Best cheap milsurp rifle for SHTF???

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I have a question

While I am not really a prepper, I do have probably 25k rounds on hand and the components to make at least that many more on progressive and single stage presses. And I have dozens of rifles, shotguns, pistols.

So why would I want to buy a cheap rifle for a situation where I need it to save my life? Wouldn't a SHTF gun want to be top notch, reliable, accurate, and easy to tote? I mean, if I trekked off and could only take one with me, it wouldn't be the shotout MIL-SURP gun feeding similar low quality ammo.

it would be something like my custom .308 VEPR AK that has 1.5 min accuracy, eats any ammo i feed it, has a commie PK-A Venezuela red-dot ($400 just for my optic, gun was $1k) but co-witnesses in the lower 1/3 with iron sights! And the ammo would be my hand loaded 10k rounds of .308 in lake city brass.
 
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With your price range in mind, and a focus on the $400 range I would go along with the SKS. They are simple and reliable and make for a very good general purpose little rifle. While the 7.62 X 39 is no longer a hundred bucks for a 1200 round case it is reasonable enough a case can be bought and saved.

While the Garand and M1A are nice I have not seen a $400 Garand since the early 90s. Likewise the M14 clones by PolyTech.

Ron
 
If you set on the budget, but willing to give something up about the milsurp'iness, we can get you pretty far with $400.
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I am willing to give up the "milsurp'iness" as long as I don't have to get a .22 'cause I already have one.

Thanks
 
I wouldn't suggest a 22 LR. I know it is an all around favorite, but most of us have one or several.

I just wouldn't go mil-surp for anything beyond plinking. If you want cheap, reliable, and accurate enough, then weatherby vanguard, savage axis, or ruger American. I would choose ANY of those over a Mosen.

Go with the .308 or .30-06 and you have the same thing but with a new and better barrel, trigger, stock, bolt, and magazine.

Wife has a Ruger American in .270, 1/2 moa all day.
 
Savage, Ruger and others offer some real nice bolt guns, in calibers like .308 Winchester (or whatever trips your trigger).
The Ruger American serving as a single example. No, I don't own one but the reviews are good considering the price point.

Ron
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Looks nice, although I don't see any iron sights on it(?).
 
Looks nice, although I don't see any iron sights on it(?).
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Oh well back to military surplus. The link was an example of a inexpensive bolt gun outside the military surplus realm. Years ago iron sights were the standard but today finding good iron sights is not easy. Savage has some guns in the $400 to $500 range, not sure what you will find for iron sights.

The problem is the price point of $400. Really, I would just find an SKS which is a good all around reliable rifle. Another option is save the bucks and get a decent AR or similar with the iron sights.

Ron
 
For a bolt action with sights, Ruger has several variations of the Scout rifle and Savage offers a Scout rifle and their Hog Hunter.

I didn't look up the retail cost on them, but if I were to guess, I'd guess the Hog Hunter was the lowest cost option there.

Of course used opens up many more options as iron sights were for more commonly available in the past. Since you would consider Milsup, I assume used is not out of the question for you.
 
Without being milsurp:
You can probably find a mini14 used, wood and steel and kinda looks like an old surplus... the most reliable semiauto on the planet (my opinion)
New AR15s can be found for around $400 now, (get them before campaigning starts)

Numerous bolt actions new and used to fit your needs.

And last but not least, every prepper's favorite apocalypse rifle....... drum roll please........ The High Point Carbine, with the no-questions-asked lifetime warranty. You can buy that, ammunition and still have money to take someone to the movies AND afford to buy both of you a big tub of popcorn. Even a soda!!!
One catch... its as ugly as a road-kill possum
 
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Just a couple of years ago I bought a Ruger MKII 30-06 for just over $400 in like new condition. These are some pretty rugged guns with a sorta Mauser 98 action with controlled round feed. I had a New England Custom Guns front banded sight on hand already and then bought off Ebay a New England Custom Gun rear peep sight for half price that is designed to fit the half moon cutouts on the ruger rifle.

So I can add open sights to my rifle in just a few minutes. And If it all goes down the tubes I would most likely just remove the scope and go with the iron sights. And once the NECG rear sight is zeroed it can be removed and reinstalled without losing your sight settings.

I like this wood stocked, blue steel gun far better than the new plastic fantastic stuff that is so popular now. Brian Pearce wrote an article a few years back about going to Alaska and the hunting camp had a rack full of Ruger model 77 rifles. He asked why so many of the same brand and the guide told him because they always work. This was from someone who really uses a rifle and has to bet on those guns working when needed.
 
And last but not least, every prepper's favorite apocalypse rifle....... drum roll please........ The High Point Carbine, with the no questions asked lifetime warranty
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Yuck, if it came to that, I would just use my compound bow lol. I hope I'm never that desperate
 
If looking for a single shot this may be a little better than a 45-70.
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Don't sell the 46-70 Short.

There is the Myth that the Winchester Model 73 was the rifle that won the west. That is false, it was the single shot rifle or shotgun.

Few homesteaders, miners, or cowboys could afford the Winchester. But single shot rifles were plentiful and cheap. Heck the Army even gave 45-70 ammo away in hopes of ridding the plains of buffalo making it easier to get the Indians onto reservations.

With the single shot rifles such as the 45-70, they were cheap to load, and versatile. You could load bird shot, small rocks, or even nails.

Not hard to get an ounce of shot in a 45-70 case, loaded with the same charge of powder you use with your rifle bullet. Perfect for small game.

Lead is plentiful and even free if one searches a bit. Once you have a supply of brass you can shoot the 45-70 for about .18 cents a round. The straight wall cases will last almost forever.

You don't have to load them hot, the 405 gr Army load at about 12-1300 fps killed a heck of a lot of buffalo. That load is also easy on the shooter.

My granddaughter brought one of her college friends home to do some shooting. Her friend wouldn't have topped the scales at 110 lbs. yet it didn't take her long to go through about 75 of my 45-70 loads out of my trap door Springfield with its steel buttplate.

Since we're talking about survival, a single shot rifle that can double as a shot gun would be quite handy.
 
One of the reasons that SHTF is frowned upon here is that there is no "One size fits all."

Different circumstances for different people and multitudes of scenarios. Indoor/outdoor. City, suburb, rural, wide-open country: Where do you live?

Different rifles for different locales and situations. No such thing as any one "best".

Fun subject, of course. But best done among a few friends. :)
 
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