I'll jump in with Armoredman and others in that having a gun you can afford beats not having a better one. And no, not everyone can just save a little longer and buy the better gun.
Also, despite what's written in gun rags, not every gun is 1 MOA or better, sorry, just isn't true. In fact a lot of new Remchesters are real dogs. Not to mention most (yes most) gun owners can't shoot 1 MOA even if their rifle can. I'm all for having a gun that can outshoot you, but it's really not necessary.
Commie guns get a bad rap for accuracy. Not all commie guns are the same, plus a LOT of this reputation was gotten from people shooting Wolf ammo and questionable surplus ammo. No, you're not going to win any matches at Camp Perry with a 90 year old Mosin Nagant shooting surplus or Wolf ammo. But you won't win with an A2 or A3 20" standard AR shooting surplus ammo either. Customized, accuratized guns fall into the custom gun category (ok, maybe semi-custom production) and shouldn't be compared to mil-spec guns. A 24" varminter or Camp Perry competition gun will run circles around a standard AR.
Now, those milsurp guns with GOOD ammo (such as the Barnaul or Silver/Brown Bear or S&B ammo) can often shoot just as well as any other average battle rifle, or even new commercial bolt gun out there. There are some exceptions, like the various sniper rifles, Finn rifles and the Swiss surplus rifles which will outshoot most commercial production bolt guns.
So, why not get that $70 Mosin or $100 Mauser as a first (or in some cases only) gun? 7.62x54R is downright cheap, even for the Barnaul and "Bear" hunting ammo, and not bad for S&B hunting ammo. 8mm for the Mausers is darn near being given away in surplus ammo, so there's plenty to practice with, and hunting ammo isn't expensive.
I know a lot of people have the dream of repelling a SWAT assault and holding off a light infantry platoon, and I know I'm shooting a sacred cow here, but it's just not likely, no matter what weapon you own. An AK or even an SKS can handle any self-defense situation you're likely to have. Yeah they're accurate to about 300 meters and that's it (SKSs a little further). But do you really think you're going to get into 600 meter firefights on the way to Blockbuster?
If you can afford more expensive guns, go for it.
But guys who can't don't need to feel that they're doomed to never be able to fell a deer because they use a Mosin or Enfield rather than a Weatherby. They needn't feel they they are going to be slaughtered in their beds by alien paratroopers because they pack an SKS rather than an AR/FAL/M1A.
Commie (and other surplus guns) may not be better but they are better values.