Quality Older Guns

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grant1265

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I am going to the local gun show on July 9th and I am looking for a quality older gun for my collection. I already have a pristine pre-war tula mosin 91/30 and I really appreciate the quality and history of this gun plus it also shoots 1/4 " groups at 50 yds. I'm trying to keep this under $500. Can be a rifle, pistol, or shotgun. I want it to have some history and be a cartridge gun with relatively easy to find or reloadable ammo. I was thinking an SKS, but I need some help.


Grant
 
SKS has no "style" IMHO. I've had one for years and its on the verge of getting sold. Only reason to buy one back in the day was that they were dirt cheap ($89 for mine a few years back) and had equally cheap ammo. For the prices they want these days, NO WAY.

IMHO, if I was looking for something nice, and older, I'd look for an older vintage Savage 99 in good condition (chambered in .300 Savage of course).
 
I agree...There is nothing "classic" about a SKS.

I also agree that a Savage 99 would fit the bill and be in your price range.

Of course, 500 bucks will score you a pretty nice Colt D frame....LOL.
 
I wont part with my Russian SKS. Check one out when ya get the chance. Very well made.
 
If you're going to a gunshow, don't be stupid and go with a shopping list, or else you'll probably buy one regardless of condition and probably also heedless of if the price is good or not. Instead go with an open mind and cash, and look for the deals. Opportunism is the way to do it. Costs less, better results.
 
I need a shopping list when I go to a gun show, otherwise, I'm like a drunken sailor at the first both inside the door.

As far as, how to spend $500. bucks at a gun show, I would recommend an older M700 or M70 vs a milsurp. Or, look for a 10/22 or MK I, or II if you don't already have one. What I don't understand, is why anyone would buy a gun with a lock on it, when there are countless older models of the same gun available at the same or lesser price.
I guess people want the shinny, new, PC version, VS. fear of the unknown. I'll bet you could sell them a lot of ethanol and tell them it's good for them.

kerf
 
Kerf, strangely enough I just went to a gun show last weekend with a budget of spending up to $600 on some type of gun that struck my eye (more for a few specific hard to find ones if I found a good one). I was considering shotguns, rifles, and hand guns, not necessarily planning to spend the full amount either, I would have been happy to walk out with a $200-300 gun, there were all sorts that made the short list, M70 and M700's included, as well as things ranging from a Winchester model 1906 .22 to a Colt Detective Special. By the end of the day as the gun show was closing I ended up picking up a slightly used 1 year old Springfield XDM-9, a 9mm hand gun of some type was near the top of the things to buy list, although I was not planning on buying a plastic one, but I did not find any metal ones I liked in good shape.
 
said it before, will say it again.. and again.. and again...

Used SW Model 10 .38 police/Mil gun. I prefer the pencil barrel.

Great trigger, easy to aim, cheap ammo. $200-$300 you'll never regret.
 
One more thing, you may want to up your budget just a little, if the gun show I was at last weekend is any judge of the current market there were a whole lot of guns of all types in the $500-$600 price range. I would not go so far as to say the majority of the guns there were in this $100 window, but certainly a lot of them were, which says a lot when you consider how big of spread there is on gun prices (I think the cheapest thing I saw was a used made in China shotgun for $100, and the most expensive was well over $5,000).
 
how "old" does it have to be?

If you are looking for something "old", classic, functional, and fun to shoot, see if you can scare up a nice Remington Nylon 66, 22lr. They can be had for about 1/2 your budget number, and you can buy a few years of ammo with the rest.
 
For a rifle, you can find SKS (overpriced if over 250), WASRs (check carefully), MAK-90s (definitely buy), Saigas, CETMEs. It all depends.

Pistols, CZ52, CZ82, Makarov, Tokarev. I'd recommend 7.62x25 pistols, they're quite powerful and deceiving little buggers.
 
There are lots of guns that meet your criteria; A little more detail on your inclinations would help.

pre-war tula mosin 91/30 ....... shoots 1/4 " groups at 50 yds.
Click to expand...

You have to fire more than one round to have a "group" ;)
 
If you are starting off acquiring guns, I would be thinking more along the lines (which can still land in the criteriea of what you are looking) what do you do? Target? Rifle hunting, bird hunting, casual plinking? Military collectables? All are fine reasons, but it avoids closet queens aiming for guns that will initially get used.
A fine, collectable, useable and historic arm to consider is the ever popular Winchester 94 in 30-30. A proven rifle, easily and relatively inexpensive ammo, and easily found in a nice gun within your price range. Most even modest collections wouldnt be considered complete without one.
 
If you want a real nice old gun, look at a 1891 Argentine Mauser made by Loewe. The quality workmanship is as nice as any gun out there. They are fine shooters too....chris3
 
Lot of SKS hate in here.

Don't listen to the ignorant, take one apart and examine the parts. If that same gun was made by an American company today it would cost well over a thousand dollars.

Supplies have dried up, we're scraping the bottom of the barrel on the Yugo imports now which are selling for $499 at Big-5. Prices will continue to rise, and people will start to pay the higher prices if they wish to add one to their collection.

Personally, I was lucky enough to find a dealer in town with Cherry's Import Yugos still in the cosmoline with pristine bores for $350 last month. I was extremely happy to get one at that price too considering that the stores around here are asking $500+ for a good matching SKS and getting it too.

Remember, just a few decades ago 1903s, SVT-40s, Garands, FN 49s, and the like were all cheap surplus junk in the eyes of collectors too. I'd ignore most of the people here and buy an SKS if I wanted one.

Mosins are in finite supply as well, will the people bitching about $400+ SKS rifles pay $550 for a nice Mosin when the day comes that they dry up too? Will they use the same arguments that the Mosin lacks "Class"?

The SKS is a very classy rifle, anyone who says otherwise has obviously never spent any real time working on one. Or their experience amounts to playing bubba with tapco parts.
 
If that same gun was made by an American company today it would cost well over a thousand dollars.
Click to expand...

ROTFL. Who told you that?

If it were true, AR's would be three grand minimum.

Don't try to make a Simonov out to be something it isn't.
 
Brno rifles are on the rare side, except for the milsurp. But they are well worth looking into. Beautifully made with outstanding accuracy. There are German Mauser variations out there (K98), but someone more versed than me can comment on them.
 
As mentioned, S&W Model 10, Ruger Security Six, Winchester Model 70, Post War Mausers in sporting configuration. I used to buy SKSs at $69 each, thought they were overpriced then. The Russian ones are good guns though.
 
older gun

have you thought about a swedish mauser in 6.5x55? in a lot of poeples opinion, one of the finest milatiry rifles ever made.high quality, smooth reliable action, great shooters! fun to shoot the way they are or turn them into awesum custom rifles.the price on them seems to climb every year so im guessing they are a pretty good investment too.
 
Whilst I admire a nice Russian SKS as much as anyone, keep an eye out for a surplus M1 Carbine. Talk about fun for kids of all ages, male and female alike, and with some history behind it. Pricing might be just a tad above your stated limit... but haggling is a lost art (and fun when done by both sides).

A BRNO Persian Carbine in 8mm... sigh... would be sweet. Or a Swede. A Swiss K31... quality w/ a capital "Q". An Enfield of any type. Sure.

Enjoy the gunshow and let us know how it goes, whatcha saw and what ever you do get.
 
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