Milsurp Bolt Action Rifle Choice

The SMLE has a great action, yet .303 is not cheap compared to 54r.


The Mosin is cheaper to customize, generally is a good shooter and takes abuse better

Here's a vote for the Ishapore 2A/2A1, a Mk III* SMLE that was designed to handle 7.62 NATO rounds. Same great action as the SMLE, with the convenience of using more available ammo.

Out of the two, I would go with the Mosin due to price of ammo and the price of the rifle. For under $200, you can get a nice Mosin and still have some bucks for ammo. Remember that much of the milsurp stuff is corrosive.

This area is full of choices. I suggest you buy a BIG safe and fill it with Mil-Surp rifles

There are lots of good choices. The deal is finding good rifles. I prefer sporterized mil-surps, but that's just me. I like hot rods over stock cars too (and go-faster boats, etc.).

It's about the barrel, chamber and action. Each different mil-surp rifle contributed to history somewhere. The Pattern 1917 is an English design adapted (chambered in 30-06) by the US to get ready for WW-I. The Pattern 1914 is the same rifle built for the English and chambered in .303. Millions were built and after the BIG wars, they went on the surplus market. They have been "sporterized" in every conceivable configuration.

SMLE's have too. Almost all the Mausers have been built into something. The Carcano is maybe the hold out? Gain rifling (don't cut the barrel) and the unique clips keep some folks away. But they work well, just ask JFK

The Mosin is a good rifle, but it has the same open (split) receiver which makes mounting other sights a bit of a chore. Mosins mostly shoot the same size bullet as the .303 and the 7.7 Arisaki - .311~.312 So reloading is easy enough. However, surplus ammo is readily available for the Mosin, and cheap enough. The issue is whether or not it has been shot with corrosive primers/ammo (very likely) so the bore may need a lot of attention

Some mil-surps have never seen corrosive primers, so they either have decent bores or have been shot to death. I'd be starting there. Looking for something that may never have seen corrosive ammo

ishapore 2a,smle #4 mk2 because of the trigger upgrade,and the k31,basically a match grade rifle capable of moa accuracy

As a first rifle, I'd suggest a Romanian M69 trainer. Or a TOZ trainer. .22 is cheap and good.

If you want a first centerfire rifle, a Finnish Mosin or a Turkish Mauser is a good bet.

Yugo M48 gets my vote

mauser 98

i dont know what your price range, wants, needs, & etc. are, but i have owned mosin-nagants, enfields, and mausers. they are all decent rifles for 1-200 yds of hunting, but the mauser is far ahead of the others in quality and customizibility. just about all stock, trigger, and barrel makers make aftermarket items to improve the weapon to your personal liking and to also accurize it. presently i have a custom mauser 98 in 35 whelen with shilen barrel, bell and carlson stock, timney trigger, and topped off with an older bushnell scopechief that will shoot one ragged hole groups at 50 yds and less than a moa at 200 yds. so i would weigh out what action you want and how you want it to be to suit you....

Of your 2 choices, the Enfield has the best sights/trigger/action, but the Mosin would be the cheapest to buy and shoot.

If you want to spend a little more to get the very best bolt action mil surp, you could buy a M1903A3.

I just picked up a sporterized 6.5x55 Husqvarna m38, with scope, 200 rounds of ammo, reloading dies and a load of brass for $150 bucks.

All serial numbers matching, other than the stock of course

If you dont want the original non-modified article, deals can be had.

This M-39 is the only bolt action milsurp I own.



It's certainly "tough accurate and [full of] History". Ammo is from AIM

I have a sporterized mosin and a sporterized enfield. The enfield is more pleasant to shoot and the action is so much slicker. If you are going for a gun you will be pumping alot of ammo through get a mosin. If you want a hunting rifle get an enfield. Actually if you want a fun gun get a SKS and lots of stripper clips. I agree with the swede but they are expensive. Also, a Spanish mauser, 1893, in 7x57 is good if you reload. This one shoots much softer and can be very accurate.

I have to say that for it would be a hard choice between a Finnish MN, Yugo M48,Mauser 98, VZ24, No4 (MkI or II),Swiss 1911/K31 or a Springfield.
As I have all but the M48 its kinda hard sometimes to decide what I want to shoot more.
From my experience, if you can find a Finnish 91/30 theyre worth the extra coin as the Finn's worked over and turned them into a rifle that'll shoot, as well as an M39, those are straight AWESOME rifles and worth the prices on them. I have a couple Russian 91/30's that I use for blasting mil-surp ammo, but thats what theyre for right?
The Yugo M48 and the other Mauser variants are good rifles too. My favorite of all of them is the VZ24. The ones I've owned have been head and shoulders above all other 98 variants I've gotten experience with. And 8mm is still relatively cheap.
The Lee-Enfield No.4 is a great rifle, either straight or as a restoration since there are alot of them that've been butchered, I mean sporterized, and its about the only turn bolt rifle you can get trigger happy with lol.
I've lucked into a Swiss 1911 recently 7.5X55 is a great round and coupled with the rifle, either a K31 or 1911 variant you cant go wrong.
And my favorite is a 1903 variant, you just cant go wrong with one. Theyre out there too, just dont jump on the first one you see, as with every other rifle everyone else mentioned, shop around ALOT andget what you want, not what the status quo recommends.

That's a beautiful M39, Lee Roder. Congrats! I'd like to pick up an M-39 (or other Finn Mosin-Nagant) sometime in the near future. Could you shoot me a pm where you found yours?

I have a Lee Enfield No. 1 Mk. III and an M-39 (beautiful rifle Lee Roder) and I think of the two the Lee Enfield is the better shooter. Based not only on experience with my rifles but with other's I think the Mosin will be cheaper to shoot but the Lee Enfield is a better rifle.

Price = Mosin
Best battle proven rifle under $300 with easy to find ammo = Yugo or VZ 24 Mauser. There's a reason this action was adopted by most rifle makers. It's fantastic.
Best C&R rifle under $300 = K31. I love the ergonomics, trigger, and straight bolt action.

I personally do NOT care for the look, feel, or bolt action of the Enfields. The action is way too easy to 'bump' open. And they are front heavy, thin were the stock meets the receiver, and just ugly with too much stock toward the front.

I second the M39. The prices are still very low considering you're getting a top-notch rifle that's accurate, tough and can be shot for extended sessions at the range. For getting practice in stances it's a load of fun and very effective. It's a rifle that likes to be shot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvS0ZJFqMs4

Other Finn Mosins are also great. Tikkakoski, Sako and VKT all got their start making Mosin-Nagant rifles from old Russian receivers. You're not getting a Soviet fodder gun, you're getting a custom made, accurized combat rifle from some of the world's best gun makers--for under $300! Why others don't jump on these is beyond me. I suspect they just think a Mosin is a Mosin.

While the Finn Mosins are very nice rifles, there isn't anything wrong with Soviet made Mosins if in good, clean condition. A very good " bang for buck " / value received for amount of cash laid out weapon, especially the 91/30's . I have both rifles ( I have $ 60 invested in each of these after selling off all the unwanted accessories that they often come with from venders ) & carbine lengths MN, have shot 3 of them, and the 3 shoot very well. I have taken whitetails the last 2 years with one of the carbines & one of the rifles respectively. They make fine big game hunting rifles as is, but can scoped if your skill level, terrain, or physical needs require that. They are accurate, rugged, and while cheap surplus ammo for them is plentiful, new, commercial, non-corrosive ammo can be found for them pretty cheaply as well if you know where to look ( $ 6 per 20 and can be had in soft points for hunting ). If you don't reload for them, you won't find commercial, NON -corrosive .303 Brit, 8mm ( or most anything else that hits as hard as 7.62x54r ) for anywhere near that price if you are one that avoids using corrosive surplus ammo .

Nice wood there Lee Rider! Just ordered a m39 this morning with good looking wood, but nothing like that.

most gun for the $$$

I love the bolt milsurps,and out of my small collection,( K98 Mauser,93 Mauser,M44 Mosin,ISHY Enfield,Swiss K-31 ) By far the most accurate, nicely made- is the Swiss K-31.

Will second the FR-8 in 308 for a carbine length shooter. Will toss this one in--a 1917 Winchester Enfield in '06. A fine shooter that combines lots of features. Also have a Mauser in '06 that "puts 'em where you want 'em". It is a Swede and handles fine.

I care more about the sights than anything on a mil surp. I greatly prefer a nice receiver mounted aperture sight over the more common notch sights. They are so much faster to acquire your sight picture, and are so much more precise. I find the sight type has more to do with achievable accuracy than the inherent accuracy of the rifle. IMO the best sights, in descending order, are the M1903A3, the SMLE No.4 Mk.1, and the M1917. The next most important consideration for me is smoothness of the action. The SMLE's take this prize hands down, but the US rifles aren't far behind. The Mauser is OK, and the Nagant is dead last for action smoothness. I do a lot of shooting with sling-supported positions, so a consideration for me is the sling swivel setup. The SMLE's and the US rifles all have nice 1 1/4" sling swivels on the bottom, and can therefore accept a sling suited for stabilizing the rifle, like a GI web sling or a 1907 sling. The Mauser and Nagant on the other hand use a side sling attachment that is only suited for attaching their factory slings, which aren't particularly great for use as a marksmanship aid. This factor may or may not be important to you depending on the style of shooting you do.

isc: The FR8 will be my next rifle type. They seem to be much more scarce than Enfield #5s.

Lee Roder's photo of his only milsurp rifle demonstrates why the original Finn MNs (M39s?) are usually considered to be the best.

With a nice Enfield, whether a #4/Mk. 1 or #5 etc, reloading solves the problem.
The Enfields are the only reason that I became motivated to reload: to save money.
Why look for extremely scarce actual surplus which might be "click-bang" or "click" for the same approx. price as new ammo?

The oldest surplus seems to have only cordite, and quick firing can reportedly cause much quicker metal erosion due to the very high temperatures.

I purchased a Mosin 91/30 for $69.95, still can't believe i got as much gun for the money. it shoots well. I actually bought two of them, transfer fee was 15.00 bucks, averaged 7.50 for each rifle, then about 9.00 each to ship.
86.50 for the rifle, delivered to my door... I have a kid that his bb gun almost cost that.
I don't think you would go wrong with the Mosin, and with the price, you could get both guns you are looking at.

I think that anyone that wouldn't include the FR8 in their short list of "best practical milsurp bolt action rifles" has never handled one. I'd place my 1903A3 as second and my Ishapore repro jungle carbine as 3rd.

My M44 would bring up 4th tied with my VZ 24 and M48.