[alamo]

SOG has some .22 "Military Target Training Rifles" for $59.95. Anyone familiar with these and where they are made? Curious if they are worthwhile given the attractive price. Not looking for extreme accuracy, just a reasonably accurate plinker for fun.

http://www.southernohiogun.com/surplus_rifles.html

[Kodiak AK]

I'd like to hear about this also . I am thinking of grabing one as a starter gun for my son.

[FPrice]

Those are the Romanian training rifles. From what I understand they were good buys for the money, but I don't have a first-hand report.

[albanian]

They are Romanian M-1969 trainers. They are Mauser trainers.

I had one and it was a good solid rifle but rather crude. I have heard great stories about how accurate they are but mine had a rough trigger and the poor sights didn't do much for my accuracy. If you want a military trainer, they are fine but if you are just looking for a good cheap .22lr rifle, used Marlins, Savages or Mossbergs can be had for the price and they should shoot just as well. For $59.95 + shipping + FFL, they will run you $75-$90. I have seen some really nice used .22s for about that price.

[alamo]

Thanks for the information. I might still look into one if some others have had better experience with the trigger, we'll see if there are any more replies. A friend is a FFL so no transfer fee, just shipping which shouldn't be too bad.

[AJ Dual]

Mine is great, it was actually made in 1982, per the arsenal markings.

It's actually the most accurate .22 I've shot. It's performed and grouped better than my stock Ruger 10/22. It has a pretty long sight radius, and that seems to help. Trigger on mine is not match quality, but seems comparable to other commercial .22's I've fired.

Check to see if any of your local sporting goods chain stores have them if they sell milsurps. They'll often have them for the same price, sometimes even lower than $59 on sale, and you can avoid paying the usual $10-15 in UPS shipping and (for anyone else,) the FFL transfer fee.

If you can't avoid either shipping and FFL transfer fees, I would recomend getting the basic Marlin Mod 60 from Wally World or some other mega store instead. At that point It's a better value, especially when they're often on sale for under $100.

I did however get m my Romanian trainer on a "Day after Thanksgiving" sale at Dunhams Sports for only $39.99! You can't beat that.

Best pair of twenties I ever spent. I should have bought two.

[Mulliga]

I have two of these, neither handpicked. One of them has some problems feeding (have to put mag in on a closed bolt, otherwise it doesn't seat correctly), but it works well enough. The other works perfectly.

The triggers on both are pretty darn good. I don't have a gauge or anything, but they break clean and they don't require too much pressure. A bit of overtravel, however - nothing I can't live with, especially considering the price.

They are quite accurate. Literally the first time I took it out of the box (first time shooting a rifle, too :) ) I was pinging 2" wide targets left and right at 25 yards. I've heard of people hitting golf balls at 50 with some regularity. Good buy IMHO - just pray you get a perfect one.

[albanian]

I have heard that the older ones are made better than the later made ones. I had a 1983 vintage and there were some clues that it was not made as well as some have reported. Mine had drips of varnish on the stock and machine marks on the metal. It would not feed right at first but after I compleatly cleaned the bolt and insides, it did much better. Varnish is known to get into the action on these guns and cause reliabilty problems.

I am not slamming the gun because for the money, it can be considered a good deal if you get a good one. I heard all the hype about them and I expected more than I should have.

I ended up trading it plus some cash for a Mak and I was dissapointed with that also. Maybe I am too picky.:confused: Maybe I look for different things in a gun than other people because in general, people like the 1969 and they like the Mak. For the money, I would rather have another Yugo SKS and a Star BM.

[Dave R]

I got one for my son, and liked it so much I got another for myself.

Trigger is not world-class (one of mine is defintely better than 'tother), but not that bad. I like the weight, feel and balance. And the accuracy is great.