1911Crazy, look at it this way.
Even though Mosins et al are dime/dozen figuratively speaking, how many Mosins do you really need? Sure you can buy one a month. But me personally, I'd rather have 2 Mosins and a M1 Garand than 12 Mosins. Quit buying Mosins and buy a piece of US history. Sure it costs more. But as previously mentioned, they aren't 'over priced''; the market value reflects the fact that there are tons of Mosins dumped on the market while many US rifles have sat over seas for 65 years.
Now as to quality, looks, etc, crap we could sit here till the cows come home and argue amongst ourselves whether a M1 Carbine has a slicker feel and sexier style as compared to a m95 Steyr that you bought for $85. We could argue the merits of the 03 Springfield rifle as compared to the RC k98 Mauser you got for $200. We could make the argument that the SKS is any of its various forms is a better automatic rifle than the M1 Garand. But when you start talking value, price, worth. These are market driven.
The fact is the countries over seas are dumping these Mosins and Steyrs on the market to drum up cash, and yes we're having a grand old time of it buying $80 m91/30s. I've bought my share, and will do so again. But I've never felt so excited in my life as I have when I had a US battle rifle coming to my door. Heck, I took a vacation day and stayed home waiting for a FedEx truck to bring my Remington 03A3 from CMP.
Buy yourself a M1 Garand, trust me you will not regret it. You can still get one from CMP for a decent price. Plus, you're getting an investment piece, if you will, that you can always, always get your money back out of, probably more than your investment.
Oh, and I've got a Danish return Rack Grade that can hit baseballs at 100 yards no problem if I do my part. I feel sure you would not be disappointed if you dropped about $500 into a CMP rifle!
I started off collecting European rifles because of price. Once I started buying US rifles, for sure the number of pieces I added to my collection slowed down dramatically. But the ones I cherish, the ones I think of as the pieces my kids will inherit one day, the ones that have the 'high seat' in my collection, are my US rifles. And my mind never ceases to connive and scheme trying to think of how to get the ones I'm missing, but simply can't afford right now.
MIA from my collection:
Krag
m1903
m1917
1911 Pistol
m1917 Revolver