Milsurp breakage?

[Mooseman]

The milsurp bug has bitten me and I want to start collecting again. I will only buy rifles that can be shot and for which ammo is obtainable. My question is, are milsurp rifles next to indestructible? If not do you repair them, have someone else repair them or just part them out and get another rifle if there's a breakdown? Just wondering. My C&R should be coming soon and I wanted to get some input. BTW I assume I'd probably put a maximum of 200 rounds through a milsurp rifle in a year.

 

[Ol` Joe]

With proper care a milsurp will out last you and your kids. They aren`t indestrucable but are designed to take a beating. Some things you can fix your self if they fail others a smith may be required. Weight the cost of repair and the price of replacment to decide which way to go IF trouble arises.

The 200 rds you will fire per year would be a daily practice session at a military training range.

 

[alamo]

There's plenty of parts available for most milsurps so if you know what's broken, it's not difficult to repair yourself. No telling about the history of the particular rifle you get so you can't say if the one you got is indestructible. You just need to learn how to disassemble them so you can replace any parts if needed. See the instructions at this website for many milsurp rifles:

http://www.surplusrifle.com

 

[Dave R]

None of my milsurps have ever broken, so I don't have any experience. The only milsurp breakage I have ever heard of is vague, unsubstantiated reports of Garands bending op rods under handloads that are too heavy.

Does anyone have any FIRST HAND experience with a broken milsurp? I'm kinda inclined to think they are nearly indestructible. But I guess if you get one that has had heavy use--could happen.

 

[Niner]

Breaking a Milsurp is about like breaking a hammer with a steel handle. Have you ever broken a hammer with a steel handle?

Seriously, if it isn't broken when you get it, it isn't likely to get broken by anything you are going to do to it.

 

[armoredman]

No failures yet.

 

[Shrinkmd]

200 rounds a year?

Gee, last time I had my Mosin out I put 160 through it before I got tired. Are you talking antiques or workhorse 8mm/mosin/k31/sks?

 

[dfaugh]

Well, I have and have had Mausers, Mosins, Enfields, etc. Most of the bolt guns are pretty close to being indestructable...Most things that would break are easy to fix like firing pins and springs, and parts are plenty available for all the more common ones.

Suspect that semi-autos allow for slightly more chances of failure, but I've never seen one fail. The only ones I have first hand knowledge of are my own SKSs and my buddies Garand. He hasn't shot the Garand alot, but I've put about 5000 rounds through my oldest SKS. And again, parts for the common guns are readily available.

 

[DougW]

I also would not get too hung up on ammo availability. 7.62X39 has been a little scarse lately. Reloading for a milsurp is the way to go in the long run, unless you are running an SVT or FN49, or some other semi auto that is hungry. I reload .303, and can load 8mm, 7.65 Argi, and 7.5 Swiss with my set up easily.

As far as the rifles, it appears that all are in agreement that a rifle built for the rigors of battle will take a LOT more punishment and abuse than a Wal Mart Remington 700, and probably shoot a lot better to boot.

 

[Mooseman]

200 rounds?

"Gee, last time I had my Mosin out I put 160 through it before I got tired. Are you talking antiques or workhorse 8mm/mosin/k31/sks?"

I figure that I'll probably end up buying several milsurps, they're like potato chips, you can't have just one That said, when I combine distance of travel to range + ammo + I shoot handguns a lot more. I figure around 200 rounds a year is fairly realistic. Unless I hit the lottery then you can add some decimal places.

I like the old bolt actions BTW, I had a spanish mauser years back which I had to get rid of and I WANT IT BACK!

 

[Onmilo]

Military surplus is just that.
Military surplus.
The stuff is still good enough to be used for a minimum of 1000 rounds during the course of emergency issue.
Better, newer, stuff was placed in inventory and these weapons were doing nothing but taking up space.

 

[monsternav]

Don't listen to Omilo, he's just jealous .

You will find many fine, accurate center fire rifles at discount prices. You will also find some junk, only worthy of being wall-hangers/parts bins, and some rare, beautiful things with 5 and 6 (or more) figure price tags.

As with any antique/collectable hobby there will be those of dubious morality who will try to pawn off the mundane as the fantastic, with a price to boot. Get some reference books if you start to get serious, and stick with known resellers at first. Just don' listen to any sellers when he says his supply of surplus ammo is non-corrosive! It almost never is. Here is a list of gun/part sellers from early last year. I would like to add

http://www.tngunparts.com/

http://www.amherst-depot.com/

 

[Davo]

Ive not had a failure to date...but remember these are simple designs made of steel and wood, there isnt much to break. If something does happen, parts are cheap. These guns will be just as usable in 100 years.

 

[dawgtraxx]

no failures here...my mosin looks like a boat oar,but shoots great

 

[Cosmoline]

I've owned several dozen Mosin-Nagants and fired more rounds downrange than I can count. The ONLY Mosin parts failure to date was a snapped bolt stop which was my own fault. I flexed it too far in an effort to ease the weight of the trigger. It lasted a few months, but finally gave way.

I've had more problems with surplus Mausers than with any others, which is one reason I stopped buying them. Mausers also have the drawback of limited interchangability due to various subtypes and action sizes, whereas almost all internal parts on Mosins are mutually interchangable.

 

[GD]

One of the reasons I got into milsurps was their indestructibility. I had a U.S. made hunting rifle that I was continually sending to a gun repairman after only a few rounds each hunting season. Since then, I have acquired about 50 milsurps. Not a single one has broken, and I shoot on average 4000-5000 rounds per year.