Best bang for your buck (including ammo costs) when it comes to WWI/WWII era rifles?

[ma96782]

How about?

Aloha, Mark

 

[Juniper9mm]

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[Ura-Ki]

I already got my Unicorn, post WW-II FN-49, so i'm done now!
I sure wish I had grabbed up more earlier Mauser 98's esp. the 7X57 flavors!

 

[ma96782]

RE : Corrosive Ammo
Do not fear the corrosive ammo

If you're shooting corrosive ammo through a bolt action rifle…..it's a simple procedure to clean the rile.

Note that the two above videos were done with a semi auto. Yeah, imagine how much easier it'll be for you without the gas system parts.

My routine method is……
Mind you that, I try to clean my rifle within a couple of hours after my shooting session with corrosive ammo. Stock removed or still in the stock…..it's up yo you. But….be mindful that water trapped or water retained by the stock is NOT a good thing. So anyway, for the bore…..the water hose method or just water (hot, warm or cold) mixed with a squirt of dish soap and some brushing will do. I've not found it necessary to use expensive store bought specialized products. The warm or hot water promotes a faster drying time. Not to mention, that it is said that the metal "expands" a bit (at the pore level) to ease with cleaning. For me…… I like to disassemble my bolt. But truthfully, recently I have also gone with just a cleaning of the bolt face and lugs areas. If I had a "pierced primer"…..well, I'd take the bolt apart for a through cleaning. Don't forget the muzzle end too. Compressed air or just your forceful breath works at helping to get into those tiny spots. Yeah……you don't want water between those metal parts.

Dry with patches and oil the rifle before ending the cleaning session. Come back after a day or two and check on the rifle for possible rusting.

If I had the extra time and/or if I was concerned about "copper fouling"…….I'd use Hoppe's to get to that problem.

Aloha, Mark

 

[echo1]

What you seek is long gone. M1 carbine has the most docile recoil but kinda of a niche cartridge and expensive weapon for and actual WWII vet. You can't have it both ways, although 6.5 Arisaka & Carcano have mild recoil but ammo is $pendy. Mosin's used to be the cheapest WWII bang for your buck but now they're even with other makes or close. If you're wanting in the game, it's not cheap these days. Buck up and throw down $. PAX

 

[DeanMk]

I already got my Unicorn, post WW-II FN-49, so i'm done now!
I sure wish I had grabbed up more earlier Mauser 98's esp. the 7X57 flavors!

Same here, although mine's a pre-war 98 Mauser...

 

[echo1]

I already got my Unicorn, post WW-II FN-49, so i'm done now!
I sure wish I had grabbed up more earlier Mauser 98's esp. the 7X57 flavors!
View attachment 1746788

Me too, these are my top tier pieces. SVT40, 7mm FN49, 8mm FN49, .30-06 FN49, Winchester Garand. I would have got after a 7.62X51 FN49 but I'm in Kali, no mags for me. PAX

 

[Mikej]

I'm really itching to get myself a rifle from the first half of the 20th century. But I'm also not made of money and would like to be able to actually shoot it without breaking the bank too hard. My dream would be a No. 4 Lee-Enfield, but .303 British ain't cheap. Plus, finding a good No. 4 at a reasonable price is not easy these days. And sure, there are Ishapore 2A & 2A1 Lees that shoot 7.62 NATO. But they're based on the SMLE Mk III, which I'm less interested in.

Crossing the Atlantic, I would love, love, love an M1 carbine and they're reasonably cheap to shoot. But holy hell, M1 prices have gone nuts over the last few years! Garands even more so. (Plus I just don't enjoy shooting .30-06.)

So aside from those, if you were making the choice, which rifles and calibers would you look at?

03A3s are beautiful rifles. I got me a beauty a few years back. Could not deal with the recoil! Traded it off for a Garand, that has just enough less recoil that I can go through 40 rnds in a session without the flinch. There are still some decent Swedish Mausers available on Gun Broker, where I got my first.

 

[solv3nt]

I haven't purchased anything from these guys, but they're pretty well known for their Luger sales.

Long Guns - Military Rifles - U S - Page 1 - Simpson Ltd

simpsonltd.com

 

[Mikej]

I haven't purchased anything from these guys, but they're pretty well known for their Luger sales.

Long Guns - Military Rifles - U S - Page 1 - Simpson Ltd

simpsonltd.com

From what I read/hear, totally agree. And I believe it was Simpson's I heard that you could call and get more info on particular rifles.

And a word of warning! Being a noob! DO NOT buy from RTI "Royal Tiger Imports"! They are not for a first time collector.

 

[VinnieBoomBah]

Also avoid any of the Mitchell's Mausers rifles, their 'certificates of authenticity' are bogus, they would sand down stocks on Russian capture K98Ks and serialize the parts so they're forcibly matched and sell them as "new" and add fake stamps on converted yugo mausers to pass them off as k98s. They took honest rifles and butchered them for profit
Everyone I have seen for resale is priced ridiculously high, sometimes even more than a REAL version of that rifle would run. For my money they are at the bottom of the barrel for desirability and dollar for dollar I would take a solid 'sporterized' rifle over one of them any day of the week

 

[unionguy]

I have an M1, so I guess that's my choice. Have you shot one? Recoil is similar to a 12ga. I about blew a load the first time my rifle went "PING".

The ping is really cool. I got my M1 Garand about 2 years ago, only once out to the range for a few clips. I even had one do the "ping" and I saw it spinning in the air for a split second. THAT, my friends, was glorious!

For the OP, the m1 carbine is truly a fun, fun, fun gun to shoot! If you want one that you'll shoot somewhat regularly, that is what I would recommend. But, yeah, they are very expensive up front.

 

[DirectDrive]

Swedish Mauser 6.5x55
1) You're getting a sweet Mauser action
2) Most are in good shape because they didn't go to war
3) Many are still reasonably priced
4) They don't kick like the 30's or 8mm

Downside is that ammo isn't cheap.
.85 per round on the low end unless you reload

 

[CLT65]

03A3s are beautiful rifles. I got me a beauty a few years back. Could not deal with the recoil! Traded it off for a Garand, that has just enough less recoil that I can go through 40 rnds in a session without the flinch. There are still some decent Swedish Mausers available on Gun Broker, where I got my first.

I'm with you on the recoil. I don't enjoy the kick like I used to when I was younger. 20+ years ago I was buying Mosins and Turk Mausers for $50 each at Big 5, and ammo for a nickel a round. Then we'd go out and burn up a few hundred rounds in an afternoon.

Nowadays 20 rounds through either and I'm done for the day. Coincidentally my kids and I made it out to the range just a few days ago, shooting an M1 Carbine and rifle. The carbine I can shoot all day, especially since I cast and reload for it.

 

[Mikej]

I'm with you on the recoil. I don't enjoy the kick like I used to when I was younger. 20+ years ago I was buying Mosins and Turk Mausers for $50 each at Big 5, and ammo for a nickel a round. Then we'd go out and burn up a few hundred rounds in an afternoon.

Nowadays 20 rounds through either and I'm done for the day. Coincidentally my kids and I made it out to the range just a few days ago, shooting an M1 Carbine and rifle. The carbine I can shoot all day, especially since I cast and reload for it.

Just picking up and shouldering that M1 Carbine puts a smile on the face! One day I'll have the real thing, though my new model Inland has treated me just fine.

 

[VinnieBoomBah]

Other people's experience might be different, but I have never had any luck with the commercial M1 Carb's and would only recommend getting a real GI version. I had 3 commercial ones and they had feeding issues, accuracy even by the 30 carbine standard was very poor and the SS Iver Johnson one somehow had more recoil than all the others. It had a Choate fixed pistol grip stock but even when switching it to a wood stock it still had a sharper recoil

 

[DeanMk]

Me too, these are my top tier pieces. SVT40, 7mm FN49, 8mm FN49, .30-06 FN49, Winchester Garand. I would have got after a 7.62X51 FN49 but I'm in Kakli, no mags for me. PAX

Nice collection but where is "Kakli" ?

 

[TNThomas]

Buy what you want, and learn to reload. The days of cheap milsup ammo are gone in these calibers. Bolt actions will be stronger to accomodate errors should they happen. By far I prefer the Swedish Mauser, but ammo is pricey, and the bullet Dia does not do well with cast projectiles. The swedish is classy, but likely the weakest of that era.

Get what you want though. Enfields are cool. Some have shot out bores, but you can cast lead boolits oversized to match your specific rifles bore dia, and get your accuracy back. Noe makes a slick sizing die kit. Size 1-2 thousandths over your slugged bore dia.

Many of the Yugo m48 mausers are in like new condition bore wise. Slug the bore, buy a few molds (MP, lee, and NOE are all great companies). Heck, you can get hollow point molds for most of the calibers in the 30 cal range! My accuracy has sky rocketed with cast ammo in these guns. Current rate is around 33 cents a round (including tax, hazmat fees, shipping, powdercoat, and gas checks) to reload for my 8mm with 222gr projectiles. And those are accurate rounds, not crap WW2 ammo. Powdercoat and gas check those babies. I seat my bullets touching the groves. 3.042 COAL for the M48 eith this round.

Buy what you want, learn to cast and reload, and have a blast!

 

[Duneblaster]

Hi-Point 10mm. Because a .40S&W doesn't kaboom enough.

 

[echo1]

Nice collection but where is "Kakli" ?

My bad...Kali - CA, PAX