A few years ago, I cringed when I spent $180 on a very good Mosin Nagant rifle. Shortly after, I cringed when I paid $700 for a Rock Island 1903. Nowadays, I realize that I made great choices.
Lee Enfield mk4 •303. And something I came across only once about 30 years ago, Budapest 9mm bolt action rifle from 1939. It had a kick like a 12g shot gun.
GHW Bush (Barbara Bush) "assault rifle" import ban, got Clinton elected. I still boycott "Dicks Sporting Goods" over supporting the Bush or Clinton ban. I had paid for an Argentine semi-auto FAL when the import ban went through, never got one. Springfield Armory made the one in the drawing--only for a short time.
Simo Hayha and the Finns were shooting Russians not Germans. Finland ended up joining with Germany as cobelligerents vs Russia but Simo Hayha was retired at that point.
Please...please...please...PLEASE stop regurgitating and / or disseminating the following misinformation: "We beat the Germans in WWI so we didn't have to pay the lawsuit" trope." Watch the C&Rsenal treatise on the M1903. The issue is far more nuanced and deserves to be discussed correctly. The No 4 Rifle didn't get adopted until late 1939 and didn't actually see combat until around mid 1942. Just about everything you said regarding the M39 was wrong. 1) The Finns did NOT have anything resembling a good working relationship with the Soviets. Finland was a Russian possession until Nov of 1918. They had their own civil war, but in Finland the whites beat the reds. They had M1891s in their arsenal and acquired more following WWI. They actually debated adopting the 1896 Swedish Mauser, even kept a few thousand in inventory, but due to logistics, commonality of caliber, and existing on-hand inventory, decided to make the Mosin their battle rifle. They vastly improved on the original 1891 through several iterations, but never produced receivers. All Finnish Mosins are built using captured Russian and Soviet receivers. The Soviets rolled into Finland on 30 Nov 1939 to take over Finland. This was referred to as the Winter War. For the next 3+ months the Soviets got their asses handed to them by the Finns. Sadly, the Finns were outnumbered by the Soviets at roughly 10:1. A prolonged conflict would've been suicide, so they signed a peace treaty with Moscow on 13 March 1940. This would be a brief peace. Hostilities between Finland and the Soviet Union resumed in June of 41 during the Continuation War. Simo Hayha did not use an M39. He used a Soumi M31, an M1891 or M1891/24, and an M28 or M28/30. He was wounded during the Winter War and was retired from combat. The M39 was not issued until the Continuation War. The finger joints on an M39 are as follows: rounded (wartime), pointed (transitional), and squared (postwar). The Finns and Germans were allies during the Continuation War (25 Jun 1941 - 19 Sep 1944). Finland and Germany shared a common enemy in the Soviet Union. Finland signed on to the Anti-Comintern Pact on 25 Nov 1941. Germany would supply Finland with war material and economic assistance in exchange for Finnish support against the Soviets. The Finns would sign a peace treaty with the Soviets in Sep of 44 which would force them to expel German forces from Finland. This was the Lapland War (15 Sep 44 - 25 Apr 45). Finland's primary participation was to run the Germans out of Lapland, their northernmost province. This was the only time they fought against Germany. Y'all carry some cool surplus items and I enjoy most of your videos, but please do your due diligence before spreading misinformation. That genie is really hard to put back in the bottle.
Thank you for bringing up the Spitzer lawsuit. The US went to Mauser and paid a very fair licensing fee for the Mauser Action. The actual lawsuit was in regards to the bullet shape. The disinformation about this is rampant.
Finland ground off the Imperial Russian crests because they’d been a province of Russia before 1918. The White Death sniper Simo Hayha shot Soviet Russians, not Germans. Prior to WWII Finland was invaded by the Soviet Union in what was called the Winter War. The tiny Finnish army inflicted over 300,000 casualties on the massive Soviet forces. If you learn your history it makes the story of these weapons even better.
The Carcano is cool in that it has gain twist rifling where the rifling is slower near the chamber and the speed increases as you near the muzzle. Also, the 6.5mm cartridge it uses is inherently accurate.
I just picked up a Carcano about 3 weeks ago for $250, ammo isn't the easiest to find, but not bad. Love shooting it. Accurate, semi light recoil for a bolt gun, not very heavy either, which is a plus when carrying it (vs my 9 pound Mosin).
The Carcano Model 1891 long rifles had the gain twist barrels and those that were cut down to make the M91 Truppe Speziali short rifles lost the gain twist part of the barrels which really did stabilize the 6,5mm bullet, causing a loss of accuracy. The more you learn about Carcanos, you realize that the designers were geniuses. 80 years is a pretty respectable service life. The accuracy problem was caused by using .264" bullets in a .268" barrel. If you can get cast lead bullets in .270", you will have a very accurate, light recoiling, CHEAP (for now) and handy little Italian sports car of rifles.
Surprise the SKS didn't make it on the list especially over the Carcano. Such a accurate, tough and reliable gun compared to the Carcano and the ammo (7.62x39) is way cheaper and easier to get than that of the Carcano. Still, great video and enjoyed watching, thanks Classic Firearms!
M1 Garand #1 hands down. I love mine not only for its history but it's ease in maintenance and accuracy. Might want to mention though not to fire new manuf. sporting 30.06 ammo due to it's high pressure. Sellior&Bellot, Creedmoor, and Winchester make excellent reproduction M1 Garand ammo.
The K-31 is the most accurate rifle I've ever owned. Simply fantastic. If you own one, remove the butt plate and you may find a tag with the name and unit of the soldier who last possessed the rifle.
I have the M1 Garand produced by Harrington and Richardson in 1957. In excellent condition and shoots great. My father had the M1 Carbine but it was stolen 😢. Some great workmanship.
@cloverleafsippa713 Got a NEW one in the 80's for $50, and NEVER looked back! To ME a better rifle than the AK and I LOVE AK's! The gun NEW would still be cheaper than an AK today! You could use from stripper clips, mag, or a big ass drum! Good choice!
How in the world did you miss the Swedish Mauser M-38 Short Rifle in 6.5 x 55 Swedish caliber? In my military collection I’ve owned two of them. (with bent down bolt handle....not straight bolt handle). Fantastic rifles.. great cartridge...and very accurate. Can load the magazine using stripper clips.
Some particulars of note about the Finn Mosins. The actions were captured during the war of independence with Russia in 1917. The Finns completely re-worked the action, produced their own trigger, far more accurate barrel, sights, and designed the finger-mortised stocks out of arctic birch, which allowed the stock to flex in the sub-zero temps in winter and not warp, affecting accuracy. Simo Häyhä actually used the Mosin M-28 civil guard rifle with iron sights, because he said using a scope raised your head too high. He dispatched over 600 Russians in just over four months (Winter War Nov.30, 1939-March 1940.) He was shot in the jaw by a Soviet sniper or he would have added a few more to his record. Permanently disfigured but lived well into his 90s. The greatest sniper of all time...
The barrels are heavier and have 7 groove rifling, they have a 2 stage trigger and there’s a mechanical interrupt in the magazine that prevents rim lock The iron sights are also great and allow for really fine adjustments in 25 meter increments. You can also get aftermarket rails from brass stacker that fit forward of the receiver with no drilling or tapping, you just replace the recoil lug and the rear sight pin and allow a long eye relief optic to be mounted I’ve got a vortex scout optic on mine and I’ve turned it into a good (but heavy) scout rifle, it’s solid as, never had an issue and it only cost me about $700 usd total in 2019 You can just remove it with a hex key and put the original parts back in when you wanna sell or use it as a collectors piece
I had the M44 Carbine. Third round of commercial ammo through it shattered the receiver. No injury to me except my pride. Will never touch Russian metallurgy again.
The US did not lose a "Mauser action" suit. The US paid Mauser about $220,000 in total for the licensing (a little over $20,000 from the Treasury in two payments, and $200,000 from the US Armory in nine payments). There was a related law suit filed by Deutsche Waffen-und Munitionfabriken over the Spitzer type cartridge. They had a US patent, along with several German patents for the designs, but the US also had previous work and patents that pre-dated DW&Ms. The lawsuit was therefor doomed to fail. Of course WWI broke out about 2 weeks after the suit was filed and was never settled. The US "seized" DW&Ms patent during the war. After the war DW&M brought suit again for violation of the patent, however, the court decided that it didn't care about the validity of the patent, and instead determined that the US violated a treaty with Germany in seizing the patent, and awarded damages based on the seizure, and DW&M was awarded a flat $300,000 for that. The US appealed and eventually lost that case after 7 or 8 years, and ended up having to pay the award, plus interest of about $112,000. If the US had not "seized" the patent during the war, DW&M would have likely lost their suit based on the Spitzer cartridge design, as it would have been proven derivative of US work and patents.
If I had : (1) .303 En field for big game hunting and defense in wide open field. (2) Springfield 1903 for sharpshooting and big game hunting. (3) M-1 Garand for woods or open field defense, start knocking down from 400 yd to 10 yd, 8 rounds without taking your eye off the targets. Then bayonet the one slipped to my place. M-14 can do the same but carry too much ammo. If I can only have ONE rifle, M-1 Garand it will be. 😎
i am sooooo glad you corrected these guys on that nomenclature. my surplus rifle is a 30.06 model 1935 peruvian mauser. oiginally in 7.57mm but was sent to belgium where they put a new barrel on it. when the peruvian army adopted the m1 garand so their rifles would all shoot the same caliber. i bought it in late 70's for $125.00. one just sold on a surplus gun auction for $500.00. would never never sell it.
It was proven by Jim Garrison in his book JFK, and the subsequent movie of the same name made later on, that it was not Oswald who shot the President. The actual shooters were on the ground and there were two of them. One at the back and the other at the front. So, it could not have been the Carcano rifle. Oswald was a distraction from the real thing. All the blame was heaved upon him, and with his death, the matter was closed. Very convenient end to an immensely traumatic event with far reaching internal and external political ramifications. .
such string pullers should be (gifted) with their own string in this life. I remember JFK as the light against DARKNESS. bless our USA and patriotic citizens and troops everywhere. from a Army veteran.
My only issue with your picks, is ammo availability. 7.5 Swiss is amazing, the quality of both the tool and the cartridge is incredible, have nailed steel at 300 yards with sub MOA accuracy proves you know what you claim. However, these days, ammo is the deciding factor. My preferred round is 7x57 Mauser, stocked up when it was cheap and available. Impossible to find today, and when it is, is 3 bucks a round compared to the 30 cents I paid for Remington Soft Korlock
Best deal I've heard of, great trade. Love my Mosin M91/30. Barrel has been shortened to 16 1/4", beast is super loud, heavy recoil, but is a blast to shoot. Everyone that has shot it wants to buy or trade for it.
My Favorite I was armed with in Japan and Vietnam The M-14 A2 with Auto Selector.On the range I could hit Bulls at 1000 yds in the field up to 750 Yards.Its weight was fine and I liked the 7,62 round we taped two 30 rd Mags Together in opposing directionsand we could really do some damage with it.Single or Auto.The M-1 I had a hard time loading it and I didn't do as well with it on the range at 500yds.The AR-15 Sucked.
Shot my first deer with an 8mm Mauser 16 years ago when I was 10. Absolutely devastating cartridge and dropped my deer on the spot with a good broadside shot. Love me some milsurps!
That's a beast of a round and a great underated rifle. I feel like a goof I can remember 25 years ago when you could get any rifle they are talking about including sks for 100 to 150 bucks. How times change. Never let that Mauser go if you still have it young man
I was about to be very upset while sitting here watching and you two. While you were wrapping up the #6 surp rifle. Thinking to myself how are they not going to mention the Mosin. Then i see you saved the best for last. Good list and very spot on. I recently bought my first numbers matching Mosin. Took me years to find one matching that wasn't completely beat up and rough looking. The Mosin is such a beautiful rifle and extremely accurate. One of my favorites i own!
35 years ago I bought a Chinese SKS in a gun shop for $110. bucks! It’s still a great rifle till this day. I actually prefer the SKS to an AK but that’s just my opinion
For surplus rifles, my favorite WW2 rifle is the BAR ( the K98 Mauser if you meant pick a bolt action/semi-auto ). For post WW2 surplus, it's the SKS ( I'm an AKM and .45ACP guy, which makes the M1911-A1 my favorite surplus pistol ). BTW, Finland was allied with Germany in WW2. They were invaded by Russia because Stalin feared a German attack across the Balkans. The Finns defeated Russia using light ski troops, so the Russians did what Russia does and came back in overwhelming strength. The Finns continued a resistance movement during the European war and were often equipped with German Mausers rechambered in 6.5 Swedish Mauser. I have a pair of surplus Mausers, one in 8mm German Mauser and one is a Finn in 6.5 Mauser with the crown of Finland stamped on the receiver
Some fun facts about the white death, he used to use a scope, but after he managed to locate and kill a russian sniper by noticing the glare from his scope, he decided to not use a scope again. He would put snow in his mouth in order to prevent his breath exposing him wile he sits motionless in -40 degrees waiting for the enemy he survived an explosive bullet to the face, a bullet that wasn't used in WW2 by the Russians because it was deemed too cruel, but the white death got an exception. he fought russians, not germans. he is the most prolific sniper who ever lived.
Carcano seriously, yes it's cheap that's because it's trash. Gain twist rifleing is so in accurate you can't hit a 12 inch pie plate at 100 yards consistently
My favourite classic rifle is one that I am lucky enough to own. A No4 Mk2 service rifle (b). It is a target version of the Lee Enfield built with iron target sights in 1953 the same year I was born. I have to say though it looks and functions much better than I do, and is accurate.
I had a K31 back in the 1980s i paid $65 for it. Best shooting rifle ever. I sold it because i could not obtain ammo local at that time. Used to shoot M1s at NRA with excellent results, but like the astute small groups of K31 shooting.
The Garland M-1 was my first semi-automatic rifle and I would love to have one. My first bolt action 30-06 was, and remains, a Springfield 30-06, Model 1903, six digit serial number that I bought in 1962 for $25. Still works. This one has the rear sight mounted above the chamber as opposed to behind the receiver. My grandfather used one just like it in WWI in the battles of Chateau Thierry and Belleau Wood. He swore by its accuracy.
I have a m-1 wish I could run up on a Springfield that was the first rifle I ever fired when I was a boy, my uncle had it from ww1 after he came home he got it from the what is now known as the cmp
Do you ever really give away guns tho? I love your company but I'm not sure about your giveaways I've never seen any videos of any "winner" with the gun they "won".
My favorite (owned) milsurp is also the M1 Garand. The recoil took some time for me to get used to, but it's a great rifle that I enjoy shooting very much. I am looking for it's younger brother, the M1a, but my state's laws are pretty strict so I'm not sure if that's possible.
5 years ago I bought a Mosin carbine and paid $300 for it. The stock was a light color wood, just beautiful. At that time the long rifles were going for $150.
My favorite surplus rifle is the SKS Type 56. I remember when the MAS 49/56 was available two or three years ago. I wanted to get one, but the timing was not right.
The K31 is not a Schmidt Ruben. It is a whole separate design. Also, ALL of them have an excellent trigger. The soldier it was issued to should have his name, rank and address on a waterproof tag under the butt plate.
I agree... I just picked one up in a trade that is in extremely nice condition... sadly the ammo is going for between $1.50 - $1.80 per rd and will probably hit $2... "supposedly" with the iron sights set at 300yrds, it shoots so flat that it will hit a man-sized target at 100yrd and with the same bullet hit a man-sized target at 300 yards. I'm trying to find an inexpensive decent quality scout scope I can put on it.
$19 in the 1960s wasn’t trivial: Bretton Woods still stood at $35 per troy ounce of gold and silver wasn’t demonetized until 1964. The federal minimum wage was $1.25 in 1964. In terms of silver and gold, that $19 Carcano in the 1960s was more like $360 to $1020 today, respectively.
For excellent new info. on JFK assassination check out NOVA program "COLD CASE JFK", ballistic experts go over firearm, round ballistics (WW2 ammo), bullet "Yaw". Enlightening.
Hey the Finnish sniper was not fighting the German they were allied of Germany 🇩🇪 lol sir IT WAS THE RUSSIAN THAT HE WAS FIGHTING anyway I am a huge fan of yours GOD BLESS AMERICA 🇺🇸
I guess.... I'd have to say my favorite "surplus" rifle is my Yugoslavian SKS. because it's the only one I own, but would love an M1, especially if I could get one for $110, like the SKS.
I've been meaning to buy a carcano for home defense, cause if I need to I can extend the bayonet, throw it, and spear someone. Plus the 6.5 has the penetrating power of a sock'em bopper, but the force of a 1993 Tercel.
If the ammo isnt cheaper than 223 then whats the point of these videos? Id rather by an $800+ AR and buy .223 ammo at .70ish a rnd then buy a $300 surplus gun that has ammo that is more expensive than .223. You didnt even include the SKS which is a surplus gun and also has ammo cheaper than .223. This video is pointless
