Country of Origin and Surplus Guns

[1-UP]

I'm on a tight budget. A new baby girl, house improvements, and just life in general leaves me precious little money to spend on firearms. Unfortunately, my Ruger Mark III and Remington shotgun aren't enough to scratch the itch every weekend. In an attempt to increase my available firearms while maintaining a budget, I've recently applied for a C&R licence and plan to add some surplus guns to my sparse collection - at least a rifle (probably a mosin-nagant) and most likely a CZ82 (They seem like steals right now and the toks I've seen are really pushing "budget" prices).

What I need to know is, how important is the country of origin for these firearms? A weapon manufactured in E. Germany seems to command $100 or $200 more than its Polish counterpart. Do you get that much more gun by being selective about who makes it, or is it more of an aesthetic/collector issue? Collectibility isn't really a huge issue for me - I'm more interested in a quality firearm I can enjoy at the range and pass down to the kids.

[candr44]

Some countries did make their guns better than others and some are a higher price only because they are harder for collectors to find. Germany and the Czech Republic are two countries that make quality firearms just to mention a few.

If you get a C&R license, you can buy guns when they are first imported and before the collectors drive up the price. You will also easily save the $30 dollars for the license on your first or second pruchase. Be careful though, you might save so much money that you will soon be broke. You will also want to spend on ammo, accessories, and maintenance. It can get exspensive even with a C&R license.

[noelf2]

can Get

??? Will Get !!!

[carguychris]

Some countries did make their guns better than others and some are a higher price only because they are harder for collectors to find.

+1. Since you mention you're thinking of a Mosin-Nagant, the best M-Ns are the Finnish guns because they were rebarreled with higher-quality barrels than what the Russians or other countries usually used. However, if you want a Finnish M-N, you're going to pay accordingly- the good ones fetch at least $300 in today's market.

Second best are the Russian 91/30 sniper or "ex-sniper" (i.e. de-scoped for reissue to infantry) rifles. The Russians hand-picked the best M-Ns and turned them into sniper rifles after they were test-fired for accuracy. However, most of the M-N "sniper" rifles on the milsurp market are fakes- they're actually regular garden-variety M-Ns that have been pieced together by exporters. REAL Soviet sniper rifles command $800+.

The worst M-Ns are, generally, the Russian guns built in the 1942-1944 time frame when they were trying to crank out as many rifles as possible to stop the Nazi juggernaut. Some of these guns display some truly horrendous machine work. The best way to avoid these guns is to opt for the "Hex Receiver" 91/30s currently offered by several milsurp suppliers. The "hex" (actually octagonal) receiver was phased out in the mid-30s, so you can be assured that a hex receiver gun was not built during WWII.

The rest of the M-Ns are somewhere in between. The postwar Polish guns (marked with a big circled "11" on the receiver) have a reputation for good workmanship, but IMHO the ones I've seen don't look superior to the better Russian guns.

[1-UP]

Thank you, this is EXACTLY the kind of information I was looking for. Still waiting for the license to come in. Luckily, it's letting me get lots of research in

[gandog56]

On the other hand, I have yet to be burned on a few $69.95 Mosin Nagants. They all fire acceptably.

[Marion57]

One up
If you buy any Mosin Nagant under a 100 bucks your going to be ok in my opinon..I havent seen one yet that cant me made to shoot reasonable well ..
Good enough to kill any deer..Go for it

[Tom2]

I had a Polish equivalent to the M44 at one time, and it was a much nicer gun than the run of the mill Russian, and was probably unfired. You used to be able to get them cheap. I want to shoot all my surps if possible, so I look for bore condition to be hopefully excellent, or not pitted up at least. Other people like that and it affects resale value. A pretty gun with a rotted bore does not get you much money, I know that. And wish I could kick the slob that shot corrosive without cleaning it.