Top 5 milsup bolt-action rifles to own?

#1 = A 1903 Springfield, if you can afford a good high-number one.
(If you can't, then a 03A3 Springfield.)

#2 = A good K98 German Mauser.

rc

#1 = A 1903 Springfield, if you can afford a good high-number one.
(If you can't, then a 03A3 Springfield.)

#2 = A good K98 German Mauser.

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#3 No.4 Mk 1 Enfield

The top five are:

1. M1903 Springfield.
2. M1903A3 Sprinfield.
3. M98 Mauser
4. No.4, MK I (or II) Lee-Enfield.
5. No. 1, MK III Lee-Enfield

No particular order:
1) Mauser K98
2) Lee Enfield #1 MkIII*
3) M1903A3
4) M1917
5) M1892 Kraig

And if you can actually find one, an 1895 Lee Navy is seriously cool. I wish I'd had the $1,500 the one time I saw a bubba'd one.

Early in the war, the K98 & G33/40 quality was head & shoulders over anything built since.

IMO: But especially the Yugo.
It isn't even a true 98 Mauser, as the intermediate action length is shorter, and some 98 Mauser parts like the bolt and firing pin won't even fit a Yugo.

rc

On the K98 issue: I would look for a pre to early war K98 or a pre-war VZ-24 from Brno. I prefer 7x57 over 7.92x57 but either will do well for range shooting.

A WWI vintage G98 (rifle length vs "K"arbine length) would be good as well.

From oldest to newer milsurp i owned,


1911 Swedish M 96
1927 Izhevsk M 91 /30 Ex Dragoon
1942 Sako M 39
1949 Fazakerley No 4 Lee Enfield
1955 Swiss K 31

Scrubbed Yugo captured K 98 still in cosmolene

I agree on above and add 1917
Whoops missed its mention...
Didn't mention Norwegian Krag 6.5

Springfield 1903

No.5 Enfield Jungle Carbine

Colombian Model 1950 FN Mauser .30-06

Carl Gustav M96 Swedish Mauser

Swiss Karabiner Model 1931

Top 5 milsurp bolt actions (in order of my humble opinion of classiness)

1) Mauser - the epitome of bolt actions
2) Enfield #4 Mk1 - a rifle built for battle
3) Model 1917 - what the Springfield 1903 should have been with sights and robustness.
4) Finnish M39 - The best of the most produced bolt action of WW2
5) Swiss K31 - straight pull but the epitome of accuracy and fine craftsmanship

I could put more on this list easily - collect them all!

The m1903 is a must have actually Id advise buying everyone you come across.
Enfields of all types are fun I personally like the savage made no4mk1*s the best
I've always felt that buying whatever I come across that fancy's me at the time to be what I end up with.

My K31 is hands down my most accurate milsurp I own.

It kinda depends what you're looking for. Are you wanting the 5 best made, or 5 to represent the different types?

If the latter:

M1903 (best Mauser)
Enfield
Mosin-Nagant
Carcano
Schmidt-Rubin.

In those 5, you basically represent the widest array of designs.

If I could only keep 5 of mine:

M1903
M96 Swede
M1911 Swiss
M93 Spanish
No.4 Mk I/III Enfield

M93

Tempest 455 said:

My K31 is hands down my most accurate milsurp I own.

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+1....mine has the Grunel sights (open, fine adj. W&E).

It would be easier to go for a Top 10 or Top 20 list than to try to narrow it down to five. Just in US rifles, I'd like a Krag, and 1903, a 1903A3, and a 1917. Among the Mausers, I'd want a German 98 and a Swedish 96, at the minimum. Both the Enfield No. 1 Mk III and the No. 4 are iconic rifles that served in both World Wars. A Swiss K31 would be really nice to have, as would an Arisaka and some version of a Carcano, and of course no militaria collection would be complete without a version of the Mosin-Nagant. That's 12 rifles right there. If I had to trim it down to 10, I could probably drop the Krag and the later version of the Enfield.

Can't believe only 1 other person said a Mosin Nagant, when I guarantee/assume everyone who has posted so far owns one.

Might as well make it a 5+1 list, with the +1 being a Mosin.

1. M1903 Springfield 7.62x63
2. Swiss Karabiner-31 7.5x55
3. Persian BRNO M98/29 7.92x57
4. Swedish M-96 long rifle 6.5x55
5. FN-49 7x57

The top 5 that I want.

chute2thrill said:

Can't believe only 1 other person said a Mosin Nagant, when I guarantee/assume everyone who has posted so far owns one.

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Thanks, but no thanks. Just can't warm up to them.

But as an alternate suggestion, one of the various delightfully weird rifles that the French built - Lebel, Berthier, or reasonably easy to find, the MAS M1936.

Hmm, only five? Well I get all hot and bothered about...

Swedish m/94 carbines. Unaltered.
Swedish m/94-14 carbines.
US Krag 1896 carbines (Rough-riders used them in Cuba)
US Krag 1898 rifles.
US Springfield 1903 (Late Rock Island Arsenal if possible)
Swede m/96 Rifle (1900 Oberndorf preferred)
Canadian Ross MKII Model of 1905 "Straight Pull" or a MKIII Sniper variant...
Model 1895 Mauser, Transvaal or Orange Free State Contract in 7x57mm.
Bruno Mauser Persian Contract in 7.92x57mm.
UK, Model 1888 Lee- Metford, in 303 Black powder / early cordite.

USGI mil-surp collection well exceed five rifles. They well not be getting cheaper any day soon.

Krag
US Springfield M1903
US M1917
M1903A3
M1 Garand
M1 Carbine
M1A/M14
AR15/M16

The Yugo Mausers are still a good buy and plenty on Gunbroker. I looked through four pages of them yesterday and saw a few good deals.

M1924
MOD98
M24/47
M24/52C
M48
M48A
M48B
M48BO

The Swiss straight pulls are up in price and well probably keep going up.
K1911
K31
K31-43/44
ZFK-55

The Lee Enfields can be a large collection to cover the major models and variations.
No1's
No4's MkI and MkII, plus 1/2 and 1/3's

You guy's got everything I own covered except for the 30-40 Krag and 6.5x55 Swede.I almost brought a Krag at the show this wknd.but like someone said prices aren't going down.They wanted $850.00 for it and I just couldn't bring myself around to paying that much for one when they use to be fairly cheap when I first got into guns.The price of ammo at the show out of control,we'll be re-loading 7.62x54 soon along with the other old mil-surps unless you want to shoot corrosive junk.