I rebuilt a bunch when I was in high school and college, my favorite of which was a '91 Argentine I rebarreled with a Springfield Dual-Groove and chambered to 308win, and sporterized into a Monte-Carlo, new safety lever, and optic mounting blocks. It was a remarkably accurate rifle, albeit still quite heavy for what it was. Luckily for me, I got into it for about $300, and got out of it for $500. I did a couple of Mosin's which were money pits, did a Swedish '96 which lost me money in the end too.

For pleasure shooting at the range, it's pretty hard to beat them, and they do make for a hunt you can really hang onto in the memory bank, but I'm not a Surplus Rifle Guy anymore.

I don't count M1 Garands or M1A's as "surplus rifles," nor AR-15's, but I do spend a lot of my time shooting "military rifles" in the form of M1A's and AR's. Sadly, don't have a Garand any more. Might have to fix that soon...