Bolt Action Surplus Rifles

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The type 38 Arasaka is a nice bolt surplus but getting hard to find in original condition. You could actually collect any of your choices as individual selection with lots of variety.
 
well I love the cock on close designs so I would recommend a Enfield number 4 as the most economical option to expand. another cheaper option would be a swedish mauser but also one gun that I would love to add to the collection as a brush gun would be the type 38 arisaka carbine.
 
I notice that a Russian Mosin hasn't come up yet. For good reason, considering its competition in the surplus bolt action arena.

That said, and Lord forgive me, but my Finnish M39 may be the best handling and best shooting surplus bolt I have. And I do love my 1903 and M1917.
 
I notice that a Russian Mosin hasn't come up yet. For good reason, considering its competition in the surplus bolt action arena.


Most people still have Mosin Nagants, but prices have put them in line with other surplus rifles. I know that my Ishapore 2A1 was purchased for about the same as I've saw Mosin Nagants at the last gun show I went to.

Ammo is also a little harder to get than it used to.
 
The Spanish FR-8 is an interesting rifle , I may take mine out this deer season.
Here's my FR-8 below it's "parent" rifle the Spanish Mod 43.
Come to think about it I may use the 43 instead , I dunno,,:evil:

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Depends on whether you want them for collectibility, shooting, weirdness, etc. Just listing a few things you might consider.

Arisakas are strong underappreciated firearms but ammo supply is very hit or miss. Thus, reloading is necessary.

Likewise Belgian and Argentinian Mausers (and Turks) in 7.65 Mauser. Ditto for the French WWI and WWII era rifles.

The Swiss Schmidt Rubins are great with generally superior bores and accuracy but the cheap super GP11 has vanished--thus reloading is necessary.

Carcanos are an off-beat choice but ammo is hit and miss and some of these may not be safe to shoot (8mm conversions). Really for reloaders and off beat collectors. There is a wide variety of models though with some interesting sub-variants for collectors--e.g. Finnish or Japanese militaries used Italian Carcanos.

Krags, ditto but even reloading brass is now scarce (assuming that you do not want to form cases from other cartridges).

P14 Enfields, its cousin, the 1917 U.S. Rifle aka American Enfield are all great shooters and at least the 1917 model has climbed steadily in price. Ammo in .303 and .30-06 pretty much stayed available even at the height of the ammo drought from 2008-2014 or so. The various flavors of Lee-Enfields are also very collectible with good ammo availability.

Swedish Mausers are another one that has pretty good availability of ammo.

Yugos and Turk mausers are a subvariant that doesn't get much respect but prices have roughly doubled during the last few years due to shooters recognizing good values. Most use the 8x57 Mauser which means decent ammo availability.

Finnish Mosins are the other variant that is a pleasure to shoot with good availability of ammo.

Garands and M-1 Carbines are the ones that are skyrocketing in price now that the CMP wells are running dry. But, both have good ammo availability.
 
You want hard to find ammo?

How about a little Froggie -36?

7.5MAS 7.5x54mm.

When I can find reliable ammo, it shoots well, though for me the stock is a bit short.

When ammo got to a buck a round, either surplus berdan or Yugo boxer, I stopped shooting it.

Sorry, I have no full length photos in my files.

-kBob
 

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kBob,
Try grafs and sons. They had it last week at least. You can also find it regularly at Aim Surplus but the cheap mil-surp in that caliber seems to be gone. What I am seeing is 16.99 - 22.99 for Prvi Partisan 139 grain per 20. Grafs also has Prvi brass which is of good quality for reloading. You can also form brass from 6.5x55 Swede brass with relative ease.

Ironically, I am building a MAS 1936 (not the one with grenade launcher 36/51) right now with the only part that was lacking was the barrel. Finally found one in good condition and the original caliber and it arrived yesterday.
 
It's been said in numerous posts so I am just going to pile on... I don't think there's anything as sweet to be had for the money as a Lee Enfield. Ive got a handful of old milsurp rifles but the SMLE seems to get grabbed every range day. Also, I'm seeing Turkish Mausers popping up locally. I've got a few Enfields.

One other thing. If you like to tinker, you can find No 1 MK 3s or No 4s cut up into sporters and it's really fun to reconfigure them back to period correct. Granted, you put a little money into it but it's fun and you're not destroying history. Just make sure the barrel wasn't cut down or somebody didn't drill and tap the receiver for glass and it really isn't that hard. Or just get it for the action. Man that LE bolt flies fast and 3 Oh 3 is a heckuva round and not too hard to find.

Best of luck in your search!
 
From an investment standpoint, your best bet is guns issued by the U.S. military. They tend to be the most expensive milsurps already, however. I think there is potential, also, in British guns. Ammunition will always be available for these, as well.

"Lightly sporterized" guns (that is, guns where the receivers are untouched) are great projects to restore to original military configuration. You have to carefully consider the cost of the gun, plus all the parts needed to complete the restoration, and purchase accordingly. Don't fall into the trap of paying too much.

Milsurps are a great hedge against a future "assault weapons ban." Not only are they unlikely to be touched by such a ban, but their value will go up as current owners of "evil black rifles" redirect their purchasing. I'm telling anyone that will listen that if an AWB includes grandfathering, the value of existing EBR's will go up, but if it does not include grandfathering, the value of milsurps will go up. Personally, right now, I would put half my gun investment budget in EBR's and the other half in milsurps.
 
Spanish48909FR8Mauser(4).jpg

I have always had interest in a Spanish FR8. Looked at one at a gun show 7-8 years ago I wish I bought it. Only one I can remember seeing in person actually. Not that they are super rare.
 
From left to right:

1.Finnish 28/30
2.Norwegian Krag
3.Yugoslavian 98k
4.Swiss K31

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Cast a wide net, catch more fish.
-----krinko
 
Lee Navy in 6mm
Remington-Lee in .45-70
1891 Mauser in 7.65x53
1893 Mauser in 7x57
Ross 1905 and 1930 in .303

There were also some civilian-market Enfields and Mausers. Rigby sold Mausers under their own name, chambered in ".275 Rigby." BSA sold MLEs in various calibers, including 8x56R and .375 Flanged. Remington sold P17s as the Remington Model 30 and Model 720. Ross sold civilian models of their straight-pull rifles; the 1910 was available in their own .280 caliber, .280 Ross or .280 Rimless Nitro Express.

There were also a number of single-shot rifles made by Martini, Beaumont, Springfield, Remington, et.al. While they're not bolt actions, they're historically significant and great fun to shoot. Not that long ago many of them were wall-hangers because no loaded ammunition or brass could be had; nowadays all it takes is a few mouse clicks and a credit card number. And with calibers ranging from .43 to .577, you get a lot of bang per shot...
 
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Some More examples of what the OP could get into ,,,
Some "baby" rifles I like to call em....

1891 Engineer carbine.
Kar 88 ( made in 1891, just noticed that hmmm!)

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Also surprised the M44 Mosin isn't on many people's list. The mule kick in the shoulder lets you know what Milsurp really means.
 
If you just want to buy milsurp bolt rifles just for the sake of buying them, then start somewhere and work your way through all that's available. If you're in to really accurate milsurps, get a K-31, like yesterday. I have a variety of military bolt rifles but the K-31 makes the rest of them boring. That said, my 1903A3 is another sleeper that shoots really well.

35W
 
Enfield #5 "Jungle Carbine", or the common, Non-sporterized LE #4.

The tough Spanish FR8.
Be aware that the FR8 is a Large-ring Mauser (8mm action with 7.62/.308 barrel).

The much weaker FR7 is a Small-ring Mauser.

A few hours of reading should demonstrate that the FR8-if it has good headspace-is safe enough for modern .308 ammo.
 
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