Saharan desert way back then. If I remember right mine was one of the ones captured by the Israelis and sold off as surplus after their last war in the region. I do remember having to spend forever getting all of the sand particles out of it. That was a real pain. The sand had gotten into everything.

[toallmy]

And you bought it, right? Right? Right?
I was smack in the middle of the second Milsurp boom. I bought several Enfield 38/200 revolvers from Martin Redding for $25 each, Swede 96 rifles for $49, Egyptian Hakims for $100, SKS and a case of ammo was $100 and so forth. I bought a Beautiful 7x57mm Mauser 1935 Chilean barrel(unissued) for $15. An original Mauser 93 made for the Turks was $65. On and on and I’ve nothing to show for it but it sure was fun!!

Yep - but now I'm stuck with what to do with it . Set up to load 765 or change it to something else .
I must be very careful I think these old mauser rifles could become a habit .

[Lloyd Smale]

you can put together an ar15 today for about the same money factoring in cost of living as the beat up sks's they sold for 80-100 bucks in the mid 90s. Got to say that other then nostalisa Id take an ar15 any day over an sks if they both cost the same and would take a savage, rem, win or ruger entry level bolt gun anyday over a military surplus gun. 98 mausers an springfields are no doubt made out of better material but there expensive and need more money in work to turn into a valid hunting rifle then the cost of a new axis or American. But some guys are just into the nostalsia thing and that's ok too. Honestly I wish I had the 3 m1 carbines ive owned back in my safe today. Id take an m1a if someone was selling them cheap too. but I can build 2 ar15s and a ar10 for what either one of those guns can be bought for today. Just never got the itch for but ugly bolt guns.

[Tripplebeards]

I picked a sportorized 7.65 1891 Argentine I bought years ago that my dad claims it was his. It was at a the LGS. I bought it for him as a Christmas present that year. I traded in a H&r 410, a single shot ithica 22 lever action, and $40 for it at the time. He had it dtilled and tapped for a Williams peep sight right after I gave it to him. Uhg! I learned how to adjust a peep that year and shot a doe at about a 150 yards on a full leap! It was making huge leaps across a field and I put the bead on its nose when it was about 10’ in the air and flipped it sideways. It hit the ground and slid sideways for about 15 yards! I hit it in the backbone. DRT...in the air and flipped sideways!!! The only deer I’ve ever shot with it. I shot my first buck about 15 minutes earlier and switched guns with my dad at the time since we had some bonus tags and figured he’d like a scoped optic with his old eyes. It was a good day!

[Adam Helmer]

Tripplebeards,

Excellent Thread; thanks for the trip down memory lane. I bought my first military surplus arm in 1958 at the age of 13, in the presence of my parents, for $13.88. I mowed many lawns and bought every surplus arm I could thereafter. Unfortunately the GCA 1968 ended the heyday of fine military surplus arms.

Gun control laws are voted into place by folks who know nothing about guns and crime. That terrible trend continues to this day!

Most younger shooters at my local gun club know about ARs, but when I uncase a 6.5 Swedish M1938, a Hakim, a Madsen M58, etc., they gather about and ask what is it??

The only source of vintage military arms hereabouts is in the local "Penny Saver" weekly paper and not the LGS. Old guys are dying off and many heirs have no interest in vintage arms.

Adam

[Earlwb]

you can put together an ar15 today for about the same money factoring in cost of living as the beat up sks's they sold for 80-100 bucks in the mid 90s. Got to say that other then nostalisa Id take an ar15 any day over an sks if they both cost the same and would take a savage, rem, win or ruger entry level bolt gun anyday over a military surplus gun. 98 mausers an springfields are no doubt made out of better material but there expensive and need more money in work to turn into a valid hunting rifle then the cost of a new axis or American. But some guys are just into the nostalsia thing and that's ok too. Honestly I wish I had the 3 m1 carbines ive owned back in my safe today. Id take an m1a if someone was selling them cheap too. but I can build 2 ar15s and a ar10 for what either one of those guns can be bought for today. Just never got the itch for but ugly bolt guns.

One good point for the old bolt guns is the anti-gun crowd will ban them last. The AR's are at the top of their hit list.

[Earlwb]

Yep - but now I'm stuck with what to do with it . Set up to load 765 or change it to something else .
I must be very careful I think these old mauser rifles could become a habit .

There isn't anything wrong with the caliber, it is a good shooting round. Well, as a teenager, I used one as my deer rifle at the time. I had gotten a Lyman rear sight put on it too. I had bagged several deer at the time using it. Many years later I gave it to my brother in law, but he didn't want to reload and didn't want to pay the Norma ammo prices. But it wasn't like he shot it much, maybe a couple three rounds every year. He eventually sold it of all things and didn't offer to give it back to me. I don't remember him getting another rifle to go hunting with either.

[country gent]

When I started in shooting NRA High Power a CMP / DCM garand in pretty decent shape was $169.00 to your door. Shooting the spring beginners match at Perry and belonging to a recognized club you could buy one. For a few years you could buy the one you shot at the match even. I too can remember the $99.00 sks and aks with $89.00 a 1000 round case of surplus ammo. In the 50s and 60s it was o3s and mausers most were sporterized to one extant or another by smiths or do it yourselfers. SLedgly, Griffen and Howe, and some other Shops made big business of this and produced some very nice rifles. Brownells, Kings, And some other made big businesses out of selling the parts to sporterize by the home tinkerer. Now with the numbers done there are few in original issue and prices are driven up. In the hey day this was big business and was the way to go.