Milsup-What to look for?

8

'88Scrat

New member
So the BIG show in Tulsa, OK is only 3 weeks away and I'll be goin' down looking to get my hands on some new milsurp firearms, new firearms take a backseat this year. I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas morning. :D

I plan on bringing my little streamlight to check bores, a decommissioned HXP 30-06 round to do a quick check on muzzle erosion (on M1903s, M1s, and M1917s anyway. If I could figure a way to get my hands on some other calibers for the same reason I would but can't justify buying 20 rounds of ammo for a gun I don't own in the event that I MIGHT see one at a show or LGS), and my Kelly Blue Book of Guns/Gunbroker App.

While thinking about this I wondered what everyone else looks for when inspecting a milsurp? I'm not thinking of one on particular, I'll be looking for whatever looks interesting/shootable from Arisakas and Swedish Mausers to Hakeems and FN49s.

So, what do look for before laying down your hard earned money on an old warhorse?
 
Check the bores. Many milsurps were fired with corrosive ammunition and were rarely cleaned properly. If possible, check the headspace. A combination of rushed manufacture often by ill trained and conscripted workers, lower quality materials, use of "hot" machine gun ammunition put them under a lot of stress. And many will be mixmasters, ordnance units are more concerned with serviceability than collectibility.
 
If you are looking for "shootable," my Arisaka carbine is about the most shootable rifle I own. Ammo is tough to find, but is soft and accurate.
 
Along with bore condition, IMHO the next things to look out for are missing or broken parts, followed by mismatched or obviously modified parts.

Regarding missing or broken parts, don't make the n00b mistake of making uneducated guesses like "how hard can it be to find an undamaged handguard for ___, seeing as how they made close to a million of these things?" It may be VERY hard, and this may be the reason that the rifle is being sold! :(

Regarding mismatched or modified parts, I find that old firearms are like old cars: there is seldom ONLY ONE poorly-executed repair or modification. There are usually others that you just haven't found yet, and that first glaring one may be the tip of the iceberg! :eek: Also like old cars, a decrepit unrestored-but-original example is often preferable to a superficially nicer-looking one that has been hacked up by a novice. :(
 
You might think about getting and use a muzzle gage instead. It would be more accurate and nobody could freak out about ammunition near a firearm. Some of the show promoters around here are real cautious about things like that.
 
Condition, condition, condition. Clean, rust free, does the action work smoothly?, excessive oil around the trigger guard or action, and of course muzzle erosion and head space.

Oh early serial numbers for 1903 Springfields, nothing under 800k. iirc.
 
Milsurps

1) bore condition
2) matching serial numbers
3) overall condition, especially repairs
4) intrinsic quality - e.g., Swedish Mausers, Chilean German-made Mausers, etc.
5) calibers with commonly available ammo - e.g., 6.5 Swedish, 7 MM Mauser, British .303, 8 MM Mauser are generally more useful
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top