RE: Does anybody else hunt with Surplus rifles?
Hello, griz, I just got a Springfield 1903 a few weeks back and I'm going to use it for deer this season once I find some good ammo. The stock on my '03 is like your Mosin...banged up and another scratch or dent won't bother it (or me). I've got to get in some practice time to get used to the sights. The aperture/peep sight on the flip-up ladder sight isn't the best set-up, but if I'm shooting OK with it at the range, I'm going to use my '03.
I was seriously considering a Mosin (M44 version) for use as a deer rifle. Where I currently hunt is a wooded area and I don't have shots over 50 yards except on rare occasions. If I hadn't been able to get my '03, I'd have a Mosin-Nagant. May still get one at some point. Hard to pass up a piece of history for less than $100.
Oh, I also have a Yugo M59/66 SKS that I took out to the field once last year, complete with folding bayonet and grenade launcher attached. That 7.62x39 is just right for short-range shots like mine. I put a Williams firesight set on it and have some 154 SP ammo. Not the most accurate arrangement, but it will do...well, I think it will. Didn't get a chance to find out. I had just settled in to wait for the deer and hadn't been there more than 15 minutes before my son tagged a nice 8 pt and the SKS and I called it a day.