what is the best/worst surplus rifle you've purchased?

[SS396]

i would have to say my best purchase by far was my 91/30 from sog for 39.99-i bought it several years ago. it is all matching with a mirror bright bore and about 75% finish. it came with a sling and a cleaning rod. i added a bayonet from sarco for about 20.00 after refinishing the wood, it is stunning.

my worst purchase would be a vz24, also from sog. i think i paid about 140.00 for this one, and it was supposed to be in very good condition. it had absolutely no finish on it anywhere, and a rusted out barrel. it did have the crest on it though, and i think the numbers matched at the time. about 150.00 later(new used barrel from sarco, and refinished metal) it is a nice looking rifle, but not worth anywhere near what i have in it.

lets hear your good/bad purchases!

[zouavexx]

Boy that is a tough question.

My favorite all time C&R has to be my mint 1942 M1 Garand.
http://album.gunsnet.net/data/zouave/104_p844.jpg

But my new "favorite" is my No 1 Mk III* Enfield
(because I have wanted one for so long)
http://album.gunsnet.net/data/zouave/103_p617.jpg

The nicest one I ever bought thru the mail is my Yugo M24/47
(a steal at $89) - I have questions about this one in the Mausers forum.
http://album.gunsnet.net/data/zouave/14_p1528.jpg

Really I don't have a "worst" but my two "cheapest" are the pair of M44's I bought for $29 each! (both are kind of beat up)
http://album.gunsnet.net/data/zouave/14_p42.jpg

[cwalker3]

My best/favorite purchase is my M1 Garand from CMP. It's not the prettiest piece I have but can't be beat for it's accuracy, reliability and history. There is absolutely nothing that I can think of that I'd trade it for.

My worst buy was a Romanian SKS I got for $150 from Century. The stock was beat up and downright ugly. Bluing was about 75%. But worst of all the damn thing didn't shoot worth a crap. It shot left of center and the closest I could ever get to the 10 ring was about 9". Finally sold it to a guy at work for $50.

Edited to say, "DAMN that is one beautiful Garand!" Did you refinish the stock or is it original? If refinished, with what? Was it from the CMP? I guess there is something I'd trade my M1 for!

[JES AR15]

i don't have many yet, but :

my best bang for the buck & nicest = wrapped M44
my favorite = k98k, its starting to look pretty good now :cool:
worst = $39 turk 38, but i will have some fun with this one.

[neilwest]

1. I wanted everyone so there is no worst. But the one that needed the most work to get right was my #5 Enfield. It turned out great thanks to the parts people at Numrich. My best would have to be the K-98 I stole from REDSTAR:D

[whos2kno]

zouave
where did you get the M-1 from. the pic looks GOOD.:drooling:

my best deal and weapon is a toss up of the Romanian SKS (for the deal I got it for) and the MAS-49/56 because of the look and the fell of the recoil.if you never shot one give it a try.
the worst deal I got I had a hair up my but and got this one (go ahead and laugh it fine I do it all the time) is a PA-63 for $200.HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
$200.00 for a matching PA-63 with import markings.
whos2kno

[zouavexx]

Originally posted by cwalker3


Edited to say, "DAMN that is one beautiful Garand!" Did you refinish the stock or is it original? If refinished, with what? Was it from the CMP? I guess there is something I'd trade my M1 for!

Thanks.

I actually got the Garand for free! :)

The story is long but it starts out like this "a friend of my Father had a cousin......."

Ser #445,XXX made in Feb '42. I actually took the stock to another friend of my fathers who owned a fine furniture refinishing company. it finish is multible coats of boiled Linseed oil.(When I tried to pay him he refused to take anything)

I replaced many parts on it, The bolt was a black painted International Harvester one, which I replaced with the proper Springfield Armory one (even swap). I replaced the Piston with a National Match S.A. one and had the rifle glass bedded.

I have less than $150 in the rifle.
(BTW the original cut down WW2 Bayonet in the photo, I bought for .25 cents at a yard sale. I have had nothing but luck with this rifle.
http://album.gunsnet.net/data/zouave/104_p847.jpg

Heck I have even taken several deer with it, most recently this past fall.

It is a good gun, and I have been offered $1,200 cash for it, and another time at a WW2 encampment a guy wanted to trade my Garand for his Garand PLUS his M1 Carbine.

[SHOOTER]

Best deal: My mint German K98 with all matching # and markings intact. $100.00

Worst deal: Polish M44 from SOG. Ordered VG, got not even good condition. $48.00

[TheBigCAx]

Today. PA-63 $125. I should have tried to for less, maybe another $25 off. I think he was receptive. Doh!!! Very happy though. The cheapest Mak I saw at the gunshow today was $150. I was tempted.

Fortunately, thanks to all you guys, I'm able to make informed decisions. :)

If AIM still has em, I'm ordering M44 in wrap Monday.

[REDSTAR]

Best- FR8 from century advertised as VG but was more like excellent.

Worst- A Hungarian M44 I bought on impulse at a pawn shop for $120. Fair condition and was missing the ejector. I bought that before I knew the scoop on C&R rifles and license. I've since fixed it and refinished it so it's not my worst now, just my most expensive M44.

[Original-SSR]

My favorite buy was a Polish M-44 carbine, reason being the gun is as new as a gun built this morning (not a rearsenal). The worst being a MAS 36/51, reason being much much less condition than advertised (Thank SOG for that one).

[srv656s]

My favorite purchase so far is the amazing K31's I got from AIM. The bolt is fantastic, and I have a feeling that the rifle is grossly undervalued. I did crappy at the range, but know it was my dumb fault.

http://www.student.smsu.edu/s/srv656s/k31-1.jpg

My worst pick has got to be the CZ52. The fact that the firing pin is known to be a brittle POS should have forced me to reconsider off the bat, but I got one anyways. Well, SOG sent me a real piece of poop. The gun looks fine from the outside, but you should always be wary of an old gun that is not coated in cosmoline. THe barrel is completely fucked to say the least. I have only shot some crappy ammo that had slow primers, and am not sure exactly how bad the pistol shoots, but I think it's definitelly the worst I have.

http://www.student.smsu.edu/s/srv656s/cz52.jpg

(The CZ52 is in the upper left side....)

Shawn


Shawn

[Schuetzenman]

The best C&R class weapon I ever purchased was a special Swed 96 model rifle called a Marksman. It was freaking mint and for under $200. Hummm . . . now that I think of it my 1903 Rock Island WWII rebuild may even beat the Swede. However I had to give almost twice as much for it.

The worst was actually 3 rifles that came in a shippment of 6. They were M38 Turks. The outsides were rusted, dusty, crud encrusted and that was the good part of them. :D The bores were so badly rusted and pitted that I could not push a cleaning patch through the bore and still have a cleaning patch on the jag or brush by the time it got to the other end. Meaning the bores on those 3 litterally shreaded the GI cleaning patches to fiber by the time they went from breech to muzzle in one pass!:eek:

[clearblue]

Because I'm partial to the metal over the wood,I'd have to say the Swede M96 -I just received from Samco.

Total cost including S&H wound up being $256.90. It's a 1908 Carl Gustaf with a mirror #1 bore.

The best deal was a M44 still in the wrapper from AIM for $69.95. This was a NIB gun that ,I don't believe, has never been fired. If I knew I could get identical M-44's I would order 5 more tomorrow.

I've got a couple more M96's incoming from Wholesale G&A and I've been begging them to hand select,even talked to owners Bill Sr. and Bill Jr., so we'll see what happens.

[REDSTAR]

Yeah, I've gotten a few dogs that went straight back. I didn't count those. I had a M48 from Century with the same rust problem Scheutz had. I also had a bad M44 from AIM. Both companies promptly issued new better rifles.

[JKeith]

Best: Remington 1903-A3...gun was absolutely perfect...had been purchased in the '60s from the DCM and had never been fired.

Worst: Turk 38 from SOG. Beat up and way out of specs on headspace....true piece of junk!!

[AKWARRIOR]

My best would have to be my German Gew 43 (1944 production)Inherited from my father.The worst would have to be a Mauser VZ-24 which shoots fine but has seen better days.:D

Regards,