[Beak50]

This may of been asked before.But what are everybody's favorite Military type rifles made before the AR-15/M-16 time period?For some reason I got the old rifle bug.I have a K-31'MY FAVORITE"a Mitchells M-48,A Moisin M-44 and a 1903 Springfield.I have never shot a Garand or M-14.

[Fishslayer]

I would love to get ahold of a nice Garand.

An excellent condition K98 or 91/30 would be nice.

Not really a collector. The milsurps I have now get shot from time to time & they're not really anything special. My M38 MoNag is far from collector grade but it's a hoot to shoot! :D

Right now I have a '53 vintage unissued Polish M44 on layaway.

[Sergei Mosin]

As my handle suggests, I'm partial to the Mosin-Nagant family, with Enfields coming a close second. And I enjoy shooting my Mausers too. And...well, I like them all, really!

[sallzy]

I've been looking at mosins for a couple years now. Been wanting to grab two or three just to mess around with but for some reason just haven't pulled the trigger on the buy yet. I really need to just go a head and do it.

[LJ-MosinFreak-Buck]

K31 here as well, then the Mosin, then my Mauser. I'd like to add a few more, though.

[critter]

Love 'em all! I have a 1903, an 03-A3, Garand, real jungle carbine, several M98's, etc. They 'speak' to me of engineering, history, glory, bravery, etc.

[GD]

My favorite are the accurate ones - the Finnish mosins, K31's, and M1917's.
If I loosen the accuracy criteria a bit, the Garand, SVT 40, and the FN49 are a hoot to shoot!

[Robbins290]

+1 for the garand, i think its the best rifle ever made. Just my .02

[lilguy]

Garand.

[HoosierQ]

My "grail" milsurp is a US model of 1917.

[madcratebuilder]

Love 'em all! I have a 1903, an 03-A3, Garand, real jungle carbine, several M98's, etc. They 'speak' to me of engineering, history, glory, bravery, etc.
This is how I feel about mil-surps also. If they could only talk.

English, German, Swiss, Yugoslavian, USA and Japanese account for about 50 rifles in total for me. All have interesting history behind them.

[vaupet]

^^ i feel alike. For me the collection comprises sweden,belgium, russia and switserland sofar. If they force me to just keep one: 1909 carl gustav

[303tom]

This is my favorite, and one I would dearly love too have..............It would just about top off my Battle Rifle Collection.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M1918_Browning_Automatic_Rifle

[csa77]

I also love all surplus , from all eras. But my favorite would be British surplus.webleys,martinies,Medfords,enfields.
The best of them all, for me would be a lee Metford MKII*

[Bojangles7]

I've got Swedish, Swiss, Russian, and German rifles so far and just getting started. I've yet to shoot the Nagant or the K98 (will be this weekend) but its hard to imagine either of those being as sweet a shooter as the Gustaffs or the K31. Got my C&R about a month ago and I plan to greatly expand my collection over the next year.

[shuvelrider]

I've got a good variety also of the American classics and the foreign armee's, have a fondness for the brit ennies and will rebuild a LongBranch that I rescued from bubba. Once I'm home from deployment.
At the moment, I'm really fascinated with a MAS 49/56 I reload for, very impresssive. Mine is a 1962 vintage and has not been rebuilt/rearsenaled, honestly would grab it up before my Garand as my main defense weapon if needed.

[56hawk]

I like all the early semi-autos. My current favorite:

http://www.thehighroad.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=164150&d=1336489001

[Bushpilot]

I have a decent variety of military surplus rifles. My favorites are the Garand, the M1 Carbine, Swedish M96/38 and AG42, Lee-Enfield and K98. I don't have a Krag but would really like to find a nice one sometime. One military surplus rifle that I have kind of a love/hate relationship with is the US 1917 Enfield. The particular rifle I had originally belonged to a friend of mine who had wanted a shooter but became become frustrated with it and sold it to me cheap. From the condition of the stock, it looked like it had been through the "Great War"...twice... and then stored in a barrel of grease ever since. It was a "2 groove" Remington. The bore was a little dark but not that bad really. I've had rifles with worse looking barrels that still shot pretty good. Never the less, this rifle wouldn't stay on the paper at 50 yards. Plus, because of the stock design, size, my shooting style or whatever, the recoil of the rifle would slam my thumb into my nose and it had the most "perceived" recoil of any 3006 I ever fired. My friend had the same issues with it. Anyway, I eventually traded it off (practically gave it away) and now wish I hadn't. It was actually a pretty cool rifle with undoubtedly lots of history behind it.

[Beak50]

I would be happy as heck to find a good condition 30-40 Craig when I have the cash to spare.I never shot one but find it unique to me anyway.I gotta get my K-31 done first.

[Dentite]

I got into Milsurps only recently so I have a lot of the wish list still but a few that I enjoy shooting:

M96
M39
K31

While mine is not technically a milsurp the AK puts a smile on my face.

Want:

M1 Garand
M1 Carbine
M1911A1

[Shadow 7D]

sorry but, you lost many to most of your serious collectors on your FIRST post

Mitchells M-48
you post a FRAUD, a known humper, in your 'serious' collection
you will find that while yugos will be accepted into most Mauser collectors, you can't PAY them to take a mitchells, as they are HUMPED (faked and done badly, not to mention that he had to CAREFULLY rephrase his ads)

Oh and if you like Mitchells, I got a "rare, historic soon to dry up mauser of the Russian front" 91/30 to see you for $600.

and yes, I'm refering to Mitchell mosins, that he sold for 10 times the going rate.

[snakeman]

The yugo mauser or the m1 carbine.

[KaiserKossack1858]

I'm partial to the Mosin and the Steyr M95 staight-pull. I have an Enfield on the way that I cant wait to shoot. I'm also holding out for a nice Mauser.

[LJ-MosinFreak-Buck]

The one mil-surp that I am really holding out for is a early-war, WW2 K98K.

[shotgunjoel]

I really like my SKS and M1 Carbine. They're my favorites. My L-E No.5 Mk1 (Jungle Carbine) was higher on my list til I shot it. That thing kicks hard. I love my M1916 Spanish Mauser, but the fixed sights are off windage-wise. It's a great little rifle, fast handling, light, comfortable stock in the shoulder.

[Bojangles7]

My "grail" milsurp is a US model of 1917.

I can't say that it's my "grail" milsurp, but it's definitely at the top of my wanted list.

[HKGuns]

1917 - M1 Garand - M1 Carbine

[Coyote3855]

I want a 1894 Swedish Mauser Carbine. 6.5x55

[Cosmoline]

I've owned and shot a great many, but I always come back to the Mosin-Nagants. Especially the Finnish ones. They feel right and have felt right since the first 91/30 I picked up. I think I had one in a previous life.

[riflenut]

I just purchased a m91/30 mosin, I have thought about buying one for some time now.I live in the louisville,ky area also close to southern indiana.When I decided to go and purchase the rifle on 5/5/12, I went to 5 local gunshops they were all out. I finally found a selection at a gun shop in Indiana called Keislers. Any other time I went to any of the 5 gun shops they had plenty.I bought mine for 119.00.

[FMJMIKE]

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e350/mbmphoto/INLAND13.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e350/mbmphoto/Carbines.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e350/mbmphoto/1940m1a.jpg

[BullRunBear]

Got the '03 Springfield, Garand, Swedish Mauser, and mid-1930s Lee Enfield. I love the history they represent and their wonderful quality. I've thought about a K-98 or a Krag but not sure I want to take on still another caliber. Except for the Garand my major interest is developing gentle cast bullet loads good to 200 yards.

Jeff

[foghornl]

Got a few....

US Rifle Cal .30 M1 Popularly Known As "The Garand"...my favorite

Yugo 59/66 SKS...yeah the one with all the grenade launcher stuff

1954 Romanian Mosin-Nagant M-44

[Beak50]

I know all about "Mitchells" But I got for free and it is in pristine condition.I know it has no history behind it. I do have a K-98 Mauser and even an old turk mauser.

[StrawHat]

The modern stuff (make that post 1901) has little appeal to me. I've had the mausers and 03s etc but they have all been sold off.

My taste in military surplus goes to the Springfield Single Shot rifles and Remington Rolling Blocks. Rarely faked and plentiful.

[Beak50]

strawHat,I like your taste.I have never shot anything that old but I would love to and was it the Kentucky rifle that replaced the Musket?I'm not very familiar with Civil war era to the 30-40 Krag.I've just never read about the time period for some reason.

[madcratebuilder]

The modern stuff (make that post 1901) has little appeal to me. I've had the mausers and 03s etc but they have all been sold off.

My taste in military surplus goes to the Springfield Single Shot rifles and Remington Rolling Blocks. Rarely faked and plentiful.
This is what happens from smoking black powder!

[Pat M]

I've got a Garand, 1903, 1903A3, M1 Carbine, and a M1A. On the wish list is a Trapdoor, Krag, and a 1917. I think I like the Garand best because I shoot well with it.

[56hawk]

Did your carbine come with the early rear sight? I really want to get one for my IBM.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e350/mbmphoto/INLAND13.jpg

[FMJMIKE]

Yes.............original to this carbine.

[Jbabbler]

This one just has character

http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc81/jbabbler/milsurplus/IMG-20120506-01114.jpg

[StrawHat]

(We interupt this thread for a brief answer to a thread shifting question.)

Beak50

strawHat,I like your taste. ... was it the Kentucky rifle that replaced the Musket? ...

The American Long Rifle was developed along side the musket and was primarily a civilian arm. It was used on occasion in war, but it was primarily used on the frontiers by civilians. Rifle fire was too slow for the tactics of the day. The first replacement for the 'musket" would have been the Harpers Ferry Model of 1803. After that, longarms for the military would continue to be smooth bored but somewhere in the late 1830s, the powers that be tried agian with rifled muskets and were fairly successful. Then the preponderance of muskets were rifled until the end of the muzzleloading era (for the military). Conversion of the existing stock of muxkets continued to use the rfiled bore. So to answer your question, no, the American Long Rifle did not replace the musket but was developed for civilian use during the same time frame, 1720s through the 1870s.

(We now return you to the original thread about milsurp longarms. Thank you for your cooperation.)

[budman46]

shotgunjoe,

enfield no5 mk 1's are sweet shooters...with 160 gr cast, gas-checked bullets at about 1800fps, but full power loads hurt! no other arm was lightened substantially and fitted with a HARD recoil pad smaller than the butt of the rifle. why didn't the brits just file a point on it?:D

budman

ignorance is fixable...

[shotgunjoel]

enfield no5's
shotgunjoe,

enfield no5 mk 1's are sweet shooters...with 160 gr cast, gas-checked bullets at about 1800fps, but full power loads hurt! no other arm was lightened substantially and fitted with a HARD recoil pad smaller than the butt of the rifle. why didn't the brits just file a point on it?

budman
Yeah, that will be a good solution once I start reloading. That'll be a while though (every time I think about getting a starting set up, I see a nice old rifle that's too tempting). I'm sure that the pad was quite a bit softer when it was new.

[451 Detonics]

I really like my M1 Carbine but once you have worked the butter smooth action of a Krag you are in love forever...

[Roadkill]

probably my favorite would be a Garand but I like them all

http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/3373/dsc00204bc.jpg

[budman46]

roadkill: looks like you have an impulsive nature when it comes to purchasing toys...i like that!:D

shotgun joe: reloading is an excuse to buy more stuff...i figure out how much i've saved by reloading then apply that money to new purchases. just a bit of seed money for equipment then reap the whirlwind.

if you're interested in getting into reloading and don't mind learning from the mistakes of others, e-mail me @ budhesler@yahoo.com and we'll try to get you started.

[m1dbob1944]

Straw hat, very classy stuff. I do rev war reinactments and once a year we have competition shoots with the brown bess and charleville. Love that stff.
however, I love the Garand, FN-49 and AG 42B. My stuff is fair shootable and lots of fun. Many good memories with them all.

[ball3006]

I am partial to Finn Mosin Nagants.... http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t174/coppertales/P1000046.jpg

[carbine85]

My favorites are anything that's USGI. I favor the M1 Garand and M1 Carbine. I also like the SKS, Mausers, and 303. I have a few Mosins but I think you get what you pay for and I don't see any real collectors value in them, at least in my life time anyway.

[texgunner]

My favorite are Lee Enfields and Mausers, especially the swedes.

[TenDriver]

I wanted a Garand for years and finally filled the wish last week. Shot it over the weekend and I don't think I was wrong in wanting one. It will be a while, but there aren't ANY old milsurps I wouldn't love to own.

[Ignition Override]

You might enjoy an opportunity to shoot a Garand. If you are resolved, it will happen soon.

The Enfield #5 "Jungle" might be one of the most unique.
If you get the chance to use one, holding the arm in a 'chicken wing' (helps me) and using a short recoil slip on makes it fairly comfy to shoot.

Don't forget that a Tech Sight changes the SKS into a different gun, and the ammo is one of the cheapest center-fire types.

[m1dbob1944]

:confused:There are two more I wuld love to add to the colllection: SVT-40 and a German GK43. Unfortunately, both are out of my price range at this time. What do you guys think of a thompson semi-auto? Any reviews? etc?

[56hawk]

:confused:There are two more I wuld love to add to the colllection: SVT-40 and a German GK43. Unfortunately, both are out of my price range at this time. What do you guys think of a thompson semi-auto? Any reviews? etc?

Have you looked at the price on a new Thompson? I got my G43 for less money than that. Otherwise, my brother use to own one, and I wasn't impressed. Way too heavy, and a horrible trigger.

[nathan]

One easy way to start is get the carbine length Russian M 44 or Finn M 39. You re gonna have a great time. You will always have that big smile after every range trip. And if you let someone try it, you will have a double smile and laughter seeing them feel the power. The Red Army stormed Berlin with PPsh, M91 30s , M 44s and finally the Third Reich collapsed. Owning one in your hands today is priceless.

[Taroman]

I like them all. My M1 Garand is the only semi-auto I really care for, especially as I'm unlikely to ever possess a real M14.

As for bolt guns, my first love is the pre-WW1 South American Mausers.
The materials and craftsmanship were among the finest of their era, or any other.

My latest, a 1909 DWM Argentine Mauser mountain carbine:
http://www.hverovhe.com/09.jpg

[m1dbob1944]

Have you looked at the price on a new Thompson? I got my G43 for less money than that. Otherwise, my brother use to own one, and I wasn't impressed. Way too heavy, and a horrible trigger.
56 Hawk;
I looked up the price of the g-41 and g43's. The ones I saw on gunbroker were between $3900 to $5000. That's way too much for me.

[56hawk]

I got my G43 for $1200 about a year ago at a gun show. Paid $400 for my SVT 40 but that was fifteen years ago. Still you should be able to get a SVT for less than a Thompson.

[fpgt72]

56 Hawk;
I looked up the price of the g-41 and g43's. The ones I saw on gunbroker were between $3900 to $5000. That's way too much for me.
G43 should go for under $2k,....the 41...well that is a different ball of wax.

I own both the Garand and the SVT40....looking for the 43, and a johnson and 41 is just too lofty for me. But if I was just out shooting for fun and could take just one, it would be the SVT....it is just so much fun to shoot.

BTW about a year ago I paid ~$900 for the SVT.

[m1dbob1944]

Guys,
I'm kicking myself in the tailbone; about 17 yrs. ago, I paid $180 for my FN-49. I also could have gotten an VT-40 for $375 and a GK 43 for about $500. The FN-49 was the last firearm I bought before I got married. With wife and 3 daughers...Will be saving my pennies. 56 Hawk, sound like you did well with those purchases.

[SFC Ed]

Anything with a bayonette lug has my attention, if it comes with a bayonette better yet. I trained with an M1 Garand and 39 years later am still impressed with how dependable and accurate they are. M1 Carbines, Turkish Mausers, Mausers of any type are superb and the Lee Enfields are a real prize to own.
Want an inexpensive treasure? Mosin Nagant 91/30.
Ya gotta love-em all.

[Dr.Rob]

I'm not a 'collector' but I'm really pleased with my 1903a3 and my Brno made Kar98k. My 1903 is pretty minty, my Mauser was someone's post war surplus buy that he sporterized. Took a while to get it back into military trim but i really like that old Mauser.

[happygeek]

With the exception of the M1 Garand that I purchased with some of the extra money I made working OCONUS, I've been buying what's cheap and available.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x297/fdhs_runner/Firearms/IMGP0021.jpg

[CZguy]

With the exception of the M1 Garand that I purchased with some of the extra money I made working OCONUS, I've been buying what's cheap and available.

What's cheap and available now, will become valuable in the long run. ;)

[Ignition Override]

My fairly typical Enfield #4/Mk. 1 can shoot about as well as my Service Grade Garand at 100 yards. The Garand's bore is as shiny as chrome.

Have not tried at longer ranges.

[P5 Guy]

I like Rifles that have knives too!