Whats Your favorite Milsurp Rifle..

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Wildalaska

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Now listen...I dont want to know whats the best...that will turn this thread more heated than stories about cops tasering grandmas....

All I wanna know is,,,whats your fav milsurp rifle...and why....

For me, I like Swedish mausers and Lee Enfields..I also want an Arisaka, but its got to be unground...

Aint real turned on by 98s and Mosins...well Ifin I could find a pre revolutionary one that would be cool, but the rest....nope gimme a swede...

You?

WildinquiringmindswanttoknowAlaska
 
Mosin for me. I think it's mostly the historical baggage it carries. It is quite likely one was carried by my grandfather and is therefore part of the reason I exist.

I find the simplicity of design quite elegant mechanically speaking. Also, now that I have one and shot it a few times, I realized that it fits me quite well. I must be that average guy Colonel Mosin had in mind.

OTOH, I don't have a whole lot of experience with other milsurps besides the SKS. I may appreciate them more as I add some to my collection, but I doubt they will have as much personal meaning.
 
I'm very partial to the Swedes myself. I've picked up a couple of M44's that the Incubii like to shoot more thanI do, but that doesn't slow me down on them.

I used to have a bunch of old P35's, and I had a few P38's.

I probably shoud buy more Garands now that the Greeks are here and seem to be better than I suspected.

Regards,
Rabbit.
 
I like SKS, and Mosin, mostly. There is something about them that I can't explain. I think I am one of the weired ones that like this type of sight.
I don't like 98's sight, and I don't actually care too much for the peep-sight.

Oh, they are cheap too. :)

-Pat
 
M1's and M98's. There is NO END to the history of the 98's as there were >100 million made and used in most every country in the world for over 100 years. Lots of calibers, lots of configurations.

The M1 is just an AWSOME engineering design and played a BIG part in winning us a BIG war! Love 'em!
 
It would have to be the Enfield for me. I have a No4 Mk2 that was unissued and is so pretty I have a hard time not opening up the safe and looking at it every day. Love that rifle.
 
I'd have to say Lee Enfields of all varieties.

For me it's the design, and how smooth the action is. Not to mention the fact my grandfather carried one and my country carried them off to war twice.
 
I think my username should justify that I'm not jumping on the bandwagon when I too claim the Enfield to be my favorite. The No4 family just seems to be the slickest, best balanced, overall shooter I have ever known. Some say they aren't inherently as accurate as other rifles, but for some reason they just seem to always drop dead on target for me. Perhaps not the tightest groups off the bench, but shooting off hand I can't find a better shooting rifle. And for the money you can't even touch it with anything modern!
 
For the Lee Enfield fans, some pieces from my collection. Click the images for full-size.



From left to right:
  1. 1928 Lithgow Lee Enfield No. 1 MkIII w/ my grandfathers Pattern '07 bayonet
  2. 1944 Maltby Lee Enfield No. 4 Mk I w/ Mk I spike bayonet
  3. 1916 Lithgow Heavy SMLE 'Bitser'
  4. Winchester Pattern '14 w/ Pattern '13 bayonet
    [/list=1]
    I also have a 1945 Fazakerly No. 5 Mk I Jungle Carbine and a 1916 R.S.A.F (Royal Small Arms Factory, Enfield) Lee Enfield No. 1 MkIII*, but unfortunately no pictures of these ones at the moment.
 
Swedes and Mark4No1 on the bolt side. Swedes for their mechanical purity, lack of excess (excess noice/flash/recoil), and damn fine accuracy - SMLE No4Mk1 for it's capacity, punch, balance, and superb sights.

On the self-loader side - Garands and SKS's. The Garand has a history that is very compelling (besides being a superb autoloader) and the SKS is simple a reliable, inexpensive, reasonably accurate truck/brush gun.

If I had to pick only one - it'd probaly be the SMLE.
 
The Lee Enfield #4Mk2 or the K-98 Mauser or the Mosin Nagant 91/30.
My nod goes to the Enfield only because it served on our side.
These rifles were the last of the bolt action battle rifles ever issue enmasse.
 
My Lee-Enfield No.4 Mk1 was my very first rifle, so you know where I pick on that score. The Mauser 98 is right behind it, and the M1 on the self loading side. The FAL as well. :)
 
While I don't think that I've a family connection,I too like the 91/30 best.I love the history.The whole Czar/Bolshevik/World War I era facinates me.

From a purely technical standpoint my favorite is a K-31.It is just sooo smoothly different.(I think the stock is a club but,oh well;) )
 
Never owned a Swede Mauser, but always admired them, I've heard good things about the 6.5x55 round's long range capabilities. My only milsurp experience is with the 1903 Springfield, 1917 Enfield, M1Garand, and SKS. Favorite is the 1917 Enfield. :)
 
As "leave-alones" to shoot, stare at or fondle, I like the '03, the 1917 Enfield, and the M1. I grew up with them--and the smell of Hoppes #9. :)

I like the Mauser 98 action as the basis for a custom sporter...

Art
 
M1 Garand.....without a doubt.

Next, will be the 1903's..........after that, hmmmmm......I'd probably go with the K-98.

I already have one M1 Garand, a 1903A3 is next on my list....then we'll see where I go from there.
 
I guess I'm not a historical accuracy kinda guy. I only own one milsurp, a Mauser 98K (Czech vz.24) that has been rebarelled to .308 and reblued.

I was very close to buying a No.4 Mk 1 Enfield recently but just couldn't justify it to myself based on other considerations right now. If it's still sitting there at the next gun show I may not be able to resist.
 
I'm a US M1 carbine kind of guy myself.




591.jpg
 
Lee Enfield No 1 MK III * It's a BSA made in 1915. The bore was a bit rough, but I put a brand new South African barrel on it.

Lot of fun to shoot out to 300-400 yards. Amazing what these old guns can do at long range. We mostly shoot at rocks etc. The Lee Enfields also carry nicely, you can actually get your hand around it at the balance point.

Someday I'd like to build an early Lee Enfield into a British sporting rifle, similar to the one Val Kilmer used in "The Ghost and the Darkness".

I guess I have some attraction to these guns because of my Scot-Irish-Welsh-English ancestry, tho when my people came over it was Brown Bess days or earlier.
 
Mosins in general, and a certain 1953 Hungarian M44 in particular. Maybe because it was my first, maybe because it never fails to shoot 1.5MOA, but probably because sometime long ago someone took the time to crudely carve "K.F." into the stock.
 
I'll play the odd man out and pick a 98-pattern Mauser, specifically my M48A. I like the heft, the balance and the feel. I shoot it well, the sights are adequate, the action is smooth, and it is very reliable. And I like bent bolts. I also like the M1 Garand(Though unfortunately I haven't had much experiance with it), possibly more than the Mauser, and might be adding one to my collection.

Mosins are nice but they don't balance well for me, the stock is a little awkward and I don't like straight bolts. The sights are better than the Mauser's, certainly. I don't have much experiance with the Lee but they do cycle fast. The No4's sights are possibly the best of the mil-surps. Don't like rimmed ammunition though. The '03 never did anything for me... overly complicated. Especially the sights.
 
I'm not sure yet, I am leaning toward my K-31 simply from how it feels so far.

But I still like the Garand a lot simply because of the "ping!"
 
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