Newbie with some questions about a Mosin and SKS...

[Fatheroffive]

Hey guys,

First let me say that I am glad to find a forum where I can hopefully get some sound advice and learn from people who are more experienced than I...

A little background. I am 38 and live near Raleigh, NC and as you can tell from my name I have a large family. I recently visited a brother in Jacksonville, FL who has truly become quit the firearm/gun enthusiast. Me and my 2 brothers were always around firearms growing up but since starting families it never seemed to be the hobby of choice until this brother of mine went into law enforcement a decade or so ago as a reserve cop in a small town.

Anyway, my brother shows me this Mosin Nagant rifle that he bought at Gander and has customized with a new stock and the 2-3 crates of ammo that he has bought. He also got a MN for his son who choose to keep his more original and classic. He also had an AR-15 Bushmaster Rifle and a Ruger handgun.

My question is this... I have never purchased a firearm, the only guns I own were given to me when I was teenager by my father... a Remington shotgun, a Winchester 270 Bolt and a 22 rifle. I also have inherited from my father's father a 16 guage shotgun. I understand that I need an FFL store to accept the firearm as a transfer if I purchase off the internet.

I found a company in CHarlotte called Classic Firearms and they have what looks to be good MN and Yugo SKS for sale. I went to my local gun store last week and was told that MN's are pretty much tapped out, except for a few places. Here is the website for Classic (www.classicarms.us) My question is has anyone ever dealt with Classic? Is the MN 91/30 Sniper with Scope for $449 a good price? What about the MN 91/30 for $99? What about the Yugo SKS for $199?

Also, if someone has a better suggestion of where I can find some good MN or SKS for reasonable prices in the Raleigh area or on the internet (my only concern here is quality) I would appreciate it.

Thanks for the responses... looking forward to learning from the board.

 

[greenr18]

not a fan of the mosin nagant and iprefer aks to sks, ive owned all three of these weapons, mosin nagants are a pain since almost all the ammo out there is corrosive and its annoying to thoroughly clean everything, i shot the damn thing bout 40 times then got rid of it cause it was just taking up closet space. the sks and ak, are more of a depends on who you are for preference kinda thing, my dad prefers the sks to the ak i prefer the ak to the sks, they're about the same accuracy and range, but the ak is easier to take down and has a detachable magazine and is probably just a bit more reliable and if you're gonna get an sks, i personally would choose a Norinco over a Yugo surplus gun, though im sure ill get flak for saying that

 

[GlowinPontiac]

Welcome to THR!

Mosins are far from tapped out around CT. I got my 91/30 out the door for about 90 bucks last year.
99 is a decent price if the gun is in good shape and has a decent bore but the big factor will be what your local FFL charges for a transfer fee. Some charge outrageous rates (50-100 dollars) and some are much more reasonable. Once you add on shipping you could end up paying almost 175-200 for that $99 Mosin.

199 for an SKS does not sound too bad as I have seen them go for that or higher most of the time at local shops.

I dont know much about Sniper Mosins but for 449 you better make sure its original and not just a regular mosin with a re-welded bolt handle and a scope slapped on. Saw one of those at a local shop that looked like Bubba built it in the midst of a moonshine binge but the salesman insisted that it came from the Tula arsenal that way.

If you want just a plain old Mosin or SKS I would suggest visiting local shops or checking the classifieds first. You can probably find one for a good deal locally instead of spending extra money on shipping and FFL transfer fees.

 

[Fatheroffive]

The gun store I visited last week said they did transfers for $25 so that isn't too bad I don't think. Also this Classic Firearms is in Charlotte which am thinking means I wouldn't spend near as much on shipping as opposed to it coming from the midwest or the left coast.

I have seen on a couple of websites that I can change out the stock of the SKS if I wanted and add things like a tripod, etc. is this something that is common with the SKS? or would I be committing a sin in the firearm world?

 

[Duke of Doubt]

No, so long as nothing irreversible is done (drilling, welding, etc.) and you keep the original parts with the rifle, no harm has been done the hobby. Sort of like when your girlfriend puts on the black PVC basque gown for the party.

 

[shotgunjoel]

Those are good prices if the guns are in good condition. I'm not sure about the sniper though, I'd get the other two before I'd get the sniper. Uh oh, its the duke. He got my thread locked down.

 

[zoom6zoom]

Classic is a fine vendor. If you're going to be down that way, they don't have a showroom, but if you've made arrangements in advance they have a dealer nearby who will do the paperwork for you and it can be picked up at his shop.

 

[franconialocal]

I don't really know much about the add-ons, but I can vouch for the SKS for $200.00 That seems like a very reasonable price BUT make sure you do a really thorough inspection of it first (as much as you can via internet or in person). I own a Norinco SKS and I love it. Mine is a bit "cheap", no real frills but it shoots very well and never has any problems. I traded a .17 HMR Savage for it so it was a good trade!! Enjoy!

 

[_JT_]

Mosin Nagant ammo is 7.62 x 54 which you can get at any gunshop and even from Cabelas. Heck, i got a 20 pack from my local gun shop where i picked up my 91/30 for 8 bucks of Silver Bear non corrosive soft point ammo. I love the looks of the SKS, but a mosin was a nice easy start for me.

 

[Fatheroffive]

Thanks for the input guys, I ended up purchasing the SKS and 2 MN ( I have 2 boys and would like to at some point give these to them). I also bought 440 rds of Bulgarian ammo for MN at $85. Once they come in I will put some photos up for you guys. I called Classic and they hand selected each and I was told that all 3 looked very good. The SKS is coming with a cleaning rod.

 

[stubbicatt]

Congratulations. These are robust rifles, and should offer years of service. Be sure to clean them well after shooting to remove the powder residue, carbon, and the corrosive salts from all the surfaces exposed to the byproducts of combustion.

Do NOT forget to clean the gas tube and piston on our SKS, nor the gas block. It is a little vexing the first time you take it off, but after that it is a breeze.

 

[jjohnson]

Good. Learn how to clean it, though.

Well, good for you!

The SKS is my favorite 'truck gun' - absolutely sturdy and reliable. Fun and fairly cheap to shoot at the range, all that.

One thing you should know, though, about military surplus ammo: most of it is 'corrosive primed,' which means you do need to clean it after you shoot it, or you'll get crusty rusting visible in the receiver end. Most of the ammo for SKS that's surplus is corrosive. Many of the SKS variants have chrome lined bores to mitigate the rust issue, but that doesn't take care of the gas system and breech. Cleaning's not difficult. You can find online instructions and other cool info at: http://www.surplusrifle.com/sks/index.asp and you can back up to see the other stuff on the site.

You made a good choice - the SKS' recoil isn't enough to frighten new shooters who have shot nothing bigger than a 22. And they are fun.

 

[Brian41]

a Man after my own heart

those are my rifles! got a 91/30 2 M44's and 2 SKS's (one Chinese, one Yugo) in the family. they are great, GREAT guns, all of them.

your boys have some good pieces of history, and really fun to shoot rifles waiting on them! (not to mention the fun of shooting a rifle with a serious recoil! )

 

[railroader]

That bulgarian ammo will be corrosive. On my mosins after shooting corrosive ammo I either swab the barrel out with a patch and hot soapy water or windex. You need to get the corrosive salts out. I also spray windex on the bolt and wipe. After that clean normally. Mark

 

[jws527]

Regarding corrosive ammo: don't bother putting corrosive ammo through your SKS...it'll be much more of a pain to clean than the straight tube bolt guns, since you'll have to worry about the gas system in addition to the bolt, chamber, and bore. The good news is that new production (non-corrosive) 7.62x39 costs about the same as the corrosive surplus, and is widely available. Grab a case of Wolf or Brown Bear and go to it!

Mind you, "cleaning" after shooting corrosive simply means that you'll have to run some clean, fresh water through the bore and over the parts that were or could have been exposed to gases from the primer. It's that simple, but still. Everybody has their own methods, but this is mine and so far I've had no problems with rust in humid Florida.

That said, feel free to use it in the Mosins - and you'll probably want to because it's significantly cheaper than new production equivalent. My post-corrosive cleaning regimen is simply as described above: pour some fresh water through the bore and chamber and over the bolt (especially the bolt face), dry, and then clean and lube as normal.

 

[Ohio Gun Guy]

That's a good start!

I use dish soap and warm water to clean my surplus guns after shooting corrosive ammo. Then re-oil them. It doesnt take very long. Just remove the stock, run some dish water, wash (run a bore brush), rinse, dry, & oil.


I like to use shoe polish on the mosin stocks (WAX). I use brown, it makes the stock look more uniform and adds a semi-perminant wax protective coat.

 

[nathan]

Got to hurry, those Mosins and Yugo sks s at clasiccarms.us are nothing but cheap prices compared to other vendors.