Deer rifle

MGAMGB wrote: My 80yo grandfather has used a Winchester 94 30-30 for that last 60 years. He still hunts with it, but now uses it more as a cane than for taking deer. .

That would have my vote; old school, and very cool.

I checked out a shotgun news recently. I was amazed at the high prices the milsurp are bringing these days. Also amazed at the lack of stuff available. I would love to get a swedish mauser or a lee enfield.

BTW I well remember when you could get military surplus guns at Sears for less than $19. Like the one that killed Kennedy (about the same time).

spitfirebill wrote: I checked out a shotgun news recently. I was amazed at the high prices the milsurp are bringing these days. Also amazed at the lack of stuff available. I would love to get a swedish mauser or a lee enfield. BTW I well remember when you could get military surplus guns at Sears for less than $19. Like the one that killed Kennedy (about the same time).

Well, they're all drying up. Think about it...the Milsurp guns you bought at Sears for less than 19 bucks are the exact same guns. The carcano, enfield, mosin, springfield, mauser...

We'll never see military surplus rifles for sale ever again. All modern battle rifles since 1959 are illegal to own, with very very few exceptions.

(also, your 19 1963 dollars translate to 128.93 2007 dollars, so it's not too terribly far off)

And that Turk was $129 at the pawn shop in 2008 dollars, so that's a bargain.

The current subscription issue of SGN which will probably be on the stands in a few weeks, has an article by Scarlatta in it on Mosin-Nagants. I'm reading it now. He is doing a product review of three different typical MN's.

there are still some mil spec guns around.. not many..

But geez I remeber the woolworths at the Mall when I was home having wood barrells full of M1 Carbines sitting around. They had all kinds of neato stuff.... I was 8 and wanted one...

In 1992 right before I started work where I am now, Roses was selling their SKS for $79 ea. I think they were selling out all their guns.

I gotta stop living in the past.

You can get a Yugo sks from JG Sales for between 200 and 250 depending on condition. I love my SKS, I need to shoot it some more.

JG also has 91/30 Mosins for 70 dollars!

edit: Wow! And Nazi K-98s for 250!

Yeah, a couple years ago, the various 8mm Mausers were dirt cheap. I bought my Turk for $69 (built a 30-06 HP prone match rifle out of it). Then they dried up and now the MN's are dirt cheap and ammo is cheap too. I don't need another rifle, but I would consider one of those MN's certainly. I bet the racoons wouldn't know what hit them with that sucker.

J and G is great. Did you know that they basically put Neal Knox on the map? They bought their ad space and gave it to him to editorialize when the rest of the country, including the NRA was selling out on "compromising" us into oblivion.

Another thing I thought of that you maybe wanna look into is a pump or auto shotgun and just shoot slugs out of it. Alot of the newer slug designs have really started to rival proper rifles in accuracy, and if you're shooting in a brushy area, a slug is a really cool thing to shoot, because you can shoot through the brush (or trees, or whatever) and you can break shoulders and vertebrae with very little problem. Plus, then you can shoot skeet with it when you're not hunting. :)

If you're looking at new guns, the Savage 30.06's have been a fair deal. I have to say that mine's more than accurate enough.

GSmith wrote: If you're looking at new guns, the Savage 30.06's have been a fair deal. I have to say that mine's more than accurate enough.

This I have noticed, But I want to test shoot a 30-06 to see how my shoulder holds up before I buy one. When I go out tomarow I plan to get a copy of SGN

I'm no ballistics expert, but here is my arsenal:

Model 94 win special, .32 caliber - I use this one for hunting in PA where its thick and brushy. The heavy ball and rounded snout don't go far, but are less likely to be deflected by twigs. Its tough on the 94s to mount a scope because of the top eject. The other frustrating thing is that you must run every cartridge through the action to unload, but its light, short, and nostalgic :)

8mm mauser - I use this one for general deer hunting. The mauser action is a dead-nuts reliable bolt setup as long as you don't try to use long, pointed rounds. They tend to get wedged in the chamber coming up from the magazine. They're also not easy to drill and tap for scopes because of the design of the bolt.

.308 remington - mine is a semi-automatic, so I can only use it in select states, but a model 760 or 7600 would be just as fine in this caliber. I use my 308 for longer, open range type hunting where long distance accuracy is key. They still pack a wallop at 200 yards.

I have a few others. I have an old 38-55 that will practically shoot through a tree, but at 100 yards you could probably catch the ball in a baseball glove :) I have a .243 (760 remington) that is remarkably accurate. It tends to lose oomph after 150 yards because of the light ball, but what a great all-around small caliber rifle it is.

I have resisted the 30-06 route just because I've cut up a few deer that have been hit with them. I just don't see the need to liquify a 6" radius of the impact point. Makes effective kills, but that 6" radius can make 4 nice steaks :) That's one of the things I love about the 243. With fully jacketed slugs, they seem to go in clean a few inches then mushroom hard but stay intact. Effective kill without having to scrape bile and liver enzymes from your T-bone :)

Others I've used; 284. I used to hunt bear with this one, but the bolt action locked up on me at the wrong time... if you know what I mean. I had to go for a backup firearm while being charged by a wounded bull. I didn't even wound him, but he picked me to hate. Bolt locks, I panic, but fortunately I had a .45 cougar in the belt. I've used a 222 for medium game, but I'm not much of a medium game rifle hunter. I stick with the shotgun.

I recently picked up a 270 model 7600. Seems to shoot nice and it should be half way between the impact of a 243 and a 30-06. Haven't killed anything with it, but can't wait.

I grew up with a lever action 30-30 for brush work and a semiauto 30-06 for distance work.

Funny how a lot of us seem to think alike though as I currently (theorectically, really don't actively hunt much now) use an SKS for brush work and a Mosin Nagant for distance hunting.

I also have a few other ex-military options (Spanish Mauser, .308, .223, etc) but I keep reverting to the SKS and MN

Bill

what I don't get is how most any other WW2 rifle can be had for between 100-250, but an M-1 is 1k+, unless you know some place too look that i dont

Just like with collector cars that may not be any "better" than other models but demand several times the money... there are more people that want them (and are willing to pay for them) than the supply.

My Dad is a prime example... he always wanted an M-1 and paid dearly to have one... and doesn't understand why I don't feel the same way.

I'd rather have 5 "other" models than 1 M-1... something reflected in my numerous but inexpensive car collection as well.

M1's available from the Govm't for $500
http://www.odcmp.com/Services/Rifles/m1garand.htm

They were cheaper a few years ago.. Should have got one.. Stupid me not taking CMP class..

You can get an M1 Garand for 4-500, direct from the Federal Government, sort of, and handed to you by a uniformed member of Obama's or McCain's Government. I think mine was around two-something, but that was a few years ago. Oh, there'll be paperwork involved, and you have to show some initiative, but they are there, serviced and ready for you to shoot. http://www.odcmp.com/ http://www.odcmp.com/Services/Rifles/m1garand.htm

It's a real bargain for what Patton said: "In my opinion, the M1 Rifle is the greatest battle implement ever devised."

I like my SKS. It's my primary home defense weapon (no neighbors within backstop range). I started feeling bad leaving an AR15 in the corner when the prices hit a grand. Now the SKS's are going up too.

ohh god.. Hess and I...

JINX!

ignorant beat me to it. Unless things have changed a lot, you don't have to take a course. You only have to shoot in a match at an affiliated club, and I believe there are some mail matches. The Revolutionary War Veterans Association is an affiliated club: www.appleseedinfo.org and they may have mail matches that qualify, or look for a rifle competition at a range near you. You only have to shoot one match and send your scorecard in, even if you miss the target on all shots, trying is what's important.

you know.. For all the misguided evil liberal socialist that I am.. I do like guns.

Yeah, well, just remember that the first thing the socialists/communists do when they take power is to disarm the peons. Unarmed peons don't biatch as much, and when they do, you can ignore them. That's what's really wrong with the left. The so-called Republicans want disarmed peons just as much, but they just move slower because otherwise they'll be voted out and lose the interns, blue dresses and cigars.

I kind of want an M1, but I think it'd be third on the list behind a FAL and M-14. The garand just seems so big.

The right to bear arms is most def'ly a hedge against a totalitarian government.

I've got enough to help out when TSHTF.

Well I'm going to be doing the paperwork for the CR FFL and picking up a couple of MN's.

One for sure will be a 44 that will be converted into a scout rifle perfect for the area I live in.

Yes it its, and that is one (other, I suppose) thing that doesn't fit with the whole "liberate Iraq" thing. Sure Saddam Hussain was pretty rough on his own people, gassing them, running them throught the chippers, etc., but near as I can tell, the whole country was a massive weapons depot. Everyone was armed, everyone had an AK, even today when they keep them at home. And full auto, not semi-only like the Democratics force us to have because they're scared of us. So, how bad could he really have been to the general Iraqi population? It doesn't really fit with the party line here. I think that saving the Iraqi people from Saddam Hussain was pretty low on the list of kicking his ass reasons. I think that the WMD's, which were found, including the fixin's fer nukes, was the real reason. That and his terrorism support.

How anyone can call themselves a "liberal" or "left" and support people with a stated goal of disarming them is just beyond me.