Recent content by KrankyKraut

Paintballdude902's and fatcat's suggestions of a cut-down Mosin makes a lot of sense. Cheap, utterly reliable and as hard-hitting as anything out there. You could even re-stock it with a hunter's type stock from Boyd's; makes it even lighter. They have a nice one on sale right now for $64.

Go with the Mauser. I have both The M38 and M48, and like them both, but the Mauser is more pleasant to shoot. The bolt is much smoother. I think you'll keep it longer. If you run out of 8mm ammo, you can always re-barrel it later in any caliber you choose. The Mosin is not as flexible a platform.

For Mauser replacement stocks: https://www.boydsgunstocks.com/SearchResults.asp?searching=Y&sort=9&search=military&show=12&page=3

I have a sporterized and several original military Mausers in 8mm. Love them all. The sporterized ones can be made more accurate due to free-floating the barrel, but some of my military Mausers are equally accurate, but then again I'm not a great shot. The round is very powerful and actually...

303tom, Is that a .308 Enfield? If so, yes, the ammo is plentiful. If it's .303, not so much...

I like the Mausers, and second the Mosin-Nagants. In a Mauser, I'd go for a VZ-24, followed by K98 and then the Yugos (M24/47 and M48). These are all in 8mm. In the Mosins, the Finn M39 first, and then the Russian 91/30 and M38. They're 7.62mm x54R. They are all fun, and the ammo is relatively...

That must be the ugliest rifle I've ever seen.

Like them. Especially the M39 and M38 carbine. But overall, prefer the smoother operation and workmanship of the Mausers, especially the early K98 and VZ24.

I have Yugo M48, M24/47 and K98. Also German K98 and Czech VZ24. My favorite is the VZ24. Excellent build quality and very smooth action. Among the 8mm Mausers, that's the one I recommend.

Looks like you got a walnut stock there. Nice! I'd remove the Russian shellack and bring back the original look. There's a beeswax mix available from the gunstock Dr. Tom's. It works great for that. Here's the link: http://www.thegunstockdoctor.com/FutureProducts.html

Mauser VZ24 8mm Romanian contract. Super slick.

If you look at the issue from an international standpoint, i.e. what's the quintessential American gun in the eyes of the rest of the world, it's the Winchester lever gun, the Tommy Gun and the M16. "The Rifle Man" and other Westerns, WWII movies and Vietnam are driving this.

I thought it was "Beware the man with only one gun, because he probably knows how to use it". :) Anyway, keeping the Mauser and saving up for the lever gun is the way to go. If you get bored with 8mm in the future, you can always use the Mauser action to convert it to a sporter in whatever...

7.62 X39 isn't so plentiful right now, and stupidly expensive. I hope that'll change soon, after this ammo hording craze stops. The availability and cheapness of the ammo was half the reason I bought mine in the first place.

I'd choose the BHP. It fits my hand and is well balanced (to me). The Beretta, while a superb gun in its own right, is simply too big and unwieldy for me.