I have a strange fascination with Milsurps...

[Miami_JBT]

...used after their "original" time-frame. Meaning, I'm more fascinated with WWI firearms used during WWII and WWII firearms used during Korea and Vietnam as an example. Yeah, I love the M1 Garand for the service it provided during WWII. But I'm more interested in the use of the M1 Garand after WWII. It's use as a Cold War era firearm. Same with how for the British, the SMLEs were their primary arm during WWI, but Lee Metfords and Long Lees were used too. Or how the Mosin-Nagant served into the Cold War and even today (looking at you Venezuela).

Same goes for handguns, shotguns, aircraft, etc.... I can say this, WWII After WWII blog is awesome. But Even before that blog existed, I was diving deep into the use of older arms in more modern conflicts. The Congo, Rhodesia, Angola, etc. are all major conflict spots where older arms were dumped.

 

[Lo-Profile]

I have a few. It's nice having some.
Prices are too crazy to buy then anymore. Why buy a milsurp when you can buy a cheaper MSR

 

[Miami_JBT]

I have a few. It's nice having some.
Prices are too crazy to buy then anymore. Why buy a milsurp when you can buy a cheaper MSR

I had a pile of Milsurps that I sold off and still have a pile of more Milsurps. I also have a pile of ARs too. But ARs are boring.

 

[Lo-Profile]

I had a pile of Milsurps that I sold off and still have a pile of more Milsurps. I also have a pile of ARs too. But ARs are boring.

Yes they are boring.
I have them in 7 calibers.
22, 223/5.56, 9mm, 300 BO, 350 legend, 450 Bushmaster and 7.62x51

 

[Steel Horse Rider]

Look for the Mosins used in Afghanistan, SKS's used in Vietnam, and most any Soviet era weapon used in the African Continent.

 

[Ignition Override]

Foreign gun? My third imported FAL is shipping, and maybe it will arrive......tracking is mostly useless with USPS. Zero info Since April 26. It's now almost a week Late....I suspect that the rifle was stolen........

Miami JBT: you also seem to prefer rifles with character. I had only one modern rifle, and I soon traded it for an authentic, all-matching Hungarian AMD-65; "SA 2000 M" underneath the receiver verifies that it was manufactured in Hungary vs a US-assembly.

Just one modern rifle among the approx. twenty five (+) I've owned. Life is too short not to enjoy preferred gun character and fun targets.

Steel Horse Rider: I loved shooting the MN 44 (Mosin 'carbine' in 7,62x54R) I bought in late 2007, plus the rifle's looks but mostly due to the leade/muzzle wear my "groups" at 50 yards from a soft bench rest were at least 6".

 

[danmc]

...used after their "original" time-frame. Meaning, I'm more fascinated with WWI firearms used during WWII and WWII firearms used during Korea and Vietnam as an example. Yeah, I love the M1 Garand for the service it provided during WWII. But I'm more interested in the use of the M1 Garand after WWII. It's use as a Cold War era firearm. Same with how for the British, the SMLEs were their primary arm during WWI, but Lee Metfords and Long Lees were used too. Or how the Mosin-Nagant served into the Cold War and even today (looking at you Venezuela).

Same goes for handguns, shotguns, aircraft, etc.... I can say this, WWII After WWII blog is awesome. But Even before that blog existed, I was diving deep into the use of older arms in more modern conflicts. The Congo, Rhodesia, Angola, etc. are all major conflict spots where older arms were dumped.

View attachment 1207225

View attachment 1207224

View attachment 1207223

View attachment 1207222

View attachment 1207221
View attachment 1207220

The bottom picture on your post- are these guys from Bosnia?

 

[Miami_JBT]

The bottom picture on your post- are these guys from Bosnia?

Venezuelan National Guard.... Basically a government gunded militia of the PSUV. They use Mosin-Nagants to intimidate the common people.

 

[Ks5shooter]

I love my milsurps but don't shoot them alot. I don't know why, but when I'm in the mood they are great fun.

 

[Miami_JBT]

I love my milsurps but don't shoot them alot. I don't know why, but when I'm in the mood they are great fun.

It isn't even about thr Milsurps own. I'm just fascinated by older arms considered outdated being used in time periods that eclipsed them with better designs.

M1 Garands were being used at the same time as M16s. Hell, tha Viet Cong used French Berthier rifles and carbines against US Forces.

 

[caribou]

I was infected with Mosinitus 37 years ago shooting an old Finn '91 Mosin, an "M-24"at a dump and was astounded with its accuracy.
Then I bought me a Finn 28/30 and a case of Chinese 7.62x54 on stripper clips, and never looked back.

Its incurable and if Im not careful, terminal.

"Every Free man should have a Mosin." say's the voice in my head

 

[Miami_JBT]

I was infected with Mosinitus 37 years ago shooting an old Finn '91 Mosin, an "M-24"at a dump and was astounded with its accuracy.
Then I bought me a Finn 28/30 and a case of Chinese 7.62x54 on stripper clips, and never looked back.

Its incurable and if Im not careful, terminal.

"Every Free man should have a Mosin." say's the voice in my head

I kept my Finn M39 and sold the rest of my Mosins. Had a mint Polish M44, a Remington M91 that was Finned. A Tula hex receiver M91/30 and a Izhevsk round receiver M91/30 along with a M38 too.

The Finn M39 was first Mosin and will be my last Mosin.

 

[FL-NC]

I think they are cool too. I prefer those of the US variety, as well as some of the German stuff. Unfortunately, availability is down and prices are up on them, and ammunition has become unaffordable or unobtainable unless the gun uses 9mm. The days of cheap surplus ball ammo from overseas are far in our past. I did fire off 20 rounds from my Garand yesterday- shooting that thing at steel and hearing the ping on the last round makes me feel slightly more American.

 

[Lefty38-55]

I'm just fascinated by older arms considered outdated being used in time periods that eclipsed them with better designs.

Not warfare, but I shoot my 1870/87 Italian Vetterli Vitali of the obsure ol' black powdah 10.4x47R cartridge in our weekly milsurp 100Y offhand military matches and I've taken 1st place many times with it, which sure chars the butts of those shootin' their 1903 Springfields and M1 Garands!

 

[Miami_JBT]

I think they are cool too. I prefer those of the US variety, as well as some of the German stuff. Unfortunately, availability is down and prices are up on them, and ammunition has become unaffordable or unobtainable unless the gun uses 9mm. The days of cheap surplus ball ammo from overseas are far in our past. I did fire off 20 rounds from my Garand yesterday- shooting that thing at steel and hearing the ping on the last round makes me feel slightly more American.

Yeah, the days of burning through a spam-can of ammo in a weekend are long over. I remember when Turkish 7.92x57mm was dirt cheap. As in so cheap, it was cheaper to have a M1919 rebarreled in 8mm Mauser than it was to shoot surplus and linked .30-06 Springfield. I recall burning through 7.62 NATO Radway Green battle packs in CETMEs and mix-master FAL builds. I remember the fun of building Romanian AK kits was to see how fast you can literally set the handguards on fire from mag-dumping 'em.

The glut of surplus arms and ammo in the 1990s and early 2000s was absolutely amazing.

For forty years, the Cold War was happening. NATO and the Warsaw Pact were stockpiling arms and ammo for WWIII. The giant production run of older arms from WWI and WWII were stockpiled with the newer stuff too since both sides learned their lessons from the two previous wars. An old gun beats a new gun that needs to be made. It frees up more modern arms to be sent to the front, while older stuff can pull rear echelon duties. So, all the older stuff was stored and maintained. Wars aren't just won by battles. They're won by materials and logistics. Wars are mostly won by attrition. Who can outlast who in men, materials, and foodstuffs.

Then *poof*, the Cold War ends not with a bang, but a fizzle. And both sides are now looking at those vast inventories of arms and ammo and scathing their heads. Especially the former Eastern Bloc, who was hard up in need for hard currency. They had plenty of guns and ammo already paid for, decades ago, just sitting there costing them money in storage and upkeep. So, they dumped it on the US market for pennies on the dollar. Even then, it made them money and they got hard currency to rebuild after forty plus years of Communist despotism.

And US shooters got the glut of it and got and used to the idea of cheap guns and cheap ammo. Well, those days are over.

 

[FL-NC]

Venezuelan National Guard.... Basically a government gunded militia of the PSUV. They use Mosin-Nagants to intimidate the common people.

View attachment 1207311

View attachment 1207312

They don't give a "well trained professional" or "nice" vibe at all.

 

[P5 Guy]

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

They don't give a "well trained professional" or "nice" vibe at all.

Yeah, hard to feel intimidated by the one wearing open toed sandals...

 

[Miami_JBT]

They don't give a "well trained professional" or "nice" vibe at all.

They're not supposed to be well trained professionals. They're PSUV loyalists that are given arms and government authority for the purpose of routing "political dissenters." The government uses them to harass people that don't follow the party line.

 

[FL-NC]

They're not supposed to be well trained professionals. They're PSUV loyalists that are given arms and government authority for the purpose of routing "political dissenters." The government uses them to harass people that don't follow the party line.

Coming to your town soon.

 

[Miami_JBT]

Coming to your town soon.

Not on my watch.

 

[allisd17]

I loved shooting the MN 44 (Mosin 'carbine' in 7,62x54R) I bought in late 2007, plus the rifle's looks but mostly due to the leade/muzzle wear my "groups" at 50 yards from a soft bench rest were at least 6".

I've owned two M44s and sold them partly because the "accuracy" was so bad. I kept them for as long as I did because people at the range loved seeing the HUGE fireball... especially at dusk.

 

[allisd17]

I think they are cool too. I prefer those of the US variety, as well as some of the German stuff. Unfortunately, availability is down and prices are up on them, and ammunition has become unaffordable or unobtainable unless the gun uses 9mm. The days of cheap surplus ball ammo from overseas are far in our past. I did fire off 20 rounds from my Garand yesterday- shooting that thing at steel and hearing the ping on the last round makes me feel slightly more American.

I, too, enjoy shooting Garands at steel. Mainly because my eyes are too bad to shoot for accuracy anymore

 

[Wildfan99]

Milsurps are cool man!!!
I have a bunch with no collecting direction at all. Whatever looks cool.

My favorites are all of my varieties of Swedes. Top quality and accurate.

My least favorite are my Mosins. I just have a couple because. They shoot like garbage.

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

I like milsurps too. I have 3 so far . My Mosin Nagant, 1891 Argentine Mauser and my SKS.