What was your best military surplus buy in 2002?

[1911crazy]

What was your best buy in 2002?

Mine had to be the MAS 49/56 French Commando Rifle 7.5 French at SOG for $199 unissued/rearsenaled.  I have seen these rifles in well used condition over 20 years ago for $350.                 BigBill

[Double D]

I picked up a ZAR Martini.  It is the Westley Richards by Francotte in 577/450. The metal and bore are in beautiful condition.  The bore is bright and and shiney.  The wood has typical storage marks and dings.  I picked this up in South Africa for $400.  Not bad for a rifle that usually goes in fair condiditon here in the USofA for $1700.

The best part is that it shoots!

[huntsman]

Nothing rare or unusual here, but still a good deal for me. I traded my Savage M99 in .308 with no scope for a 6.5 x 55 Swedish mauser with a 3x9 scope. The Swede is a m96 action and barrel still in great shape made in 1908 sporterized with a modern wooden monte-carlo style stock with a high-gloss varnished finish. Gun looks and feels great--I get to shoot it for the first time Saturday. If it lives up to half of the hype about 6.5 Swedes, it will be a damn sight better than the Savage .308. I could never get it to group less than about 3" at 100 yards (factory ammo only) and it kicks too hard for my daughter, who will be using the Swede. :grin:

[Mikey]

My best mil-surp of 2002 was my 48A.  What a peach.  With the S&B ammo she is dead on accurate.  I plan on scoping her and bedding the military stock just to keep her in mil-surp format.  Then I think I'm gonna get a VZ-24 and sporterize that, just because I have a Boyd's stock for a large ring Mauser action and no large ring Mauser action to put into it.

Huntsman:  Check the Sportsmans Guide or Cheaper than dirt for some good values on Sellier and Bellot (S&B) 6.5 x55 Swedish ammo.  less than $10 per box, new manufacture, non-corrosive and reloadable, in both ball and softpoint.

Hope this helps.  Mikey.

[Frog123]

I guess mine would have to be the Winchester, M1 .30 carbine I bought from a Pawn Shop above the station. I had had my eye on a H & R Snake Charmer compact .410 shotgun. Well back to the story, I had been checking this Pawn Shop every three days when I came on shift. They were in the process of closing and were marking down prices every couple of days trying to liquidate inventory. I had my eye on the shotgun but when I walked in and spotted the carbine my mouth started to water. I couldn't get to the gun counter fast enough.  I walked to the counter, already knowing that if I could get the guy down to 300.00 I'd be leaving with it. I asked to see and sure enough it was a .30 carbine. I had been wanting one for a while but I was unsure of spending 450.00 to 600.00 on one at the gun show. When I checked the tag and saw the price of 195.00, I knew it was leaving with me. The guy behind the counter asked what I thought. I said "I think I'll take it, let's go ahead and do the paperwork on it" As I was getting $10.00 out to cover the background check He said, "Well let me tell you something, before you buy it I need to tell you that gun doesn't shoot." "What do you mean it doesn't shoot" I asked, I had been so greedy over my find I don't think I ever cycled the action. Come to find out they were so close to closing the doors that they were selling off their gunsmith specials. Guns that had some mechanical problems and needed to go to the shop but the place probably wouldn't be open by the time they were repaired. I remember asking what was wrong with the gun and him saying that he didn't know, that the bolt was locked up. Sure enough you could pull the bolt about 1/8" back before it "locked up" and wouldn't move any further. Here's were the bargaining began. He asked me if I still wanted it. I said, "Yeah, but I'm not gonna give $200.00 bucks for a gun that won't shoot." He asked, "What would you give for a gun that won't shoot?" I said, "I'll give you $150.00 out the door plus I'll pay the background check fee." He said something about not knowing if they could take $150.00 for it, that he'd have to check with his wife. Well, he came back and said "She said if the gun didn't shoot that you could have it for $150.00" Deal. We finished the paperwork, I was approved and paid them $160.00 and headed out the door with it and one 30rd mag. My partner looked at me and asked," Okay, What's wrong with it?" I replied it's put together wrong. The rotating bolt head was out of it's guide rails. Everytime you tried to pull the bolt handle back it would rotate the bolt head which would strike the guide rail and seize up.  Nothing too serious, I hoped.
     Later that day when I got off I stopped by my buddy Jim's house.  Jim was a retired civilian police officer who had also retired from the Army after serving in an M.P. Company in Korea and S.E. Asia. I walked in with the rifle and Jim yelled from across the room, "I don't know what's wrong with it yet but I'll give you $300.00 for it." Not for sale Jim. I need help stripping it, if you don't help me I'll take my toy and go to Melvin's house and get his help. He just said, "Let me see it" Examining it. He replied," Gun's put together wrong" I knew that much, "help me fix it, would 'ya?" I handed him a screwdriver and within a couple of minutes he had the gun stripped and reassembled. Before I left Jim had made me strip, clean and reassemble it to make sure I had been paying attention.
     I carried it to a gun show the following weekend to purchase a sling, oiler, spare magazines and some odds and ends for it. Before I got in the door I had three offers on it. Once inside I had several offers for it, including one for $700.00. That fellow became almost belligerent because I wouldn't sell it. One older gentleman, a veteran who had carried one in service, asked if he could see it. I handed it to him and he examined it. He gave me some history on it and complimented me on the condition and cleanliness of the gun. I thanked him and never told him how I came upon the gun. Thanks Jim...



Frog

[Jose Grande]

I got a 98 Turk for a little less than $70.It looks & shoots like new. A wunnerful deal. :-D  :-D

[kevin.303]

:eek: i was taking  a course at the local tech. school to be a millwright. one of the teachers used to collect RCA uniforms and equipment.his wife was making him downsize his collection. he was parting with 6 .303s. i traded him a home made clay shooter(cost about $20 in steel plus one way bearing) for a straight pull ross. he also threw in an unissued no.1 mk3 lithgow made SMLE complete with bayonet and strippers!! had them checked buy a smith and the Smle still had the cosmoline in barrel and the pull through and oiler in the buttstock compartment!!. up here that enfield is worth about $250 and the Ross $150. not bad for about $110!

[Mc85]

My Yugo Sks.....deff. good bang for the buck.

[Bigdog]

Whew!  Hard choice between the Yugo SKS or the Cetme .308.  Both are rugged, reliable and accurate.  The Cetme has more "oomph" and is a tad lighter.  The trained monkeys at Century have learned to assemble them good now.   :lol:

[RicMic]

My Yugo SKS 59/66A1 unissued w/ teak stock for $189

[deerhunter]

I have to agree with mike,   I picked up an unissued Yugo M48A and it is great.  It shoots the Turk surplus ok, but I have started to shoot low power reloads with Remington 185 gr bullets and it groups 2"  to 2.5" at 100 yards.   Thats really good for me with iron sights.  At 200 yards I can hit football sized rocks all day long.  And it doesnt kick as much as the surplus, plus my reloads are not corrosive so I dont have to run hot soapy water thru the barrel before I start cleaning it.

[ibfestus]

I bought a 1938 Turk from J&G for $39 + shipping.  Being ignorant I thought I was essentially buying a large ring action that I intended having "sporterized" and rebarreled to either 338/06 or 35/06 (Whelen).

After cleaning, I was surprised to find all the numbers matched except the barrel which was an obvious replacement but was also possibly brand new.

Anyway, I went ahead and had the receiver work done (i.e. bent bolt, drilled & tapped, low safety, Bold trigger) Unfortunately, I ran out of money and couldn't afford the new barrel/stock/reblue.  After a few weeks I decided "what the heck."  I hacked the barrel off to 24" added an old redfield mount, chopped the original stock which I degreased with ammonia, and painted the works with BBQ grill paint.  I added a Bushnell 4x12 scope ($48.50 from J&G) and headed to the range.

The gun shoots milsurp Yugo 8mm into groups that Rem. 700 BDL owners only dream about!!!  Do you have a gun that will shoot 3 round, 100 yard cloverleafs with cheap $0.10 /round ammo???

I hate to admit it but I own some pretty expensive firearms that this old POS will outshoot!!

[jdt48653]

i picked up a nice 1903/a3 smith corrona remington in 30/06 for 70.00

[JS44]

I bought a Yugo SKS and two Swiss Schmidt Rubin K31's. I'd have to say that I like the K31's better. They're VERY accurate!
JS

[Peddler Parsons]

I picked up a 7.62x54R and 500 rounds of ammo for less than 100 at the gun show. Had to really clean the cosmoline out of it tho. shoots good for what it is. Something to play with  other than my cowboy guns all the time

[Buckeye]

Walked in a gun store and bought a 38 swede. carbine, bent bolt, in excellent condition for $80.50.   And to beat it all I had been looking for one for a year and this store is only a mile away , and hardy ever has milsups.