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

[lrdg]

I know the thread is about milsurplus rifles, but consider the Star BM, 9MM. J&G in Prescott, AZ, is selling them for $150. We will be talking about them the same way in ten or twenty years.

[Earlwb]

I know the thread is about milsurplus rifles, but consider the Star BM, 9MM. J&G in Prescott, AZ, is selling them for $150. We will be talking about them the same way in ten or twenty years.

That reminds me of the British Webley Revolvers. After WWII jillions of them were sold off as surplus in the USA. I wonder what happened to them all. I rarely see one anymore. Both the 38 S&W and 455 Webley versions were sold here in the US. A bunch of the 455's were converted to 45 ACP too. But those are deemed unsafe and should only shoot loads that duplicate the 455 Webley cartridge. If I remember right, as a kid, they were selling for like $19.95 and later $24.95 each. They also sold lots of S&W revolvers chambered for the 38 S&W cartridge too. That was when S&W sold lots of revolvers to the British at the beginning of WWII.

I have a old S&W revolver chambered for 38 S&W, I need to take it out and shoot it some for the heck of it.

I found a old 1957 ad about it too. I remember seeing advertisements like this ages ago as a kid too. it sure makes one feel bad that they missed out on all the sales at the time when a Remington rolling block rifie was going for $13.95 then. Or the German Mausers for $39.95.


ref https://wwiiafterwwii.wordpress.com/...egacy-of-wwii/

[john.k]

The surplus guns were still same prices in the mid sixties,and there were a lot more antiques included ,as the importers found stocks of them.71/84 Mausers,Martini Henry Mk 11 s,all kinds of Euro klunkers like Beaumonts and Vetterlis ...........trouble was ,i didnt have $14-95 for a rolling block or a Martini,or a 71 mauser..........let alone near $100 for a Garand......and anyway ,there was always ones with rusty barrels in the pawn shops for $5 ,from idiots didnt clean them after the surplus ammo......then when the Turk 98s came on the market,they were everywhere for $20.Ive still got a Swede I paid $20 for ,straight from the shipping container.,and in new cond....Truth is its fired the one box of ammo came with it 40 years ago......cause I never liked straight Mauser stocks,they whack my cheek bone.

[lrdg]

I remember as a kid there was a local Army/Navy Surplus store called Yates. They had a 55 gallon drum full of 98 Mausers (German). Your choice, $20.

Like I had $20.

[john.k]

yep,$20 was money you didnt have.........my budget never ran to more than $5 guns,and preferably cheaper......in those days ,you could buy a decent second hand motorbike to ride to work for $10,and the first gun money I ever had was when the prices of old Indians and Harleys took off around 1970.Bikes I got for nothing ,I was selling for $50 ....Didnt last long tho,all the farmers wised up on prices very quick,and you couldnt find old cars or old bikes......I once found a nice 34 Ford coupe for $100,and didnt have the money to buy it.

[Baltimoreed]

Where’d I park my time machine?

[Lloyd Smale]

I get just the opposite message from that. If there going to ban them and im sure someday they will. Youd better get them while you can. I sure cant see in my lifetime police coming door to door confiscating ar15s. If they do theyd better have good body armor. Another smart reason to buy them is like I said for under 400 bucks you can put one together today. Even a gun scare sends prices to double that. You could buy an ar15 for 400 bucks sell it for 800 and get your military bolts at half price.

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.

[Lloyd Smale]

I bought a like new m1 carbine off a guy for 50 bucks in 1970 and the threw in a another one that was his beater for free. That's about what they sold for then. But back then a 5 dollar an hour job was considered a good job!

I remember as a kid there was a local Army/Navy Surplus store called Yates. They had a 55 gallon drum full of 98 Mausers (German). Your choice, $20.

Like I had $20.

[Adam Helmer]

That reminds me of the British Webley Revolvers. After WWII jillions of them were sold off as surplus in the USA. I wonder what happened to them all. I rarely see one anymore. Both the 38 S&W and 455 Webley versions were sold here in the US. A bunch of the 455's were converted to 45 ACP too. But those are deemed unsafe and should only shoot loads that duplicate the 455 Webley cartridge. If I remember right, as a kid, they were selling for like $19.95 and later $24.95 each. They also sold lots of S&W revolvers chambered for the 38 S&W cartridge too. That was when S&W sold lots of revolvers to the British at the beginning of WWII.

I have a old S&W revolver chambered for 38 S&W, I need to take it out and shoot it some for the heck of it.

I found a old 1957 ad about it too. I remember seeing advertisements like this ages ago as a kid too. it sure makes one feel bad that they missed out on all the sales at the time when a Remington rolling block rifie was going for $13.95 then. Or the German Mausers for $39.95.


ref https://wwiiafterwwii.wordpress.com/...egacy-of-wwii/

Earlwb,

Thanks for the REMINDER of how it once was and still could be. The GCA 68 gelded the military surplus heyday for NO good reason. We still have crime which had nothing to do with ending the military surplus gun trade. The "poster child" was supposedly Oswald used a $21.88 scoped 6.5 Carcano to make 3 shot in 6 seconds that were NEVER duplicated. It was enough "cover" to end military surplus arms sales for ALL honest US citizens! Really??

Adam

[Speedo66]

Didn't end surplus arms sales, just delivery to your house.

My new in the box Chinese SKS and two Swedes, a '96 and a '38, were bought well after that.

[edp2k]

What you are missing is, the 1968 GCA banned importing surplus military guns, as a result of the US sporting gun manufacture's lobbying.
That didn't get repealed until 1986, when we also lost "no more new full autos".

[lefty o]

Didn't end surplus arms sales, just delivery to your house.

My new in the box Chinese SKS and two Swedes, a '96 and a '38, were bought well after that.

with a C&R FFL, they'll still ship them right to your door in most states.

[BigAlofPa.]

I picked up this Mosin from my LGS for 200.00 OTD. I redid the wood. It came with the bayonet and sling and ammo pouch.

[Bigslug]

My favorite old magazine ad was from a 1959 issue a friend gave me. It had the usual $90-$100 Garands, the $15 Lee Enfields, the $20-$30 1903's, etc...

But what really stood out to me was how the LESS desirable WWI-era 1911 was about $37; the MORE desirable WWII-era 1911-A1 was $39; and that BOTH were cheaper than the $42 two-man inflatable life-raft.

[RogerDat]

I think the inexpensive surplus is gone. What does come on the market in small amounts might be a good price but won't be cheap. Recall the Greek government dumping 303 ammo as part of selling assets to deal with their debt problem? It was available for a little bit, good price, then gone. Nothing like the really cheap stuff one used to see at gun shows but still a good price.

Thing is several civilian versions of the military arms offer comparable value at decent prices. The AR platform is one, there are others but not my thing so I sort of don't pay them a whole lot of attention. Then there are a whole host of decent quality "budget" firearms available the model 700's the Mossberg 500's and 870's in shotguns. The mini-xx and ranch rifles or other Ruger carbines are not cheap but are priced competitive with the old military stuff that is similar. The used lever action market offers many good useful firearms at good used prices. As long as one avoids the "collectable" versions.

I reload and cast so "cheap to shoot" compared to commercial ammo is a given. I won't see the big battle packs of ammo from days gone by again but I doubt I'm paying much more than what they cost to cast and load my own. I do lament and hold a grudge against a local dealer and Bill Clinton. I put $100 deposit on a Garand with a small local firearms dealer at a weekend gun show. Going to pick the rifle up the following week at his home/business and pay the balance. Following week Bill Clinton stopped the Army from disposing of surplus Garands by selling them to the public. Price skyrocketed overnight and seller refused to honor deal. I know Bill got some payback for the bad karma and hope the seller did too. I would still admire to own one just not enough to spend what they cost today.

If you really like the semi-auto rifles then the SKS is probably a bargain with a lot of stock choices to bed it in. Then there is this list of several auto loaders of solid reputation at lower cost than many of the classic military arms. https://www.outdoorlife.com/photos/g...unting#page-21 For the 303 Enfield sportorized shooter type rifles I would and am considering the purchase of a poly Monte Carlo stock. The rifle stock is already cut to sporter it and in some ways a good poly stock would be superior to a mediocre sporterization.

[Tripplebeards]

I was going to buy a plastic stock set but the wood on the sporterized 303 is too nice. I just spent about 2 hours sanding and put a couple coats of minwax tounge finish on them.

[samari46]

Over the "good old days" I used to buy junkers just for their actions and wood if it wasn't trashed. Right now I have an 1895 Chilean action waiting for a Belgian never been on a rifle barrel. Win 54 action waiting for a 1919A4 MG barrel cut,threaded and chambered for the 30-30 and a marksman stock. Swedish 1896 action waiting for a sporter barrel in 8mm to get installed. And a few others. My favorites are the 1891 Argentine mauser actions. I have two with nice barrels, one in a Bishop stock and the other in a cut down military stock. Williams Gunsight years back had a booklet "how to convert military rifles" and still provided ideas. Frank

[jimb16]

I think you parked the time machine in 2242.

[Lloyd Smale]

Ill take 4 of each. M-59 M1 carbine m1 garand, springfield and lugers. ah heck throw in a pallet of those 1911s too.

That reminds me of the British Webley Revolvers. After WWII jillions of them were sold off as surplus in the USA. I wonder what happened to them all. I rarely see one anymore. Both the 38 S&W and 455 Webley versions were sold here in the US. A bunch of the 455's were converted to 45 ACP too. But those are deemed unsafe and should only shoot loads that duplicate the 455 Webley cartridge. If I remember right, as a kid, they were selling for like $19.95 and later $24.95 each. They also sold lots of S&W revolvers chambered for the 38 S&W cartridge too. That was when S&W sold lots of revolvers to the British at the beginning of WWII.

I have a old S&W revolver chambered for 38 S&W, I need to take it out and shoot it some for the heck of it.

I found a old 1957 ad about it too. I remember seeing advertisements like this ages ago as a kid too. it sure makes one feel bad that they missed out on all the sales at the time when a Remington rolling block rifie was going for $13.95 then. Or the German Mausers for $39.95.


ref https://wwiiafterwwii.wordpress.com/...egacy-of-wwii/

[Lloyd Smale]

just saw a bonnie and clyde movie where texas ranger frank Hamer went in a local hardware store and bought thompsons and bars for his troops.