Mosin Nagant, SKS, or AK for the kids future?

[happybrew]

I have six sons, one daughter, and another child on the way, undetermined what sex at this time. I would like to obtain a rifle for each of my sons, and a handgun for my daughter. If the polical climate changes, I anticipate existing rifles will likely be grandfathered in, and I can pass them on to my children when they become adults. Regarding my sons, when Mosin Nagants were inexpensive and ammo was cheap, I began on that road.

Ammo for the Mosin Nagant has since nearly doubled in price. Due to financial concerns (after all, those kids do need to eat), and wife concerns (you bought a WHAT??) I only purchased 1200 rounds for the first Mosin, and did not increase my stockpile when I purchased additional rifles. I now have one M38, three M44's, and one WASR 10. I purchased 100 rounds every other month for the WASR, and now have an ammo can full of Wolf of 500 rounds, having expended some in plinking and target practice.

Mosin Nagants are cheap. WASR's are a bit more, and I cannot equip all of my kids with them immediately, it would take a bit of time. SKS's I am not very familiar with, but in my area are roughly double the price of the Mosin Nagant.

The big outlay appears to be the ammo at this point. Utilizing your crystal balls, would you recommend the AK platform, the SKS, or the Mosin Nagant for putting something away for the future? Bear in mind, cost is a big driving force in this. It's not cheap to feed, clothe, house that many floor monkeys.

Leave out potential grandchildren at this point. Not that anybody but me worries about that. My oldest is 15, my youngest is yet to be born. I figure I am responsible for the generation I produce, and my kids will be responsible for the children they produce. Heck,including the potential grandchildren, I could end up buying around 100 firearms with at least some ammo to feed them. Have at it! Thanks!

And do you think the daughter will need a long gun? She's kind of prissy.

happybrew

 

[bensdad]

If you keep at it the way you have been for the last 16 years, you will never be able to catch up on buying rifles...

The real question is, should you get another rifle, or a simple office visit surgical procedure.

 

[MaterDei]

I've only got 6 kids, but they each have their own weapons. I've been buying 22s and surplus rifles a lot too. You can't go wrong with any of the rifles you've suggested. Congrats on the new one on the way! My darling little bride and I sure wish we could have more babies, but it just isn't happening. Thinking about adopting.

bensdad, why break what clearly ain't broken? Shooting blanks is for pansies.

 

[biscuitninja]

Mosin's would be the way to go. We're thinking of adopting also.... But my wife has her heart set of a set of twin girls.... Sheesh, i'm about to be outnumbers real soon.
-bix

 

[nathan]

Buy more surplus ammo 54 R as they arent getting cheaper. Wideners.com has a good price last I saw. Classicarms.us too.

 

[roscoe]

Every girl needs an AK. My daughters will get one each.

 

[roscoe]

Every girl needs an AK. My daughters will get one each. Just make sure you take her shooting with Dad. She deserves it as much as the boys.

 

[Ash]

As far as legality goes, the AK would be something that would be banned first. By the time the Mosin is banned, everything else will be banned save for single-shot 22's. Thus if you are looking for grandfathered arms, the AK would be the most logical to purchase.

The tricky part would be if the government banned ammo hoarding. Or, if required all rounds of ammo to be retro-marked with an ID. I doubt there would be any grandfathering to the first scheme, so you might find yourself up the creek a bit. The second one might just be an expensive proposition. Who knows what schemes whirl in the minds of those who have in the past actively tried these things and who will undoubtably try them again.

Ash

 

[JWarren]

Ash has it spot on.

-- John

 

[jpwilly]

Every one of those rifles is the way to go. Get what you can afford but I'd start with 7 Mosins because those can still be had for $59 each and they won't last...stockpile ammo to. The Yugo SKS at $149 is great for a semi auto and the WASR's for $299ea is the best by in an AK platform or the Siaga's are more PC if you leave them alone.

 

[happybrew]

I'm really kicking myself for not buying more 7.62x54R. Even putting it on a credit card the interest would have been less than what the price increase was.

So 1 M44 w/ 1000 rounds of new production ammo would be roughly $400. I don't want 1950's ammo. I currently have 1986 production Polish ammo. Likely to be banned last.

1 SKS w/ 1000 rounds would be slightly less at around $380. Significant risk of being banned. It might escape...

Another consideration might be a Saiga. I wasn't impressed with the quality on visual inspection, however. It can be dremeled out to take the AK mags, and cost of the rifle would be slightly more than the SKS.

1 WASR 10 w/ 1000 rounds would be around $550. Mags to feed it would run an additional $60 to bring the number up to 6 magazines, including the 2 factory magazines it comes with. Most functional of the bunch, most likely to be banned. You can't hunt with an SKS in my state due to the magazine capacity. Theoretically, a 5 round magazine could be obtained for the WASR. The Mosin Nagant is really the most suitable for huntin, though.

I'm leaning towards shifting purchases to the SKS for cost/vs. risk of being banned. I can't swing $600 to outfit them with the WASR in the immediate future. Perhaps after the SKS's are aquired I can then consider slowly obtaining WASR-10's for the kids, as they share the same ammo, and I'd be looking at seeling the SKS and forking out another $200 or so.

My daughter has little interest in shooting. My boys enjoy it. But that doesn't mean she can't have a rifle to put away for a rainy day. She may marry some guy who doesn't have one. I would like her to become accustomed to having a handgun, however, as it can be easily stored and retrieved in the event she needs to defend herself against attack as an adult. Too many women fear them unreasonably and deprive themselves of a useful tool. If she already has one, she won't be tempted to not get one.

Thanks for the advice, guys! Except for the snip-snip advice. In the event of severe SHTF or TEOTWAWKI, I'll need my equipment intact to help re-populate the world. (It's good to be prepared for all possible scenarios ) I'd sure hate to have to re-build the Western U.S. all by myself, or with a bunch of guys getting old like me.

happybrew

 

[cracked butt]

My advice is a little different.

I would get a K-31 and put it away for the kids.
My reasoning would be that there were relatively few of them made versus mosins, and every one of them is a high quality piece of gun engineering and workmanship. Putting one or two away for the kids would be like if my father or grandfather had put away a National Match 1903 springfield for me.

You can still find them for $150-200 which is a steal when you consider that a SKS cost as much, an AK costs more, and a Mosin-nagant costs nearly as much. Its kind of like comparing a Rolls-Royce with a Hyudai accent, a chevy cavalier, and a Dodge Neon.

 

[Franco2shoot]

Mosin is my vote. I cleared the shelf this morning at a local Hunting store that had Steel case 7.62x54r for $4 bucks. I like brass better, but my 91/30 doesn't seem to care. The ATI scope modification and addition of a Bushnell 6-18x50mm has me keeping a pattern that is 1moa, and I am NOT a gifted shooter. My son does even better. It took some "getting - used - to " WRT the trigger, not so much the pounds of pull but more the quarter inch slack to take up, but concentration and steady squeeze puts the impact right on the button.... You do need to shop and inspect for a while to find a gem, but they are out there. I believe Cosmoline posted a really good tip sheet.
KKKKFL