buying and shooting surplus rifles

[ulfrik]

surplus rifles like the mosin nagant and mauser.
are alot of these rifle good to shoot out of the box?
or do you have to refurbish them some times?
i understand these old rifles have been sitting in warehouses for years greased up with cosmoline.

can you get a m44 mosin nagant that works out of the box, for under 200$ ?

 

[ChileRelleno]

Well, I've never had one come in a box, but, yes.
Thorough cleaning & inspection of course, and I do recommend headspacing them, particularly if the bolt is a mismatch.

Some collectors consider anything beyond cleaning excess cosmoline a sin, but, yes.
I've sometimes refinished a stock, or fixed a flaw in some way.

Unless it is some rare/unique M44, no way I'm gonna pay more than $125-150, so, yes.
And once again, never seen one come in a box

 

[ulfrik]

i would use the m44 mosin nagant as a knockaround survival rifle and for plinking with 7.62x54r wolf ammo.
it would be for practical use.

i would want to make sure it's safe to fire frist.

 

[Baba Louie]

While most will shoot fine out of the box (I wouldn't do that even w/ a new rifle mind you), a good cleanup is always a wise first move, in that you get the gunk out/off and learn how to take down your new possession. Learn how it works. Look for wear or worn bits and pieces. Get ALL of that cosmo out of the wood! (yeah right) Some Reassembly required.

You should have no problem finding an MN 44 in good shape for that price. The little beastie will want good cleaning after using corrosive surplus ammo, so plan on hot soapy water and/or an ammonia based cleaner in addition to your usual post shoot cleanup. I've read that M44s shoot better when their bayonet is extended. Always a good conversation point at the range. Also note, like several other smaller carbines firing full goose bozo cartridges, they aren't that much fun to shoot from the bench for long periods of time. Just a heads up there. YMMV

 

[Snowdog]

I've sanded and refinished my K31 (goodness knows the stock justified it), M44 and M48A. I've left my others alone so far... but my newly acquired 1916 Spanish Mauser is game for some sandpaper and stain.

I haven't yet had a rifle headspaced and know I'm pressing my luck, but so far there haven't been any issues.

Collecting and shooting surplus firearms is great fun and collecting the ammunition for them is nearly as addictive.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

I bought a Mosin 91/30 rifle that had some sharp edges and squares where my Mosin 53 carbine had rounds and angles (specificaly on the 91/30 the edges of the safety would cut the fingers and the cocking piece would hang on the connector guide bar). Some guns, factory refurbished with some new parts then placed in storage to be disposed of as surplus years later, may need some final fit and finish, which would take someone really familiar with the type.

 

[ralph2]

I bought a mosin nagant about a year ago for around $100 from a local hardware store. It is fun
for busting up rocks but all my handguns are more accurate. I don't know if the accuracy thing
is the gun or the cheap 25 cent / round ammo I am shooting.

 

[ulfrik]

i was thinking the mosin nagant carbine would shoot at least 3moa.

how corrosive is russian wolf ammo?


how good are surplus yugo mausers?

 

[Snowdog]

Unless is it so marked, Wolf is non-corrosive. It's still Berdan-primed, but plenty of Berdan priming is NC.

Yugo M48/M48A Mausers are excellent milsurps. Usually they can be found in excellent condition (mine was received as "unissued" back in '02). I don't know what they're going for now, but mine was an absolute steal considering what I paid for it.

 

[TimboKhan]

I am a big, big fan of milsurp rifles and own several examples, to include a couple Mosins. I like Mosins quite a bit. Once you learn the quirks, even the safety is pretty easy to use quickly and efficiently, and if you have realistic expectations, they are accurate enough for most applications.

That being said, I have repeatedly told people my favorite to shoot is my K31. It's fun and accurate. The one I would choose if I could only have one is 1903A3 Springfield, which is about on par with the K31 and obviously ammo that is easier to find. By far and away, my Swedish Mauser is my most accurate milsurp. I don't have a scope on it, but I know from experience that it will keep up very nicely with my other, more modern and theoretically better rifles. I like them well enough that I own two, a carbine and a rifle.

The great thing is, I don't just have to own one!

 

[Ignition Override]

Many people have to struggle with the bolt of MNs, as they have bits of dried cosmo which reportedly melts, then cools, requiring people to hit the bolt with their foot or piece of wood.

I've never read that this happens on any Yugo Mausers (SAMCO in Miami has very nice 24/47s).
Another benefit is that surplus Yugo or Czech 8mm ammo is about as cheap as old surplus 7.62x54R, and lots of civilian hunting rifles are chambered in 8mm Mauser. Be aware that there are other types of 8mm rounds which can not work in a 8mm Mauser. As for military Mausers, Spanish (and S.A.) Mausers are usually in other calibers.
Some Spanish were converted to .308, but the oldest ones might not be safe.

 

[thisisoriginal]

My mosins bolts are smooth as butter, and they match. A lot smoother than my mauser.

Surplus rifles can be had for extremely cheap, and theyre so much fun. A gun is only as good as its owner, if you can upkeep it, know what you're doing and just go out and have fun, theyre awesome guns.

I have two 91/30s, both shoot amazing, and a vz-24 czech mauser. The mausers 8mm rounds are expensive if youre not over 21 and cant buy corrosive ammo online. $40.00 for a box of 20, no thank you. Brown bear 7.26x54R can be had for $12 for a box of 20, and honestly my mosins shoot better than the mauser.


I bought one of my mosins from gander mountain, I inspected it and was happy, little to no cosmoline, went out and shot it the day I bought it, after cleaning it some, and it shot like a dream.

Im not a collector, nor do I care if i have the rarest mosin/mauser, I just like to shoot them

 

[mgmorden]

Clean them well, shoot them and enjoy them. I will say though that if you start to think about "customizing" them, you can quickly end up with a lot more money sank into a mediocre rifle than you would have paid for a factory rifle. I'm not a purist, I have done it myself, just saying: you're not going to save any money going that route. It's something you need to want to do just from a "tinkering" standpoint.

That said, they can be fun, but the increased prices these days are turning me off of them. I've got a lot of good milsurps saved up at this point, and they were all pretty cheap (Turkish Mauser - $40, Yugo Mauser - $70, Yugo SKS - $90, Schmidt Rubin K-31 - $90, Mosin Nagant M38 - $65, SMLE No4Mk1 - $70). Those are my unmodified/untouched examples - got a few more sporters. At those prices, they were good cheap fun at the range. With modern prices seemingly getting to $175-200 for most of them though, they're just not as fun IMHO. I like milsurps for the price, but when they reach price parity with older used commercial rifles, I tend to start looking at the commercial ones instead. They are designed with recreational shooting in mind anyways (scope mounting options, lighter weight, handier barrel lengths, etc). Rather than milsurps I find myself looking moreso at rifles like the Savage 99 and such.

Again, just my opinion there. On the plus side, if prices keep going up, I may get a good opportunity to translate some of my milsurp rifles into commercial guns via trade.