Is this a decent price for a milsurp?

It’s a sporterized #4Mk1 Enfield.
Bore condition and reciever stampings will be determinate in value.
I’d buy it if bore is decent, but would replace forestock and handguards to return it to original. Otherwise it would be a parts donor.

The magazine is an aftermarket replacement.
I’d see if price is negotiable. I’d offer $200 out the door as top offer.
Days of cheap milsurps are long past.

Good price if it's not trashed. I won't comment on the mosins beyond saying I didn't buy them when they were $80. I don't know about the arisaka.

The way prices have been for Enfields, from here, that don't look too bad. I see it don't have its original mag, as well as the stock being shortened... the latter would be about my limit for sporterizing, depending on what condition the forestock and handguard are. British mags can be found. From here, I'd say get it. Another commenter's mileage can and will vary.

Edited to add: I've read that the No4 is a free-floating barrel. The only real reason to replace the forward wood is to put it back as issued. The L42A1, which was a 7.62x51 sniper's rifle built on the No4 action, had the forward wood cut back very similar to this.

I wouldn't mind that Enfield at all as a shooter. $200 sounds fair to me, and personally I wouldn't be worried about collectability.

As far as the Arisaka, something seems amiss there. They're selling the rifle + ammo for $50 when a box of 6.5 Arisaka alone is worth about $40. Since the LGS is selling the rifle for pretty much its weight in firewood, I'm guessing it's non-functional.

Does the Arisaka have an intact “Mum”?
Sounds like they’re selling the ammo and giving you the rifle.
Again, if bore is clean, grab it.

GooseGestapo said:

It’s a sporterized #4Mk1 Enfield.
Bore condition and reciever stampings will be determinate in value.
I’d buy it if bore is decent, but would replace forestock and handguards to return it to original. Otherwise it would be a parts donor.

The magazine is an aftermarket replacement.
I’d see if price is negotiable. I’d offer $200 out the door as top offer.
Days of cheap milsurps are long past.

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All that ^^^^ and also aside form the current ammo-nonsense, note the cost and availability of .303 in the best of times if you want to shoot it a bunch. Not horrible but neither common nor inexpensive.

Todd.

Ugh...
Bubba strikes again. No thanks. Parts donor.

Buy the Arisaka, if nothing else, you can part it out at that price on ebay. Bolts along bring about a C note. Firing pins, butt plates, screws, etc are all expensive and scarce so even if the bore is trashed or rechambered into some oddball cartridge, then you should come out all right.

The Enfield is a closer question. If the bore is good with strong rifling, decent price. No. 4 stocks though are getting hard to get which means expensive to restore to full military trim. Here is an example of a replacement forend, https://www.libertytreecollectors.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=11390&idcategory=63 at $179. Libertytree is decent but high. Numrich and Sarco are about cleaned out of popular stocks but still get sporter versions every now and then. You might also try Century International as they bought out Springfield Sporters. That stock is buried on their website so you'll have to dig for their items. Decent amount of parts from the last time I was there. Then you need handguards, etc. They are also touchy about bedding a new stock to it. Buy it as a shooter. There are still enough Enfield parts around that it is not worth it if you part it out.

The Hex Mosin at $280 might be the sleeper if you want a collectible and it is in good shape and complete. Not great price, but not awful and it might be a re-arsenaled former Dragoon which puts it in a rarer category. @entropy can tell you a bit about Mosins or this has a lot of pictures so you can identify it. http://7.62x54r.net/

Actually when Cabela's is selling '42 Ishevsks for $249, 280 for a Hex receiver isn't that bad. 7.62x54r.net is an excellent place to look for markings, the barrel shank markings are the most important on a Mosin. My local auction house has not figured that out yet, but they're only a mile down the road, so I occasionally head down there and look 'em over. If you can get good pics, post 'em.

ApacheCoTodd said:

All that ^^^^ and also aside form the current ammo-nonsense, note the cost and availability of .303 in the best of times if you want to shoot it a bunch. Not horrible but neither common nor inexpensive.

Todd.

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I still consider .303British a good rifle to have as well as a good one to stock components and reload for. Work up a load that refines Mk7 ball... good for deer and bigger.

Just from the pic, looks like a 1930-1936 Tula 91/30, not an ex-dragoon or Cossack, but without seeing the barrel shank and tang stamps, I can't be 100% sure. Looks like it had the typical post war refurb done.

I have a 1930 Tula 91/30 myself, it was my second Mosin I bought. My son is getting it for Xmas this year, if he shows up. He shot it back when I got it in 2004, at 9 years old:

Those Mosin prices are consistent with what I've seen them for lately. In stores, you're not going to find them for much less anymore.

The Arisaka is actually a Type I (eye) Carcano made in Italy for Japanese forces during WWII.
Even with the un-repairable sporterization done to it I would have bought that one - 50.00?
In my experience with several Type I's, they have the best chambers and make very decent shooters.

JT

Sticker shock!

Went to the local gun store and found I can't afford my mil surplus collection.

GooseGestapo said:

Ugh...
Bubba strikes again. No thanks. Parts donor.

Click to expand...

This kind of comment just kills me every time. It's like there is a mortal sin being committed if you are not a museum quality collector. Yes, Virginia... there is a Bubba. Not everything has to be about historical collections, or the almighty dollar value.

Nothing can ever be about going out shooting just for fun, or for hunting, or for defensive use... It's just like liberals not allowing for different views...

HOWEVER, take a damn second to look at what was being offered up for sale... a $50 Arisaka. Sure it had been cut on, but if it didn't shoot, it could probably be made to, and if not, the bolt alone would fetch that to a collector who didn't like "bubba" guns, and needed a spare part... There's money to be made here... for the collector...

I laugh my butt off every damn time I hear/see some holier-than-thou fool start calling people "bubba"...

By the way, even though that Enfield may not be collectible (in it's present state) as long as it was in good shootable condition, I'd have picked it up as a blaster.

I like Bubba. He drives the prices on my milsurps up. I hate when in his ignorance he chops an M28 Mosin or a Chatellerault, however. He can chop all the '42 Ishevsks he wants.

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You guys screaming about Bubba don’t understand that way things were in the 50’s and 60’s. As has been stated many times, guns were stacked in drums for $5-$15 each

while that sounds ultra cheap, remember that good paying jobs in the 50’s was maybe $2 an hour. I don’t remember there being cheaper factory deer rifles like we have today, so if you wanted to deer hunt and were in a $2/hr job, you bought a mil surplus and modified to suit. No big deal. There are millions more

think Ralphie’s dad in Christmas Story. That’s what life was like

it was less obtrusive than the changes guys make to 10/22’s