Hey Guys, I was thinking of getting a mil.bolt to start shooting at some matches my club puts on and I have no experience or knowledge to whats hot and whats not.... any suggestions? 
Get a Swiss K31 before they go up much more?
The problem, if you could call it that with the old milsurps is all the variations on calibers unless you go American, but if you want to start out for not a whole lot of cash, a K31 or a good Mosin would be a couple of options. 7.62x54R is easy to find in bulk surplus, just have to use the corrosive primer cleaning protocol. 7.5 Swiss not so easy to find in surplus right now...not sure why, there's a bunch of it....somewhere.
The problem, if you could call it that with the old milsurps is all the variations on calibers unless you go American, but if you want to start out for not a whole lot of cash, a K31 or a good Mosin would be a couple of options. 7.62x54R is easy to find in bulk surplus, just have to use the corrosive primer cleaning protocol. 7.5 Swiss not so easy to find in surplus right now...not sure why, there's a bunch of it....somewhere.
K31 or a Finn Mosin, the Mosin will be cheaper to shoot.
http://www.gunsnammo.com/ has some finn mosin m39s and theres a few finn m91s on gunbroker too
http://www.gunsnammo.com/ has some finn mosin m39s and theres a few finn m91s on gunbroker too
for accuracy K31 hands down
swede M96 or M38 carbine
finnish M39 mosin
yugo or german mauser
swede M96 or M38 carbine
finnish M39 mosin
yugo or german mauser
I'll add the Ishapore to the discussion. It is essentially an Indian copy of the British Enfield, but it is chambered in 7.62mm NATO.
The rifles are not too expensive, but the flip side of the coin is that right now, the NATO ammunition is getting very scarce and the cost is going up as well.
The rifles are not too expensive, but the flip side of the coin is that right now, the NATO ammunition is getting very scarce and the cost is going up as well.
You are right. The 6.5X55 is hard to beat for its accuracy. I've not fired a modern rifle in that cartridge, but have fired several milsurps over the years, and I would fear the man on the battlefield with that rifle. Its really in a class by itself. The old Swedish round is an exceptional cartridge, and the milsurps chambering it really can show their stuff!!! If your interested you should check out www.simpsonltd.com they have a bunch of them.
+1. I have a couple of Swedish M/96's with diopter sights, and those things rock for tight grouping on a paper target or dinging iron targets way out there. The Swiss K31 is in the same league too, though it has a shorter sight radius and a stiffer recoil. Nice thing about the K31's is that they're easily scoped with no-smith St. Marie mounts.
Of the top 10 winners of the CMP vintage rifle matches, it seems that six or seven of them will have one of these two rifles.
It's just too bad that the Swiss surplus 7.5 ammo (excellent stuff!) is getting harder to find, and more expensive. The Swedish 6.5 is very good, though surface tarnish is common, and a little easier to find.
Over the years, I've shot some surprisingly good 1917s.
Never understood why some preferred the '03, except that shrouded rear sight on the 1917 looks like a piece of wall busting hardware (head busting?).
If something European is your bag, I'd choose the 6.5, as someone suggested earlier.
Never understood why some preferred the '03, except that shrouded rear sight on the 1917 looks like a piece of wall busting hardware (head busting?).
If something European is your bag, I'd choose the 6.5, as someone suggested earlier.
