GOYABEAN
.950 JDJ
If you get the outdoor channel tonight's show on Midway USA's Gun Stories "History of Swiss Rifles"
Military Surplus rifles thread.
- Thread starter carpediem
- Start date
carpediem
.338 Win Mag
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Good timing! Maybe the wife can DVR it.If you get the outdoor channel tonight's show on Midway USA's Gun Stories "History of Swiss Rifles"
I have a Garand an a non refurbed all matching 51 Tula SKS. The poor BBQ stock refinish kept the price fairly low.
Had 1 of just about everything at one point or another. I especially miss my K98 and Lee Enfield.
Had 1 of just about everything at one point or another. I especially miss my K98 and Lee Enfield.
carpediem
.338 Win Mag
Two that are on my list. I really want a wartime K98, even more than the Lee-Enfield.
That'll cost ya. And they used to cost next to nothing. I had an all matching K98 built in 39. It was pretty beat up but in good mechanical order, I picked it out of a big barrel of various milsurps in a pawn shop in Kileen TX. Paid around $150 I think. I think nowadays that would be a 1.5k rifle.
Even a good Enfield is running at least $500 on gunbroker now, with $750+ being typical for a good, unmolested example.
Even a good Enfield is running at least $500 on gunbroker now, with $750+ being typical for a good, unmolested example.
carpediem
.338 Win Mag
I hear tell of the old barrels of military rifles in stores, some being sold for practically nothing. Sadly, I missed out on that. They weren't that terrible a few years ago, but maybe they are now. I hate it when I see ones that somebody sporterized.
It wasn't even ages ago either! Bout 10 years ago thatbI bought that Mauser. Really wish I hadn't sold it, but the surplus ammo had dried up andnI wasn't shooting it anymore. That's whatbisnreally killing the surplusnrifle market, all the ammo has largely disappeared leaving us with $1 a round commercial stuff.
carpediem
.338 Win Mag
I still have 3 or 4 boxes of Swedish military 6.5 x 55 that I bought in the early 90s! I haven't seen that stuff for a very long time, if it even still exists. I run commercial 6.5 and save that old stuff.
As a curiosity I scanned through Gunbrokers listings for K98s and Enfields.
There are way more K98s listed but 90% of those are the Czech built ones, those are running $250. Nothing wrong with those, they are faithful 98 Mauser action rifles but theybjust don't have the cachet of a German Mauser and the extra wood forward the action annoys me. The German Mausers are running between $700 and $1800 depending on weather they are matching or not. Some of the $700 ones look nice and are tempting.
The Enfields were a real grab bag mess of listings, which were few. Prices ranged from $300 for sporterized ones to over $2000 for the nicest one. I didn't see anything that really caught my eye. Enfields havent been imported as surplus for years now so its always a trickle of supply on the secondary market. Someday, when I'm feeling extra flush, I'd like to take a shot on a UF prefix No 4 Enfield. That was the very last priduction run of the Lee Enfield, all built in the mid 50s at Parliaments insistence as a hedge against the possible failure of the then new SLR (FAL). The all went right into storage and were never issued at all. They were all manufactered and finished to the highest standards of any Enfield ever produced and getting on is essentially like getting a factory fresh rifle. The are expensive though! Every now and again I see one listed for less than $2000 but not often!
There are way more K98s listed but 90% of those are the Czech built ones, those are running $250. Nothing wrong with those, they are faithful 98 Mauser action rifles but theybjust don't have the cachet of a German Mauser and the extra wood forward the action annoys me. The German Mausers are running between $700 and $1800 depending on weather they are matching or not. Some of the $700 ones look nice and are tempting.
The Enfields were a real grab bag mess of listings, which were few. Prices ranged from $300 for sporterized ones to over $2000 for the nicest one. I didn't see anything that really caught my eye. Enfields havent been imported as surplus for years now so its always a trickle of supply on the secondary market. Someday, when I'm feeling extra flush, I'd like to take a shot on a UF prefix No 4 Enfield. That was the very last priduction run of the Lee Enfield, all built in the mid 50s at Parliaments insistence as a hedge against the possible failure of the then new SLR (FAL). The all went right into storage and were never issued at all. They were all manufactered and finished to the highest standards of any Enfield ever produced and getting on is essentially like getting a factory fresh rifle. The are expensive though! Every now and again I see one listed for less than $2000 but not often!
carpediem
.338 Win Mag
$7-800 is about where I thought K98s would be. Had no idea Enfields were that pricey! I wish I had bought more of those old guns back in the day!
This is not a surplus rifle, but a 9mm replica m1 carbine.
CHIAPPA M1-9 CARBINE 9MM 500.136 (Win a Gun) : Semi Auto Rifles at GunBroker.com
Anyone have any experience in these? After finding it I have read some mixed reviews
CHIAPPA M1-9 CARBINE 9MM 500.136 (Win a Gun) : Semi Auto Rifles at GunBroker.com
Anyone have any experience in these? After finding it I have read some mixed reviews
carpediem
.338 Win Mag
In all honesty, I would probably stick to the original or a clone in .30 Carbine in that case. To get a 9mm carbine I would probably buy something developed as a pistol caliber carbine from it's inception. I have never even seen one of these.
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I gotta say my 9mm Chiappa has been working fabulous, it's quickly becoming a favorite gun. Don't believe everything you read on the internet, they do have a 200 round break-in period. I HIGHLY suggest if you get one to take it completely apart and give it a through cleaning and good greasing and oil. After break-in it eats everything, cheap TULA steel, Federal Aluminum, any Walmart cheapest. It is more accurate with the premium 124gr ammo though. Here in NYistan we are pretty limited in a semi auto pistol caliber carbine, so I'm planning on putting a paratrooper stock on it as FUAC...
meketrefe
.450/400 Nitro Ex
What do you guys know about the surplus Smith Corona 03-A3 actions?
I had the chance to get a couple to build reproductions but I let them pass because I heard mixed opinions.
I had the chance to get a couple to build reproductions but I let them pass because I heard mixed opinions.
carpediem
.338 Win Mag
I know that some '03 actions are extremely brittle due to an error in how they were heat treated. I don't know who made those though. I saw somewhere an article about it. Other than that, an '03 is on my wish list. At least a non sporterized one!
meketrefe
.450/400 Nitro Ex
Same thing someone told me. They were un-issued but because there is no way to know unless you are an expert I let them pass.
Better to be safe than sorry. There is no shortage of good actions like mauser beaters for fun restoration projects.
I want to do a Mauser in 284 winchester. That is perfect for a modern powerful gun in a very accurate round.
Make it with the vintage furniture and a vintage scope like old school style but with some improvements.
Better to be safe than sorry. There is no shortage of good actions like mauser beaters for fun restoration projects.
I want to do a Mauser in 284 winchester. That is perfect for a modern powerful gun in a very accurate round.
Make it with the vintage furniture and a vintage scope like old school style but with some improvements.
carpediem
.338 Win Mag
Somewhere there was a list of serial numbers ranges thought to include the dangerous ones. I think it was in American Rifleman or something like that. That sound like a nice project. You could use one of the Argentinian Mausers as a base rifle. They were fairly priced last I knew.
GOYABEAN
.950 JDJ
Southern Ohio Gun Swiss Schmidt Rubin Straight pull 
Robin
.475 A&M Magnum
K98 for $700-1800!! Yikes! Wonder what a 'Brno' made for the Shah of Persia personal guard, all Farsi engravings including royal cartouche, with bayonet, in almost as issued condition, would be worth?
Robin
Robin
I have an original Smith-Corona in 99% condition. The other guy talking about brittle receivers is incorrect. Only very early Springfield and Rock Island rifles have that problem. I have an early Springfield that had the double heat treat and it has fired several thousand rounds and is still in one piece. If you want to get some info about 03"s, get the Brophy book, it covers everything. I am a little surprised how much the value of surplus rifles has increased in the last few years.
Snappo
6.5 Creedmoor
Still lots of stuff available on the cheap. Southern Ohio guns, J&G, etc. In fact, I think J&G right now is flipping a ton of 1916 Spanish Mausers for like a hundred bucks each. And SOG of course *always* has Swiss schmidt-rubins of one sort or another for two or three hundred; and are NEVER out of Mausers for a few hundred either. Maybe you need a Mauser 48 for your man cave? They look great on the wall.
Snappo
6.5 Creedmoor
I have a bunch of K31's too - take off the butt plate (2 brass screws) and underneath is usually a piece of paper with the name and address of the original owner it was given to before WW II. Sadly none of mine came with bayonet - how about you?
Snappo
6.5 Creedmoor
Love my SC 03A3. Check your rifling. If you have double rifling (6 grooves instead of 3) you are sitting on a very expensive collectible. Supposedly they only did that for like 2 months and a total of 5K units. I wasn't that lucky but I am glad I got it and I paid maybe $250 at CMP for it which I feel was a good buy.
Harry Hood
.223 Rem
I own an Enfield in 303 British, picked it up at an estate sale for $100. Unfortunately it has been sporterized, but it shoots fine and has matching numbers.
Snappo
6.5 Creedmoor
Not sure why people Bubba their old collectibles; but you can set it back to original. Here's a thread with some pictures to motivate you to the new task at hand!
The Complete Lee Enfield No. 1 MKIII Restoration
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I had not heard that. So i went and checked. I have a 4-43 SC marked 4 grove barrel.
Years ago a friend and i bought an Ishapore (Indian) Enfield in 7.62X51 (.308). It had seen A LOT of use and we dug out the Gun Parts (West Hurley) catalog and got a stock, handguard, and a #3 buttstock(long) and rebuilt it. It came out pretty good except my friend used a heavy varnish on it. We built the whole thing for under $300 and sold off the extra parts. It shoots good enough to hit a brick at 100 yards.
Snappo
6.5 Creedmoor
One of my five or so 303 British is an Ishapore. The thing was ridden hard and put away wet. It hasn't been Bubba'ed or anything (I won't buy a Bubba) but man the thing is in serious need of help. I honestly wouldn't even feel good about shooting it. Parts don't move smoothly even after getting all the cosmoline off, etc. What's West Hurley? Is that like Numrich? Numrich sucks me dry now and then.
Yes, it's Numrich. Strange, my Ishapore cycles smooth as butter.
Snappo
6.5 Creedmoor
I just probably got a crappy one. I bet I paid like $75 from one of those C&R online companies back when I was in a huge buying phase and was buying anything I could get my hands on. You cannot imagine some of the weird stuff I bought.......