@@niceMange probably bc it's a longer action. you have to take your head away and disturb sight picture, and people think it's not as strong as a k31. I want a k31 before any of the previous inferior designs
@iamAwesomo1994 I started off with k31s because they were $89 back then sold most still have a couple walnut ones, but later picked up both a 96/11 and k11, they feel alot slimmer than the k31, the action despite having a longer throw is still smooth and for the price and availability difference does scratch the same swiss surplus itch. The way collecting goes you end up with them all anyway but certainly don't pass any good deals that fall into your lap
Wasn't cheap but earlier this year I picked up an 1891 Argentine because I fell in love with the aesthetic and feel of the early mauser rifles. Thing still looks like it just got off the production line at Ludwig Loewe and I couldn't be happier reloading for it and making solid hits at 700 yards on a steel gong. Plus I've loaded for .303 Brit my whole life now and had plenty of .311 projectiles. Anyway I appreciate the work you're doing man and I'm glad some of the underappreciated rifles we took for granted for so long are now having their air time!
If you have/ get 7.65x53 dies, you can cut the necks off 30'06 brass and run them through the dies and re trim the necks and you have 7.65x53 brass!! The head, rim are identical to the 30'06.
I recently bought an 1891 Argentine Mauser at Cabelas for $500. It’s in great shape, and came with the bayonet! The metal butt plate is rough on the shoulder though, definitely getting a pad for it soon.
Morning mate, i have never really been a pretty boy rifle type of guy, appreciate them, dont get me wrong. I have always been a Milsurp guy so if its rough, well for me, its good.
J&G Sales is offering CZ-82 pistols at $300. C&R eligible. I have one (not from J&G). Good shooter and the ammo (9x18 Mak) is available. Also, I would second the Swiss rifle recommendation. Edelweiss Arms usually has a sale (15/20% off?) around this time of year, as well. Cant go wrong with a K31 or K11. Ammo is available (7.5x55 Swiss). The individual rifle descriptions on their website are excellent.
I have mentioned the K31 and K11s in previous videos. For being current importations, they are great choices, and plus, you could find a Soldier tag in the buttplate
I picked up a 03 A3 that had been Sporterized for cheap . When I brought it home I discovered that the bore was rusty. Dam oh well a candidate for the 35 Whelen project. But being a Marine I decided to give it a good cleaning to my surprise the bore was shining . Sometimes you get lucky sometimes you don't . Needless to say the 35 Whelen project is put on the back burner for now.
Got a no.1 mklll ishapore Enfield that got bored to a 410 shotgun for 79 bucks that needed a bolt that I already had laying around. Restored pretty easy and they got more for the 120 range on center fire systems. Only problem is you have to make ammo for them from 303 Britt
Steinel Ammo. Excellent tip! I have Steinel for my Nagant rifle but I have not shot it yet. I'll try that fishing line trick on my Carcano next time out. I'm kind of interested in the Yugo Mauser. Great video, thanks! I always learn stuff watching you.
@@russwoodward8251 I love M48As and M48Bs. Not as smooth to run as other Mauser actions but they're solid. Only true complaint is the lowest setting is 200 meters. Other than that they're lightweight and once you pick a load your rifle likes they're accurate enough.
If you have 7.65x53 dies, you can cut the necks off of 30'06 brass and run them through the 7.65x53 dies and re trim the necks and then you have 7.65x53 brass!!
Great video. so sad i didnt scoop up any mausers or mosins back in the day. would love an old surplus rifle to deer hunt and not worry about dinging up my rifle walking throught the brush
The best milsurp that is available is the M1 Garand. Buy rack grade from CMP for 800 bucks and they will deliver straight to your door. No FFL required so no fee. Ammo is also readily available through CMP. Plus it is great for competition, hunting, home defense, and invading other countries.
@@rooknadoCivilian Marksmanship Program ships directly to you. No FFL. Always has. I bought 3 and they were shipped directly to my house...no FFL. And they are relatively inexpensive and we're in excellent condition. You have to be a CMP member... Membership is easy to get and costs nothing.
Great video as always. A lot of those Mausers are unappreciated, especially Yugo(my favorite), Spanish and Turkish. I think a lot of miss labels rifles like a month ago I found a finish Mosin that was marked as a regular 91/30 for three Hundo.
I picked up an M39 for $500 because they didn't know anything beyond Mosin at an auction a month or so ago. Just one other dude there knew what it but bowed out for me.
For Mausers, turk are sub par quality, Spanish are beat to shit small ring generally (I really want an FR8 though) and Yugoslavians are slept on and that's okay. They're still not cheap, but they're not overly expensive yet. They tend to be in decent shape still as well.
@@SonOfTheDawn515 I picked up a Yugo M48 last month with the Bayonet for 400 . Not a smoking deal but it was in really good shape and had some Serbian trench art on it. I love trench art
Another good video brother..👍👍 As you know,I buy from HL do to the prices and dont mind the wait... I've had good luck with my Enfield No.1 Mk.4,German K98k and SKS... Im looking to get a Carcano, Mosin Nagant 91/30 and maybe a 7mm Spanish Mauser from HL... The Spanish Mausers they have are not expensive, and they have a lot of them.. The 7mm Spanish Mauser would make a nice budget deer rifle or truck gun..Again good video.. stay safe and watch your six. 🇺🇲
A roughy late type 99 is a top rifle to find as a historical peice. Norma has done brass for both 7.7 and 6.5 arisaka but has slacked off. Get out and bust some chops people and get them to make it again!😂. Fn mausers in 3006 and turkish mausers are great value here in Australia but "kennedy" carcano carbines can be had for around $300+/-us here with great bores. I think the ammo supply puts people off using them but if aussies are here watching Beretta imports ppu for them
If you have a type 99 arisaka and you want to shoot it but run out of 7.7jap you can either turn down the rim on 303 Brit or use 308. Only issue with using 308 is that it will fire for to the chamber. Roughly the same pressure across the board though
@@jefflucius3354 I will keep that in mind for the type 99 I get when it comes up for sale, I had read somewhere that the 7.7 was pretty much a clone of the 303 and there is loads of 303 here in Australia so thats handy to know cheers.
I got my first Lee Enfield , which was a C- Grade No1 MkIII with no bolt from RTI for $100. Which interestedly came with a complete bolt. Cleaned up nice, bore is ok and passed muzzle test. Just need a new forend. Definitely leaning toward getting a Carcano Carbine from RTI for Black Friday. Maybe a M43 Spanish Mauser from Hunters Lodge. And if I’m willing to roll the dice again, a No4 Mk1 from RTI
Great list, Definitely been seeing a fair amount of mausers and some 91/30 mosins pop up at prices in the 300-400. Check your local shops, with hunting season upon us or behind us lots of folks trade in a safe queen towards something newer, and you aren’t at the mercy of some of the online charges.
I recently got mine for $500 in really really good condition and all matching serials built in 1932. Pretty sure I overpaid but hey I missed my old mosin and this one was way way better.
@ hey that’s great! I don’t think you overplayed really if it’s what you wanted. 7.62x54r is still cheaper then 30-06 and .308 target grade from reputable retailers, not by much but it’s still cheaper.
Thinking about cheap.....hmmm. Well, when SKS rifles were being imported and you could pick one up for around $75, I was a broke-assed college student and could not even afford one. Looking at simple inflation, those guns would now sell for around $350 to $400 each. But since those early days, I worked my butt off for 40 years and got 1. a retirement, 2. major savings in an IRA, and 3. significant social security, all as monthly income. I retired over 10 years ago and now have an income about double what I made on my highest work year and now no kids to raise! So considering my present income, an SKS in the price below $600 is a bargain to me. In fact, I managed to get a pawn shop broker down 20% on his price and bought a Chinese Norinco 7.62 X 39 with sticker bayonet, sling and stock hosted lube kit for $499, of course I paid tax etc, damn feds. So now I have a nice used semi-auto rifle in an ammo caliber that I can still get locally at not too high a price. Only thing I needed to purchase was a stock cleaning rod, which I did for $10 plus shipping, and some extra stripper military stripper clips. I also bought a NOS Chinese clip harnass. This rifle is my bug out/bug in, SHTF defense gun, and my deer hunter gun, to go with my small game .22LR semi-autos....got three Marlin 60s. I do not care for bolt action rifles and shotguns. Gimme pump or semi auto shotguns. Thanks for reading my ramblings! HA HA
Six people watched him shoot. Half a dozen heard him fire the three shots from the fifth floor. It amazes me, people who claim to understand trajectories tell silly stories like you just did.
I really appreciate the trouble you’ve gone too in making this video. But honestly the to buy ex mil was around the 1980’s. Today for the price to buy one to hunt with is a new Howa, Browning AB3, Remington 783, or other modern rifle budget rifle on special. I’d save up and look for a good ex mil to collect, target shoot, etc. Thanks for sharing. 🙏
Hate to break it to you bud, but milsurp is dead as a door nail.... The appeal used to be the fact that they were cheap as hell and widely available and so was the ammo, at a time where modern arms were wwwwaaaayyyyy more expensive. It would be the equivalent to mid to lower tier modern arms today running $1,200 to $2,400. Boomers(think their turds are made of gold, and live to rip off zoomers) and zoomers(too dumb to know the actual value of "that totally cool video game gun") pure straight wrecked it and the fact that you can now get mid to high tier modern arms for the same price or cheaper was the rose on the grave. With the war coming, not many milsurps will be very useful in a practical sense. I made a few M1 Garands into modern DMRs, maybe you could modify an SKS or a few others.... but if you're buying today, your money is better spent on modern stuff. I'm not happy that it's dead, but it is.
That's for the average consumer. For people like me, milsurps are connections to the past, pieces of history that can be owned and get an appreciation for how other infantrymen had to fight when carrying and shooting these weapons with basic gear. It's also to appreciate the design, engineering, and manufacturing of times past and what could be achieved with the knowledge and thinking back. If all you want to do is plink, then yes, there are far better choices out there for economic and ergonomic reasons but it isn't just about sending metal down range and killing quadrupeds.
As far as... Modifying military surplus, it's rather disgusting and why prices of unmolested milsurps go up. Supply goes down and inflation goes up. Yes, some fucks over price their their stuff and that hurts us more poor collectors who value history as much as those who violate our rights AND the constitution. I just went to some gun shows the last couple of months that guys had their stuff way over priced, some had them under priced actually, and some were just straight up fair. But it's only been in the mid west I've seen prices like that. In Florida they've been way over priced and Arizona as well. But out here (Midwest) it appears mostly honest older guys just liquidating their collection who don't have relatives who appreciate the stuff and actually like guys like me who know their stuff and genuinely collect and will negotiate prices. Another tip is try to get in the know about local auctions and estate sales. I picked up an all matching 1942 M39 for $500 two months ago that way. Another issue is that people think gunbroker is the go to for gun prices. Know your stuff. There actually is a gun blue book that's updated yearly and there are actual firearms appraisers.
Cabela asks outrageous prices for ‘’military surplus’’, & why purchase a firearm that ammo isn’t readily available? Guess if ya want a wall hanger ,I dunno🤷♂️
If you are into reloading it's not a big deal or it has significance to you (IE I want every iteration of X firearm). I've gotten away from collecting arms that don't have readily available and affordable ammunition myself. I only buy shootable pieces with ammunition from big name ammunition manufacturers now. It sucks because I love 9x18 pistols and .380 but for the price I might as well just stick to 9x19. However, I am building my infantry rifle and carbine collection of major powers from WW2 so the unavailable ammo is okay in certain regards. After that will be WW1 and then cold war.
For what you're getting, the Swiss rifles are still a good deal. Top quality, usually in excellent condition, and accurate to boot.
That is true, I was considering it on the list but I’ve seen K31s go for $100-$300 more than last year
Thanks!
The 96/11 and k11 don't get quite as much attention as the k31s so can usually get them a bit cheaper
@@niceMange probably bc it's a longer action. you have to take your head away and disturb sight picture, and people think it's not as strong as a k31. I want a k31 before any of the previous inferior designs
@iamAwesomo1994 I started off with k31s because they were $89 back then sold most still have a couple walnut ones, but later picked up both a 96/11 and k11, they feel alot slimmer than the k31, the action despite having a longer throw is still smooth and for the price and availability difference does scratch the same swiss surplus itch. The way collecting goes you end up with them all anyway but certainly don't pass any good deals that fall into your lap
Wasn't cheap but earlier this year I picked up an 1891 Argentine because I fell in love with the aesthetic and feel of the early mauser rifles. Thing still looks like it just got off the production line at Ludwig Loewe and I couldn't be happier reloading for it and making solid hits at 700 yards on a steel gong. Plus I've loaded for .303 Brit my whole life now and had plenty of .311 projectiles. Anyway I appreciate the work you're doing man and I'm glad some of the underappreciated rifles we took for granted for so long are now having their air time!
If you have/ get 7.65x53 dies, you can cut the necks off 30'06 brass and run them through the dies and re trim the necks and you have 7.65x53 brass!! The head, rim are identical to the 30'06.
I recently bought an 1891 Argentine Mauser at Cabelas for $500. It’s in great shape, and came with the bayonet! The metal butt plate is rough on the shoulder though, definitely getting a pad for it soon.
Morning mate, i have never really been a pretty boy rifle type of guy, appreciate them, dont get me wrong. I have always been a Milsurp guy so if its rough, well for me, its good.
J&G Sales is offering CZ-82 pistols at $300. C&R eligible. I have one (not from J&G). Good shooter and the ammo (9x18 Mak) is available. Also, I would second the Swiss rifle recommendation. Edelweiss Arms usually has a sale (15/20% off?) around this time of year, as well. Cant go wrong with a K31 or K11. Ammo is available (7.5x55 Swiss). The individual rifle descriptions on their website are excellent.
I have mentioned the K31 and K11s in previous videos. For being current importations, they are great choices, and plus, you could find a Soldier tag in the buttplate
I bought a CZ 82 with my C&R, great gun.
I picked up a 03 A3 that had been Sporterized for cheap . When I brought it home I discovered that the bore was rusty. Dam oh well a candidate for the 35 Whelen project. But being a Marine I decided to give it a good cleaning to my surprise the bore was shining . Sometimes you get lucky sometimes you don't . Needless to say the 35 Whelen project is put on the back burner for now.
Got a no.1 mklll ishapore Enfield that got bored to a 410 shotgun for 79 bucks that needed a bolt that I already had laying around. Restored pretty easy and they got more for the 120 range on center fire systems. Only problem is you have to make ammo for them from 303 Britt
Get the 7.62 version. .410?! Lol.
I found a 1904/39 Vergueiro for 399 a month ago. I talked it down to 375 OTD.
You can get an Isreali 98K chambered in 7.62 for a good price and in better condition than some of the others.
Yea I have seen one of those. And the action is strong on the 98k and should be ok for the 308 pressures.
Where have you found them??
I recently acquired a Type 99 for $250. Turned out it had a Type 38 Bolt. Ebay got me a correct bolt for only $120. Now I have to buy a Type 38. 😂😂😅
Czech mausers are arguably the best of the 98 style rifles. Vz24s are excellent!
I have found the Vz.24s to be outstanding. Such a great rifle. The Persians (Iran) made a very well done copy with Czech tooling known as the M49.
No argument. But don't discount the m47 Yugoslavia Mauser 😊
@stormlakebobcat9058 i had an M48 and a sporterized M48a. Both fine shooters.
I have a CZ 98/22 little blueing left but a great bore . I downed a Big Whitetail Doe with it years ago.
Steinel Ammo. Excellent tip! I have Steinel for my Nagant rifle but I have not shot it yet. I'll try that fishing line trick on my Carcano next time out. I'm kind of interested in the Yugo Mauser. Great video, thanks! I always learn stuff watching you.
Glad you found it helpful!
@@russwoodward8251 I love M48As and M48Bs. Not as smooth to run as other Mauser actions but they're solid. Only true complaint is the lowest setting is 200 meters. Other than that they're lightweight and once you pick a load your rifle likes they're accurate enough.
If you have 7.65x53 dies, you can cut the necks off of 30'06 brass and run them through the 7.65x53 dies and re trim the necks and then you have 7.65x53 brass!!
I used to do that when I had a Swiss WWII rifle....it was a fine shooter!
The 7mm is also great and you can find ammo
Great video. so sad i didnt scoop up any mausers or mosins back in the day. would love an old surplus rifle to deer hunt and not worry about dinging up my rifle walking throught the brush
What about m95’s sure the ammo is unattainable but but you can fire form 7.62x54R and reload it to 8x50R
The best milsurp that is available is the M1 Garand. Buy rack grade from CMP for 800 bucks and they will deliver straight to your door. No FFL required so no fee. Ammo is also readily available through CMP. Plus it is great for competition, hunting, home defense, and invading other countries.
I would definitely agree that the M1 Garand through the CMP is the best readily available Milsurp deal out there. I’ve covered it in many videos
How could no FFL be required? Hows that possible
@@rooknadoCivilian Marksmanship Program ships directly to you. No FFL. Always has. I bought 3 and they were shipped directly to my house...no FFL. And they are relatively inexpensive and we're in excellent condition. You have to be a CMP member... Membership is easy to get and costs nothing.
Great video as always. A lot of those Mausers are unappreciated, especially Yugo(my favorite), Spanish and Turkish. I think a lot of miss labels rifles like a month ago I found a finish Mosin that was marked as a regular 91/30 for three Hundo.
I picked up an M39 for $500 because they didn't know anything beyond Mosin at an auction a month or so ago. Just one other dude there knew what it but bowed out for me.
For Mausers, turk are sub par quality, Spanish are beat to shit small ring generally (I really want an FR8 though) and Yugoslavians are slept on and that's okay. They're still not cheap, but they're not overly expensive yet. They tend to be in decent shape still as well.
@ very nice . Sometimes we get lucky. Good find that’s a smoking deal
@@SonOfTheDawn515 I picked up a Yugo M48 last month with the Bayonet for 400 . Not a smoking deal but it was in really good shape and had some Serbian trench art on it. I love trench art
@Wicked505 If a full on M48 and not an A, B, or BO, don't expect high accuracy.
I have a Argtine Mauser 7.65 x 53 fine rifle
I’ve always wanted a m1 carbine but unfortunately the chance I had to get one for a decent price I didn’t
Dang… they are nice, could always opt for a new made commercial one, though the reliability is questionable on some of those
Another good video brother..👍👍
As you know,I buy from HL do to the prices and dont mind the wait... I've had good luck with my Enfield No.1 Mk.4,German K98k and SKS... Im looking to get a Carcano, Mosin Nagant 91/30 and maybe a 7mm Spanish Mauser from HL... The Spanish Mausers they have are not expensive, and they have a lot of them.. The 7mm Spanish Mauser would make a nice budget deer rifle or truck gun..Again good video.. stay safe and watch your six. 🇺🇲
Thanks! 🍻
Yugoslavia Mauser in 8mm. Mosin 44 and Turkish Mauser also in 8mm. Under 500 bucks. Missed out on a Norinco paratrooper for 500. 😅
A roughy late type 99 is a top rifle to find as a historical peice. Norma has done brass for both 7.7 and 6.5 arisaka but has slacked off. Get out and bust some chops people and get them to make it again!😂. Fn mausers in 3006 and turkish mausers are great value here in Australia but "kennedy" carcano carbines can be had for around $300+/-us here with great bores. I think the ammo supply puts people off using them but if aussies are here watching Beretta imports ppu for them
If you have a type 99 arisaka and you want to shoot it but run out of 7.7jap you can either turn down the rim on 303 Brit or use 308. Only issue with using 308 is that it will fire for to the chamber. Roughly the same pressure across the board though
@@jefflucius3354 I will keep that in mind for the type 99 I get when it comes up for sale, I had read somewhere that the 7.7 was pretty much a clone of the 303 and there is loads of 303 here in Australia so thats handy to know cheers.
@ that’s what I read too that the japs saw 303 and just spun the rim from it
What can you buy by the crate?
Edit: I'm also looking for a clip for my SKS.
What do you think about sporterized mauser's?
Boooooooo. Anything sporterized decreases the value
Stay away from sporter junk
Ishapore 2A!
I got my first Lee Enfield , which was a C- Grade No1 MkIII with no bolt from RTI for $100. Which interestedly came with a complete bolt.
Cleaned up nice, bore is ok and passed muzzle test. Just need a new forend.
Definitely leaning toward getting a Carcano Carbine from RTI for Black Friday.
Maybe a M43 Spanish Mauser from Hunters Lodge.
And if I’m willing to roll the dice again, a No4 Mk1 from RTI
No4 Mk1? You mean a MkIV?
Great list, Definitely been seeing a fair amount of mausers and some 91/30 mosins pop up at prices in the 300-400.
Check your local shops, with hunting season upon us or behind us lots of folks trade in a safe queen towards something newer, and you aren’t at the mercy of some of the online charges.
I recently got mine for $500 in really really good condition and all matching serials built in 1932. Pretty sure I overpaid but hey I missed my old mosin and this one was way way better.
@ hey that’s great! I don’t think you overplayed really if it’s what you wanted. 7.62x54r is still cheaper then 30-06 and .308 target grade from reputable retailers, not by much but it’s still cheaper.
Yep, you never know what you might find by just checking your local shops every so often
Thinking about cheap.....hmmm. Well, when SKS rifles were being imported and you could pick one up for around $75, I was a broke-assed college student and could not even afford one. Looking at simple inflation, those guns would now sell for around $350 to $400 each. But since those early days, I worked my butt off for 40 years and got 1. a retirement, 2. major savings in an IRA, and 3. significant social security, all as monthly income. I retired over 10 years ago and now have an income about double what I made on my highest work year and now no kids to raise! So considering my present income, an SKS in the price below $600 is a bargain to me. In fact, I managed to get a pawn shop broker down 20% on his price and bought a Chinese Norinco 7.62 X 39 with sticker bayonet, sling and stock hosted lube kit for $499, of course I paid tax etc, damn feds. So now I have a nice used semi-auto rifle in an ammo caliber that I can still get locally at not too high a price. Only thing I needed to purchase was a stock cleaning rod, which I did for $10 plus shipping, and some extra stripper military stripper clips. I also bought a NOS Chinese clip harnass.
This rifle is my bug out/bug in, SHTF defense gun, and my deer hunter gun, to go with my small game .22LR semi-autos....got three Marlin 60s. I do not care for bolt action rifles and shotguns. Gimme pump or semi auto shotguns. Thanks for reading my ramblings! HA HA
How you can buy a good quality brand new rifle cheaper than you can surplus
Argentina Mauser ammo really expensive
Carcano makes a good throw down/ plant gun. Worked to make Oswald take the fall
Six people watched him shoot. Half a dozen heard him fire the three shots from the fifth floor. It amazes me, people who claim to understand trajectories tell silly stories like you just did.
Bad thing about any metric ammo be prepared to pay
Therre are no cheap milsurps
No bargains ,zero
Bbrrroo leave my wallet alone. This year has already been expensive! (Thousands already spent this year)
lol 😂
I really appreciate the trouble you’ve gone too in making this video. But honestly the to buy ex mil was around the 1980’s. Today for the price to buy one to hunt with is a new Howa, Browning AB3, Remington 783, or other modern rifle budget rifle on special. I’d save up and look for a good ex mil to collect, target shoot, etc. Thanks for sharing. 🙏
Glad you found it helpful
UA-cam unsubbed me from the channel 😡😡😡
If the ammo is unaffordable or unavailable then weapons platform is useless.
What do you consider unaffordable? All of it is available, provided you're willing to search for it and pay the asking price including shipping.
@maverickpaladin4155 have you seen the cost of 7.7 Jap, 7.35 Carcano, 8mm Lebel, 8x56r?
Unless you're a collector. Plus, parts to make it "useable" are available.
Can we just spellout or say military surplus....
Milsurps sounds like something two men do in the bedroom...
Its even wierd to say !!! 🤔
I do find it weird to say, but it is a very common word to use.
Hate to break it to you bud, but milsurp is dead as a door nail.... The appeal used to be the fact that they were cheap as hell and widely available and so was the ammo, at a time where modern arms were wwwwaaaayyyyy more expensive. It would be the equivalent to mid to lower tier modern arms today running $1,200 to $2,400. Boomers(think their turds are made of gold, and live to rip off zoomers) and zoomers(too dumb to know the actual value of "that totally cool video game gun") pure straight wrecked it and the fact that you can now get mid to high tier modern arms for the same price or cheaper was the rose on the grave. With the war coming, not many milsurps will be very useful in a practical sense. I made a few M1 Garands into modern DMRs, maybe you could modify an SKS or a few others.... but if you're buying today, your money is better spent on modern stuff. I'm not happy that it's dead, but it is.
That's for the average consumer. For people like me, milsurps are connections to the past, pieces of history that can be owned and get an appreciation for how other infantrymen had to fight when carrying and shooting these weapons with basic gear. It's also to appreciate the design, engineering, and manufacturing of times past and what could be achieved with the knowledge and thinking back.
If all you want to do is plink, then yes, there are far better choices out there for economic and ergonomic reasons but it isn't just about sending metal down range and killing quadrupeds.
As far as... Modifying military surplus, it's rather disgusting and why prices of unmolested milsurps go up. Supply goes down and inflation goes up.
Yes, some fucks over price their their stuff and that hurts us more poor collectors who value history as much as those who violate our rights AND the constitution.
I just went to some gun shows the last couple of months that guys had their stuff way over priced, some had them under priced actually, and some were just straight up fair. But it's only been in the mid west I've seen prices like that. In Florida they've been way over priced and Arizona as well. But out here (Midwest) it appears mostly honest older guys just liquidating their collection who don't have relatives who appreciate the stuff and actually like guys like me who know their stuff and genuinely collect and will negotiate prices.
Another tip is try to get in the know about local auctions and estate sales. I picked up an all matching 1942 M39 for $500 two months ago that way.
Another issue is that people think gunbroker is the go to for gun prices. Know your stuff. There actually is a gun blue book that's updated yearly and there are actual firearms appraisers.
Yeah you couldn’t be more wrong, friendo
Second
First
Noice!
Cabela asks outrageous prices for ‘’military surplus’’, & why purchase a firearm that ammo isn’t readily available? Guess if ya want a wall hanger ,I dunno🤷♂️
If you are into reloading it's not a big deal or it has significance to you (IE I want every iteration of X firearm). I've gotten away from collecting arms that don't have readily available and affordable ammunition myself. I only buy shootable pieces with ammunition from big name ammunition manufacturers now. It sucks because I love 9x18 pistols and .380 but for the price I might as well just stick to 9x19.
However, I am building my infantry rifle and carbine collection of major powers from WW2 so the unavailable ammo is okay in certain regards. After that will be WW1 and then cold war.