Like I said, compare a 1909 argie or or M96/M38 swede or a K-31to any of them, the new guns come up way short in craftsmanship and the old guns will shoot just as accurately if not better. The new guns are inarguably in better condition than a 100 year old rifle, but that doesn't mean they are even closeto the same level of quality.

I believe you, but then you've probably never examined let alone shota Finnish M39 Mosin Nagant.

Quite the contrary, I can afford pretty much anything I want. I have a few milsurp rifles that are worth well over $1000. I also shoot modern rifles, in fact I hunt with a remington 700, not because its any better than a K-31, but it is a bit lighter. I also own around 30 surplus rifles, including 1/2 dozen mosin nagants- like I said before, the only one that is accurate enough for hunting is the Finnish built rifle I have, Russian mosins aren't of very good qulity, but it is in no way a reflection upon the rifles made by other countries.

So DougK,

What do you think about Mosin Nagant rifles...?

I happen to like the Mosins. People callingthem 'junk'is anignorance issue, IMO.Any knob off the street can go buy a Taurus to drive around in. Not that many appreciate a Karmann Ghia, though. Or an old Studebaker. Or even an old International pickup. I say fine. Take your modern dime-a-dozen ordinary mundane drivel. More old collector stuff for me.

I haven't had a chance to take any of my old milsurp stuff out for deer yet, though I plan to. Haven't decided whether or not I'll ever try to sporterize any of them or not. The Mosins could certainly benefit from a stock with a recoil pad, that's for sure.

Here's a few cool Mosin-related links that I bookmarked that I thought you might enjoy:

(M44 range results) http://www.theothersideofkim.com/index.php/ggps/8140/

(top 10 manliest guns ever) http://www.arthurshall.com/x_2007_manly_firearms.shtml

I'm more of a K-31 fan. Its amazing what a rifle that could be purchased for under $100 a few years ago could do with a tiny bit of tweaking:


http://p082.ezboard.com/ftheswissriflesdotcommessageboardfrm8.showMessage? topicID=4701.topic
http://parallaxscurioandrelicfirearmsforums.yuku.com/topic/4594/t/Still-refining-my-K-31.html

I like the POS junk enfields as well, like this one made by Savage

If I could find a rifle that costs less than $300, has a french walnut stock, deep blueing, nearly perfect fit and finish, and is capable of MOA accuracy, I'd buy it.

shhhh!! I am, too, but the more people that know about them, the more that will want to buy them and that means the price will start to go up and I can no longer buy them as easily as I can now!! We need to keep the k31 our little secret! I only have 2 for pete's sake!

One of the first center-fire rifles I ever shot was a k31 that belonged to myuncle. He hadrebarreledit to a 308 win and put it into a stock he carved himself from his own pear tree. Talk about sweet.

At cabelas, they had a Swiss 1911 rifle that was sporterized and rechambered for .308 for $120. I wasn't sure if it was a safe conversion, so I went home did some internet research, came back 2 hrs later and the rifle was sold. I still kick myself for not buying it on sight[:@]

I'll just have to settle for the junky POS 1911 rifle that I already have. The darn thing is 90 years old and heavy (it was made like, when biplanes ruled the sky), maybe I should recycle it or make a lamp out of it?[&:]

I have a very large collection of WWII and pre WWII era firearms. Some of them are very accurate. Most aren't due to years of cleaning rod abuse, corrosive ammo, etc. My Husqvarna M38's and Swiss 1911's, K31's, and a few other show great workmanship, but there's no doubt rifles "can" be made far more accurate today than they could 60 years ago. Look at average benchrest competition groups 60 years ago and compare them with what's being shot today.

Here is a Ram my wife took with our M44 from 180 yards. The rifle took the ram and 2 hogs , both hogs were running. I now also have a 91-30. Several of my budies have purchased Mossin Nagants to play and hunt with. Some have scopes some dont. When you buy the rifle for 70 or 80 $ you can afford to spend more on the scope than you did on the gun. You can buy soft point hunting bullets for 7 to 8$ per 20. Let's see you do that with a 270.