Surplus rifles

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Bong_Boy
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Surplus rifles

Post by Bong_Boy »

I haven't seen a thread here that covers surplus rifles so as someone that recently got into shooting I have started to enjoy older surplus rifles. I recently had my grandfather had down his collection to me that included a few surplus firearms. At the moment my collection is P14 that had the stock cut down and made into a sports rifle, A Kar98k that is all original and all matching numbers except for the bayonet. a swetish mauser that i dont' know anything about, a Ljungman AG-42 that again is all matching with no bayonet, a 8 mm mauser that I don't know much about but was made by the Austrians, and one that I just recently picked this up https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/ ... /image.jpg its a lee enfield no.1 mk.3 lee enfield 1916 BSA rifle and the bolt,Receiver,barrel and rear sight are all matching. I'm curious if there are any other surplus collectors here on this forums and what your collection consists of.
MooseHunter330
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Re: Surplus rifles

Post by MooseHunter330 »

I've got a Swedish Mauser M96 made in 1903 by the Carl Gustav factory. Caliber 6,5 Swedish.
Shoots decently good groups at 100m over iron sights and is absolutely great at shooting moving boar targets at 50m.
I recently upgraded it with an M96 Bayonet and stripper clips. The only downside is it's length.
Spends all the gold and money to buy new weapons in the shape of guns.
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paul2012
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Re: Surplus rifles

Post by paul2012 »

In recent years as I grew strong enough to carry and use it, I've taken a liking to my dad's M1917 Enfield rifle. It was already cut up and sporterized when he bought it for $70 back in the day. All he knew about it was that it was supposedly shipped over to Britain for use in the home guard during WW2. When I got to investigating its story I found that serial number dated to april 1917, the month america joined WW1. Safe to say its seen is fair share of warfare. Fortunately all that was done to it was the metal butt plate replaced, the extra wood removed, and the iron sights replaced with a 4x crosshair scope.

As for the rifle I call my own, I picked up this handy 1896 .30-40 Krag Jørgensen carbine. I stumbled across it just last fall at a cabelas in the used gun racks and had to have it. As far as I can gather this is all original parts/ official retrofitting by the US army. The sights are actually 1901 pattern rather than the 1896 and the upper hand guard was removed to fit the sights. It almost certainly saw service in the Spanish-American War, but it would be wishful thinking that it was carried by one of Teddy Roosevelt's rough riders. :D

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offliaison
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Re: Surplus rifles

Post by offliaison »

Nice stuff you got there.
MooseHunter330
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Re: Surplus rifles

Post by MooseHunter330 »

Took some a e s t h e t i c pictures of my Swede today.
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paul2012
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Re: Surplus rifles

Post by paul2012 »

Out of curiosity does anyone here have experience with reloading? With more obscure surplus rifle cartridges comes hard to find ammo. For example Remington just ended their most recent run of 30-40 krag of which I was able to snag a couple of boxes, however it may be a while before they make another batch. As such, and to try and get better accuracy, I've decided to try my hand at reloading. So far I picked up a Hornady Lock and Load classic kit, some press die sets, a 50ct empty krag reloading brass bag (which is also hard to come by nowadays) and a box of 50 Nosler ballistic tip 220 grain .308 diameter bullets.

My krag, having an original military sights, I was not sure if they'd have a good zero without the original ammo that the sights where designed for. After testing the Remington 180gr corelokt I found that it was shooting about 2ft high at 50yds. My theory is to try the 220gr bullets as that was the standard in the original 1890s service load.

I am just getting into this hobby and I'd be interested in hearing about peoples experiences. Maybe I can even make this its own thread.
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SoftShoe
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Re: Surplus rifles

Post by SoftShoe »

paul2012 wrote:Out of curiosity does anyone here have experience with reloading?
I've been doing it 30 or more years now including wildcat (non factory) & obsolete calibers.

I could say a great deal about reloading but before I write a thesis did you have any specific questions?

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SoftShoe
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Re: Surplus rifles

Post by SoftShoe »

On 2nd thought I will give you some general words of advice. Since you are already buy things I am going to assume you have a general understanding of the basics.

1st off, it isn't rocket science. Don't overthink things. Follow whatever reloading data you have TO THE LETTER & you will not have any problems.
2nd, start a reloading log. I start a journal for every caliber I have. In it every reload I have ever made is annotated along with its velocity, standard deviation, extreme spread, accuracy & weather conditions when I shot. Reloading is the tinkerers heroin so if you have that trait prepare to become addicted.
3rd, Check, double check & then check it again. This goes for every critical step of the reloading process. Specifically the condition of the brass (no splits, dents or dings (the dents or dings I dont worry about with pistol ammo)) check the accuracy of your scale (buy a good one!!) regularly. I do after every 10th weighing. Check your powder charge visually before seating the bullet. An accidental double charge in a rifle can be catastrophic!
4th, do not experiment or deviate from published data. Using a bullet heavier then what is called for could cause excessive pressure using the same data. Using allot less powder then is called for can similarly cause excessive pressure. I know it sounds counter intuitive. you will just have to trust me on this.
5th, know & be able to spot signs of excessive pressure (flattened primers, sticky case extraction etc).

I think thats a pretty good primer. Now, do you have any specific questions?

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gas56
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Re: Surplus rifles

Post by gas56 »

Here is a good review for anybody that aren't familiar with the 30/40 Krag
IMO I think it could be right in line for the game along with the other early Military bolt Rifles.
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Radamus
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Re: Surplus rifles

Post by Radamus »

SoftShoe wrote:On 2nd thought I will give you some general words of advice. Since you are already buy things I am going to assume you have a general understanding of the basics.

1st off, it isn't rocket science. Don't overthink things. Follow whatever reloading data you have TO THE LETTER & you will not have any problems.
2nd, start a reloading log. I start a journal for every caliber I have. In it every reload I have ever made is annotated along with its velocity, standard deviation, extreme spread, accuracy & weather conditions when I shot. Reloading is the tinkerers heroin so if you have that trait prepare to become addicted.
3rd, Check, double check & then check it again. This goes for every critical step of the reloading process. Specifically the condition of the brass (no splits, dents or dings (the dents or dings I dont worry about with pistol ammo)) check the accuracy of your scale (buy a good one!!) regularly. I do after every 10th weighing. Check your powder charge visually before seating the bullet. An accidental double charge in a rifle can be catastrophic!
4th, do not experiment or deviate from published data. Using a bullet heavier then what is called for could cause excessive pressure using the same data. Using allot less powder then is called for can similarly cause excessive pressure. I know it sounds counter intuitive. you will just have to trust me on this.
5th, know & be able to spot signs of excessive pressure (flattened primers, sticky case extraction etc).

I think thats a pretty good primer. Now, do you have any specific questions?
Excellent overview - The biggest and most important thing- focus on nothing but the reloading- don't get interrupted and do no deviate from published data on specific components as softshoe said. The only non-carved in stone is a 140gr bullet is a 140gr bullet - Reloading is mostly done for accuracy to find a load and set of components that "your" firearm likes best, this is why you keep a log, do some group tests, record the data and create that profile.

One issue with these old rifles is, barrels might be sloppy, twist rates were generally for a specific weight and headspace can be an issue if they've had a bazillion rounds down the tube. Look for the primer backing out. If it comes out at all you could simply have a smith reset the headspace- or retire it.
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