Aggiehunter

I was just thinking about starting a new project. I would like to get some kind of old, WW II era, rifle and start working on it. I was just looking for input into what kind of old guns would make a good project, and potentially be good shooters. Im not looking to spend over $200. I can work the wood and bluing, but I cant work on boring, so its important that it comes with a good to decent bore. I like Enfields, but have no idea about much else. Im a pretty big WW II buff also, so I wanna do it for the historical value. Thanks for any input or leads guys.

8mm/06

The first question I would ask you is "Do you handload?"

Second question would be "Do you plan on fully sporterizing? In other words, cut and turn the bolt, drill and tap for scope, swap out the trigger/safety?"

statjunk

I'm no history buff so take this from a shooters perspective. Get a Swiss 7.5x55. It has a straight bolt throw and the cartridge can be made from .284 Winchester brass necked to .308. Very accurate and they are well known for having great bores.

Mine shoots 10x rings with irons at 50 yards. They can be had for between $100 and $150.

Tom

eldeguello

WELL OLD ARMY!!

For $200.00 or less, you can get both a Russian Moisin-Nagant and a Swiss K31. These Swiss rifles are precision instruments, which shoot exceedingly well, as you would expect from something Swiss.

The Moisins are true clunkers, but are "fun-guns", and some shoot surprisingly well. Of these, I'd prefer an M91/30, or one of the carbine versions made before WWII, or a Finnish or Polish-made version. The long (31" barrel) original M91's are a bit on the clumsy side........

Aggiehunter

Yes I do handload. I just plan on refinishing the rifle to its former condition, not making any major modifications.

Aggiehunter

BTW Nice to see another Aggie eldequello, I always feel like a share a bond with other Aggies, doesnt matter if they were c/o '46 or '06

statjunk

Aggiehunter,

Also the Swiss K31 7.5x55 has one of the best triggers I've laid my finger on. If you are looking for nostolgia most of them also come with the original soldiers information contained in the butt plate. Sometimes they come with two, when a soldier changed duties or the such. They come in Beech and Walnut. The Walnut obviously being the nicer stocks and harder to find. You'll be very happy with one I'm sure.

Tom

North Texan

German Mauser K98

Rebel Hog

If I was going to restore one, it would be the M/38 Swedish Mauser.

Briman

K-31 would be my top choice for the money- I currently have 4 of them.
Mosin nagant 91/30- If you buy a pre-war model (especially if made by Tula)that is in "excellent+" condition, you'll get your money's worth out of the rifle-it will probably be accurate and well made. Anything made during the war will be a crapshoot- they slapped millions of them together in a hurry and didn't pay attention to the details very closely. A nice thing about 91/30s is that they balance almost perfectly and ammo is very cheap and plentiful for them.

Enfields- AIM surplus is selling Ishapore 2A enfields right now. The neat thing about them is that they are chambered in .308. Of the enfields that I own, my favorite is an Ishapore grenade launching SMLE.
Mausers- anyting made by the Czechs, Swedes, or Germans is worth owning. There are lots of Yugos out there too, some are pretty nice, lots of them are worn out, and I haven't had much luck with them- The quality of these rifles is very poor compared to the others.
I wouldn't 'work' on them in any way other than cleaning them up. A $100 K-31 might be worth $500 5 years from now. If you "work" on it by apply tru-oil or polyurethane on the stock and rebluing it, it will probablynever be worth more than what you paid for it, at least in your lifetime.