Which surplus rifle?

[Gewehr98]

Yup, it's a VZ-52 Czech SHE rifle.

Shoots my handloaded 7.62x45 like there's no tomorrow. Heavy gun, light round = FUN. So much fun that I'm selling the unprimed 7.62x45 Czech brass these days, since the supply of surplus, corrosive ammo has all but dried up.

Trying out a newer 3.3 MegaPixel JVC digicam tonight. Not so sure it's that much better than my older 1.3 MegaPixel Canon. The red rifle stand did kinda distract from the pictures...

 

[Beetle Bailey]

Yeah, is that a side-folding bayonet I see on the rifle above the SKS? Where have I seen that before? Darn, can't remember. Okay, I give up. What is that not-so-ugly-to-me rifle?

 

[Gewehr98]

Funny you should ask!

No no no, I mean do you have a muddy, rusted, blood-pitted, non-headspacing, 0% blueing, pitted sewer-pipe bore rifle that isn't even allowed in the house type rifle? (I'm just jealous of the No. 1 Mk III* ).

I have an 1873 Remington Rolling Block in .43 Egyptian that's gonna be restocked, case-hardened, rebarreled, and converted to a Long Range Creedmoore in .45-70 one of these days. The current .43 Egyptian barrel looks like 20 miles of bad sewer pipe inside from all the blackpowder loads it once fired. The throat on that Jungle Carbine is somewhat rough from the cordite it digested since 1945. It still shoots quite well, the rifling is sharp and not pitted yet. BTW, the barrel bore on that Yugo SKS isn't exactly the smoothest thing in the world, either. Still, it shoots better than my previous Chinese and Russian SKS rifles. The stock did indeed come from www.nouglyguns.com - I understand he doesn't offer them anymore. It was a labor of love to get this particular stock to fit the Yugo SKS action, there's a LOT different about this gun compared to the Chinese and Russian variants.

The side-folding bayonet autoloader above is a Czech VZ-52 SHE rifle.

 

[Beetle Bailey]

Prodigalshooter Uh, sorry about the hijack . Let us know what you decide and how it turns out. BTW, I used American Eagle ammo to sight-in my SKS and when I want to shoot groups with it and use Wolf (non-steel bullet) for plinking. When you buy the Wolf ammo, make sure you get the non-steel bullet (case doesn't matter) because many shooting ranges don't allow steel ammo and some Wolf 7.62x39 has steel bullets.

 

[cslinger]

Gewehr98,

I just sent you a PM.

Just to stay on topic I like the SKS very much. Enfields are great bolt guns but the cost to fun factor of the Mosin's is just off the scale. Truely a giggle gun.

My personal choice would be a nice Mauser in 8mm. Something like a Yugo 48 or a Czech. Nothing pricy but way nice, overbuilt, accurate boltguns with cheap cheap ammo. Just remember to clean any corrosive ammo residue with HOT HOT water and dish detergent. Windex will also work in a pinch.

Chris

 

[goalie]

AIM had the K-31's for $89.00 now. Sweet shooting rifles, even if the stocks are all beat to hell from the crampons they wore.

 

[c_yeager]

The K-31 is probably the most accurate surplus rifle out there right now. but, the ammunition is a pretty strong limiter. There are only a few sources for loaded ammo of any kind (norma and surplus GP-11 i think) and both tend to run on the expensive side and the surplus isnt reloadable. If you DO reload the cartridge takes .308 bullets so you have a lot of choices there. Getting the brass can be kinda tricky though (graffs had some awhile back and might still). But, as much as i like the rifle i wouldnt recomend it to a budget shooter.

 

[goalie]

The local gunshop here has a ton of brass.

 

[Ivanimal]

I like you wanted to see how these milsurps performed and have some fun shooting them. That was 5 years ago.
I will list in order of performance and favor where I and my adicted self have ended up.


30-06 03-A3 US
8MM Mauser German model 98 I own 2
7.62x39 Yugo SKS
303 British MKIII Enfield
308 MkIV Indian Enfield
7.5 Schmidt Rubin
7.62x54R Nagants 3 in various configs.
8MM Mannlicher Steyer
7.62 Carcano
7.5 French MAS I own 2

I am currenty looking for Japanese rifles to complete the theater. I will also aquire a 6.5 Swedish mauser when I can I am sure that will go to the top of the accuracy list when I find a good one. I am happy with the quality of all these rifles with exception of the French MAS that seems like they were just thrown together. The Carcano is of low quality as well however it surprisingly shoots rather well. At the prices you can pick these up, and if you reload and find brass and projectiles youcan certainly have fun with these. I just happened to buy a collection early on so thats why I have multiple rifles in the same caliber. The cost of ammo is a real issue with some of these so choose wisely.

 

[Daniel T]

The abolute best rifle at the price is the K31. They're running less than $100 from SOG and AIM, and generally are in great shape.

The ammo can be a little hard to come by, but it isn't that expensive, especially if you compare the quality of the ammo. At $168 for 480 rounds (AIM) of close-to-match-grade ammo, it's a bargain.

 

[Cosmoline]

K-31's are indeed the best buy. Most C&R rifles are pretty rough, but the K-31's are quite a bit better than most new production rifles. They are also tack drivers. The one problem is the ammo. On the plus side, Graf & Sons has started producing it and boxer brass. And the ball ammo, GP-11, is totally non-corrosive and about the best quality ball ever made. It's match grade stuff.

The M-39 Finnish Mosins are also great shooters with a lot of history. Mine has a receiver dating back to 1894 and a production date of 1967. Pretty wild.

 

[Prodigalshooter]

WOW! You guys are really giving me a lot to chew on, I appreciate it. I'm going to see what's offered locally before I check out SOG or other mail order, as things can be difficult to get into Calif. But it looks like I've got lots of good choices. I really liked the look of that SKS that you posted, Gewehr98. I'm going to be looking for something similar, I think, although I wouldn't mind having a bolt action too.