Help me decide which milsurp bolt-action rifles to keep!

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soupah

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Hello all. looking through my rifle collection yesterday (which has been ignored for a few years as I've gotten into trapshooting), I realized that I've got milsurp rifles in too many calibers.

Back in the day when I was single and, I think, slightly looney, I bought a whole slew of milsurps in the interest of developing a historical cross-section of military bolt-action rifles.

Now, with ammo prices rising, I realize it's time to cull the herd. I'm planning on doing a little target shooting again and I wanted to stock up on ammo, but I can't afford to stock up on ALL these calibers. 2 tops.

So which rifles are worth keeping, and why? Consider ammo costs too...I want to be able to afford to buy a lot for those I'll be keeping.

My collection:

MkIV Enfield, .303

Turk Mauser, 8mm
Chinese "Short" Mauser, 8mm

K31 Swiss, 7.5mm (love this rifle)

Mosin M44, 7.62x54

Advice?
 
Keep them all, and just buy ammo for each one as the funds become available. If you HAD to get rid of some I would keep the .303 and 7.5
 
Man, that's only 5 rifles and their combined value remains lower than your trap gun, I say keep them.

But, if you want to shoot, you're happy with the Swiss and not likely going to get rid of it. The M44 will be the most economical to feed, the Enfield and the K31 the least, especially in the longer run (though the Mausers will be a bit tough as well, price-wise).

Man, keep all of them and buy ammo for the ones you enjoy shooting. There's not much value in the Turk, the Mosin, or the Chinese mauser to worry much about, especially if you're into trap.

But, otherwise, keep the Swiss and the Mosin or Enfield.

Ash
 
I would advise keeping them all, but if you really need to get rid of some, I would suggest getting rid of the chinese mauser and the Enfield. I would keep the K-31 as its capible of some seriously accurate shooting, and with the rifle becoming more popular, I believe more ammunition for it will be produced. I would also keep the M44, I just got a 300 round tin of bulgarian heavy ball for 45 dollars from aimsurplus.com, so the ammunition is DEFINITELY affordable.
 
I love my Enfields. I never shoot them, but I just like the things.:) I wouldn't get rid of a WW II Brit, just 'cause.

You like the Swiss. Reload for it.

The fact is, you don't have too many of the things; those guns aren't worth much now, but they will be. Unless you have a desperate lack of real estate, cover the metal parts with heavy oil and pack them in a box in the closet. You won't get much money out of them. They won't take much space, and one day, you'll wish you'd just kept them.

I was at a guy's house yesterday. He has an amazing collection. A lot of what he owns, he bought for what now seems ridiculously cheap -- even some gorgeous antique double rifles. I'm sure that, at some point, he thought about unloading some of the common milsurps that he didn't shoot. And now he's glad he didn't sell off some M1 Carbines for $25, milsurp 1911's for $40, etc.

Something to think about...

Today's surplus junk is tomorrow's collectible. Or at least that's been true so far. Find an old American Rifleman and look at the ads for cheap surplus guns a few decades ago. I looked through some yesterday. It was illuminating.
 
:rolleyes: That my friend is not a hurd...5 rifles??? I started reading your thread and thought that you had 50 rifles or something.
 
Keep them all.

As low as the wholesale prices are on all of these, you won't get much for any of them. If you are selling to a gun or pawn shop, you will be hard pressed to get more than about $50-$80 each.

For example, one of the big wholesalers is selling M44's for $59.99/each, with sling and accessory kit. I've seen them 'on sale' for as low as $49.99 each!

Private sale maybe $100/ea for the Mosin, $150 each for the Mausers and maybe $200 for the Enfield if it's in good shape. $150 or so for the K-31.

For the approximate $500 that you can get for all them, you are only going to be able to buy about 2000 rounds of ammo.

A few years down the road when the wholesalers run out these will be worth much more. Look at Makarov pistols. They used to sell for as low as $125 in 2003, but now are hard to find for less than $250.

Once again, I say keep them. They won't be going down in value.
 
+1 for keep them all and put the one's you decide to not shoot in long term storage. I sold off the majority of my guns once in my earlier twenty's and I STILL regret it almost every day.
 
Yup me too. Keep them. I have a full stock 6.5 x 54 MS and I have no choice but reload. I have about 60 cases give or take a few. I buy cases as I can.

Most people call me a liar since most people have never heard of this round.

In case any one has one do not try to use carcano and fire fit, and DO Not try to cut down 6.4 x 55.

These are not close enough no matter what you do.
 
Into trap shooting, have a vast array of five milsurp rifles, can't afford the ammo to shoot them. I'm afraid I don't have much patience for this.....

Perhaps, instead of asking a bunch of firearms lovers which rifle(s) to get rid of, you should be asking a financial adviser how to manage your money??
 
The answer's simple, keep the ones that shoot really well. K31's are almost always good performers, the other four are more hit and miss.
 
THANKS ALL for the advice. It was worth it...I will keep them all, I think. :) The collective forum intelligence rules supreme. I guess my milsurps felt like a "herd" of rifles to me for two reasons:

1) I didn't mention the non-milsurp rifles I own, which are enough to make me feel guilty about owning the milsurps on top (guilty in the "why do I need all these" sense):
Remington 700, 30-06
Remington 7400, 30-06
Remington 7615, .223
Rossi 223/20ga combo
Winchester 1894 .357

2) While this actually doesn't add up to many rifles (if you add the milsurp and "modern" together, only 10 I guess), it's enough to worry me when I add up the number of different calibers (7) that I have to stockpile, I get nervous with all the "sky is falling" ammo cost predictions.

I don't make much extra cash, and the older I get, the more I feel that it's best to specialize, not diversify, in caliber selection. Hence the fact that 3-4 calibers are all I can afford to collect, rifle-wise.

PS- I promise that my trap guns actually DON'T cost more than my rifles...a Mossberg 500 20ga pump and Remington 1100 12ga auto (used) are my favorites.
 
make me feel guilty about owning the milsurps on top
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Hide them. Out of sight, out of mind.

And set yourself up to reload .30-06.:)

It wasn't all that cheap last year, either.
 
Yup, time to look into reloading. Think of all the fun you'll have searching for deals on used dies, brass, bullets, etc. at gun shows, pawnshops, and long time gun shops. Then you always have a very good excuse to just stop by and take a look see.
 
Well, if your dead set on only keeping 2, I'd say keep the K31, since you say you love it (and with good reason), and have a nice, real accurate, fast milsurp still.Ammo is still pretty readily available, and $30 for 60 rds, really isnt that bad to feed it (even cheaper if you start buying buy the case, cant say HOW much cheaper off the top of my head though.)
Next, I'd keep the Turk 8mm as the ammo is also not to bad price wise, its a good, versitile cartridge, and its a pretty good, versitile, hunting accurate gun.I was tempted to say the M44 instead, as they are a riot to shoot, and ammo is dirt cheap, but not typically very accurate, are a little punishing recoil-wise, and just not very practical for a whole lot IMHO.Also, M44's will be around, at very cheap prices for a LONG time, so it's not like you couldn't easily replace it later on for probly $100 tops (guessing on inflation here) if you wanted.
 
Keep the 7.5 Swiss, sell the rest and go get another in 6.5x55.
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+1

Its true that most milsurps sold decades ago are worth a lot more today, but what is also true of those gaining a lot of value is:
1.They have becopme rare because of people chopping cheap surplus rifles in the past.
2.The ones that gain alot of value are of very high quality (compare the quality of a Krag, 1903 Springfield, or Swedish M94 to a Russian Mosin Nagant, Turk Mauser, or even and enfield once)
3.There were relatively few fo them made.

The Swiss K-31s fit criteria 2&3, while the most common Swedish mausers fit criteria 1&2.
 
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