What started your interest in milsurps?

For me it was from attending gun shows in Illinois when small, looking at all the greasy guns. Of course could not buy them then, time in the army and then the young family thing kept money tight. Finally did buy a correct JC #5 in the late 80's for $140, that started my collection.
Some people told not me to waste my time on "that old junk", like my older brother. What they see as junk, I see as history that reaches out to me. Now I reload for a few of them plus the more modern things I have, have a nice selection of older sporting guns too. But those old greasy guns will always get my attention.
My grail gun would have to be a M-41 Johnson rifle.

When I started going to gunshows,but I've always been a war history buff.

Always had an interest in history, even as a child. When I started shooting as an adult I had a chance to try a couple of milsurp bolt actions. Nothing collectible, just good working examples. Learning how accurate they could be and how much I like the versatility of bolt actions sparked my interest. Finding out they were REALLY affordable compared to new/modern rifles cemented their place in the household. (Money was tight for a young married couple.)

It didn't take long to learn how much fun it was to develop reduced power cast bullet hand loads for them. That's why, except for the Garand (which is in its own category), my other milsurp rifles are bolt actions.

Jeff

Was always (since I can remember) been interested in guns of most any kind. Then, in a hardware store (see how old I am?), I found a barrel of M98 Mausers selling for $19.95. Same price for Enfields. Eddystone 1917's were $29.95!

Oh, how I WISH for a time-machine-quick-trip back so I could haul a few truck loads of them back here now!

Military history got me into guns

4v50 Gary +1.

It´s like driving a 50´s Chevy Truck. There´s more to it than just the
Steel and wires.

Cheap shooting. My recently acquired Mosin was a hundred bucks, and surplus commie rounds are dirt cheap. Contrast with a .308, where you might as well take a match to a dollar bill every time you squeeze.

P

I remember the late-into-the-night talks with my father, about the feats accomplished in both World Wars, Korea, Vietnam.

My biggest thing is history, I personally love the subject. Doesn't matter about the time period, I'll still love it.

It'd probably have to be the fact that these firearms were made to fight for, and defend, nations in that time of reckoning.

One rifle I have is even likely to have served on the front, fighting the good fight! Oh how I wish these rifles could talk, I would listen for hours, and even ask it if it would tell me again.

For me it was pulling a old no1 mk3 enfield out of a house i was renovating and was told go ahead and keep it.

Hello friends and neighbors // Shooting an M1 Carbine... history, accuracy, low recoil and a 30 round mag. :D

The Stalingrad level in the original Call of Duty, followed by the realization I could buy a Mosin for $100.

The satisfaction of rescuing an old warhorse from bubba, we are preservationists of military history through its relics.
Have a Longbranch courtesy of bubba that needs that kind of restoration, got all my parts and peices. Just waiting till after deployment to start, luckily the barrel, action, bolt, and buttstock are primo.
You just cant explain the satisfaction of restoring and shooting these guns.

The history of our great country and how it got here!

Sent from my DROID RAZR

The only use I can see for these things is use as tomato stakes. I have no interest in a military gun from 1890 at all. But you guys that like them have my respect.

When I was 12 (I am 35 now), my grandfather brought out a 1900 DWM Bulgarian contract Luger. It is chambered in the original 7.65 Para, has all matching numbers and was never re-arsenaled. It is a WWII bring back from my Great-uncle. Grandpa told me it was rare, but it was before the internet. I didn't find out how rare until much later. Looking back, that was the pistol that sparked my interest. I did post pics over at the Luger forum, but I haven't checked them in a while. I posted them here too, but it has been a few years. Needless to say, my collect has really bloomed now. Thank you C & R license.

Growing up as a teen in Alexandria, VA I walked into the Interarms gunshop and was hooked for life...

Saving Private Ryan

Was always (since I can remember) been interested in guns of most any kind. Then, in a hardware store (see how old I am?), I found a barrel of M98 Mausers selling for $19.95. Same price for Enfields. Eddystone 1917's were $29.95!

I think that I overpaid. My local hardware store had a barrel of K98s for $25.00.

I love old milsurp guns. I don't really know why. Probably for the same reason I like an old Dodge Charger or an old straight tail Cessna. I guess it'd be simply that I find that the old milsurp firearms have more character than new guns. And guys, you can still find those ol' hardware stores with barrels full of rifles, if you know where to look. ;)

They used to be cheap. That's what got my interest to start with. Now days I can buy a new AR15 for the same price as a 40 year old AK. Better yet I can get 2 NIB Savage '06's for the same price as a near 100 year old Springfield. It won't be long before a Mosin Nagant out paces all the intro hunting rifles. The milsurp game has just gotten too rich for me.

As others have said, history is what drives my interest. I am a history major, so it is my particular forte as well.

Military combat arms have more appeal to me than civilian arms. They are simple, clean designs, with no frills or fancy doo-dads. They are designed and built for one overriding purpose above all other concerns: to kill as efficiently and quickly as possible. These weapons were not designed with deer hunting in mind, but for far deadlier purposes. I respect their purpose in life, sinister and morbid tho it be.

Military rifles also are darned useful as hunting weapons, so I don't ever see myself buying a civilian weapon for that purpose. I am still young, so I can carry a 10 pound battle rifle all over God's Creation as needed.

John Wayne

Oh, and I marched around with a Garand filled with lead for four years, so I figured I should own one that actually fired....

Love of firearms + love of history = love of milsurps

When I found out as a little kid that in our attic was a dead-mint, unissued, Italian M-91/38 TS carbine with sling, bayonet and smooth steel scabbard that Dad sent home in '44. Boy, I can't tell you how much rockwool insulation I bayoneted to death over the years growing up. That was over 64 years ago, but I still have that carbine (as well as the set he gave my Uncle ) and a sweet M-1934 .380 Beretta that he also sent back). It was these Italians that got me started in reloading and I shoot them regularly. I started seriously collecting in 1968 after a 2 year stretch as a combat infantryman and haven't stopped yet. My latest addition; a US Springfield-Lee M1875 Vertical Action Rifle in .45/70 Government. That was my Holy Grail rifle ... so, now what the heck do I look for???

History mostly, and the wave of incredibly inexpensive surplus rifles that arrived in the late 90's.

My first rifle was a carl gustov 94 . Then I got me a yugo 98K. I am a sucker for a mouser action I guess

I have my grandfathers inventory list of what he had to claim when he came back from the European theater. There's a Luger listed but he apparently sold it a while back. Would have loved to inherit that.

my dad (retired marine) and two of his buddies (retired army), shot and reloaded for .30 cal M1 carbine, .30-40 Krag, and a 1903 Springfield.
The M1 carbine was the first centerfire rifle I ever shot, then I progressed up, .30-40 & so-on. That was 42 years ago,

I only have 5 milsurps, all mausers

German M98k
Yugo M24/47
Yugo M48A
Spanish 1893 long rifle (1916 pattern)
Spanish 1895 carbine

I don't remember, I was but four or five years old - and it was half a century ago.:D

History and mechanical beauty

I've always been a gun nut as long as I can remember. Dad gave me my first rifle when I was 7 or 8 years old. A Remington 514 single shot .22 s-l-lr. But it wasn't until I had to qualify with the M-16 that my love affair with mil sups began.

I love mil-surp rifles because of their ruggedness, tried and true function and low price, not too mention their historical significance. I would prefer milSurp as a first rifle for anyone. It's practical.

My long-deceased Dad was a WWII infantryman, won a Sliver Star in the pacific theatre, carrying the M1 Garand.

After mustering out at the end of WWII, he worked for International Harvester, and he was one of IH "armorers" when they were making M1's in the 50's. I also have an M44 Mosin-Nagant. Need to get a .303 Enfield of some sort, just to complete the "Allies Rifles" selections.

As a youngster, watching shows in the mid-60's such as "Combat", "The Rat Patrol", movies such as "Merrill's Marauders" and the "Longest Day" did it.
I never suspected that the 'British Enfield disease' existed. It was totally subconscious from 1965 until 2008, when I handled a "Jungle Carbine", delivered to the buyer at Brighton Arms, and saw a rerun of Croc Dundee zapping a truck from his cabin with a sporter version.

What created the real motivation to acquire an M-1 Garand was the personal tour of the skirmish sites and actual fox holes of both E and F Companies around Bastogne Belgium in May '09, hosted by Reg Jans (or Jaan). This very interesting Flemish guide learned the personal accounts by befriending various US soldiers who suffered and fought there.

From my perspective, non-sporterized milsurps with original metal/wood have solid character which the later military rifles and civilian types will never have, no matter how accurate they can be. A laser pointer is also quite accurate.

Price.

I have only 4 centerfire rifles. They are all milsurps. 2x Mosin, SKS, M1

I have always had a strong respect for the milsurps , but did not want to spend my money on collectibles. I wanted to spend my money on AR's.

A few years ago, I walked into a pawn shop to browse their selection of Firearms. My eyes immediately locked on to a long Mosin Nagant. It was beat to hell and back. No finish, light rust, dented and singed up wood, with a ratty old sling. Normally , I would have just wrote it off as another junked Mosin and went on my way. I could feel there was something special about this rifle, even before I got it in my hands. It turned out to be a 1942 Finn M91. Every inch of it wreaked of character.

For the next two days, I couldn't get that rifle out of my head. I was unfamiliar with the Finn rifles and their history, so I spent several hours researching. I went back to the shop and laid the cash down......thus starting a new addiction. I now have a safe full of Milsurps, each one with its own character. If only they could speak.

My first firearm to own was a Colt 1911 series 80 in 1995. I was fascinated with stories of its inception from the time they need a bigger bullet to put down Moro warriors in southern Phils. Then i got a Ruger Mk 2 rimfire which i enjoyed so much. Then one day my friend showed me a new rifle he got from a pawnshop, it was a Russian SKS with all the accessories. I followed suit and got one as well. This was Jan of 1996. The rest was history. Glad i got it even to this day its in original condition. What a ride, i got several guns now , i m just amazed the fast accumulation of guns in a span of 17 yrs. Oh my God !

I grew up with three generations of military people, history and milsurps were as commonplace as silverware or toolboxes (given the relative, sometimes those mixed together).
Then, one day, I got to trade an AMT Hardballer for a '42-dated Smith Corona M-1903A3 . . .
Which was the same week I had traded for an M-1936 Cartridge Belt, dated . . . 1942--score. Said belt now has a set of '42 suspenders, '42-dated field dressing carrier, even a '42 canteen carrier with a 1942 porcelain canteen--yeah, I've a touch of OCD about this sort of thing, and had bought, sold, and traded for much, much, more.

And I should also add that fire a full power round, are Military Surplus rifles.
M1 Rifle is my favorite. and all the rest are select fire and not on the registry, therefore unavailable.:banghead:
I'm not leaving out the SVT38/40, Hakim, MAS49 or the German G43, like I could afford one of them?

At age 14 when I was given my first deer rifle, a Enfield No4 & yes I still have it............

I grew up with my fathers M1 Garand behind my bedroom door and watching Sands Of Iwo Jima with my dad. After we moved here, I met retired Marines that my Dad was in the Masonic Lodge with who had fought in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. Some in all three. Add to it a die-hard love of histroy, from the Civil War to Desert Storm.
I started with my dads Garand, I bought it from him when I was 12, next was a Lithgow No. 1 MkIII* and the rest as they say is history

85 dollar price tag on Tula SKS,s back in 1991.

For those who want one of the better milsurps, have you tried an FN-49, the predecessor of the FAL?