Starting a collection for my son.

Buzzcook- Not sure if your aware but the M95 ammo (8x56r) has been around from several makers. I have bought it as low as $15 a box. Love those rifles by the way. But, they do have a tad bit of recoil.
 
Is shotgun news still a good place to try to find these?
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Shotgun News is nothing but advertisements and there is virtually nothing of interest sold by individuals any more. 98% of it is ads for black gun crap and gun gimmicks, which are generally as useful as fender skirts on a pickup truck.

Your best bet is to spend $30.00 and get a Curio and relic FFL for three years, which allows you to buy any C&R directly with out going through an 01 FFL. It also allows you to get (for example) SOG's catalog which is the Mecca of C&R guns at dealer prices, or Century Arm's catalog, also chock full of C&Rs.
 
Boogershooter, I like your idea of giving a military surplus collection to your son. You should take him to significant gun shows a few times a year. It is a wonderful way to spend some quality "guy" time with him.

My son grew up from a very early age going to gun shows with me and learning about firearms. I wish I had bothered to take pictures of him when he was 10 years old or so shooting one of my carbines or a M1 Garand. When he was as young as eight, he could field strip a 1911.

He still has an appreciation for guns and he loves the old guns more than he likes all the new stuff, although he likes just about anything that goes bang. I have sold off a great many of the guns that I had back then, but over the last few years I have begun to recreate some of my former collection. When I pass on my legacy will be that I gave him a love of firearms and a few guns to help him keep that appreciation alive. I added him to my NFA Trust so he can inherit the NFA items without any additional paperwork.

This is kind of an old picture of my long guns and I have added a few since this was taken.
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Highpower forgive me for a bad memory but I've got to ask about the 4th and 5th rifles from the left. The 4th looks like a Springfield and the 5th looks like a 2 band Enfield. Please correct me if I'm wrong and I would also like to know if those are repro's or originals.
 
Very nice collection. I have a very nice collection of civil war guns my father left me. A original Spencer was the crown of this collection I believe if my memory serves me correctly.
 
Everyone has their own interests and motivations when it comes to what they like about milsurp rifles, but you said your son is starting to shoot so I'll share my perspective as a collector and service rifle shooter. As others have mentioned, a Garand from the CMP should be your first order of business, service grade if you want an all GI gun, one of the CMP specials if you want a "like new" Garand. I say this because the Garands WILL be gone sometime in the near future, and prices will likely jump up significantly. Plus, a CMP Garand hasn't been cherry picked of its desirable parts. I think you mentioned earlier that you were looking at an "all matching Garand". The overwhelming majority of Garands out there have been overhauled multiple times. Many people who buy a Garand set out to correct it with matching parts (myself included I must admit). It takes a very experienced eye to catch every little neuonce of every little part. And even if everything is "correct" it doesn't mean it's original. When starting out, I'd recommend just getting a nice service grade rifle from the CMP. There's no better deal out there, and there's no concern of paying a premium for a corrected rifle.

That said with respect to Garands, I would pass on all the moisins, carcanos, sks's, etc. for now. I know a lot of people like them, but I just don't find them to be very accurate (with the exception of some cast bullet shooters who've invested a bunch of time and research). There's a reason you just don't see many on the firing line at the vintage rifle matches. While I agree the glory days are gone, there are still very high quality, accurate rifles out there. In my opinion, the Swedish mausers, Swiss 1911's/K31's, and British No.4 mk I/II's are the best deals out there. Excellent quality examples can still be found for around $300 with some digging and if you push it to $400 it's pretty easy to find a really nice rifle.

I'd love to include the 1903's, 1903A3's, and M1917's, but they're now commanding over $600 on a good day, and $800 on places like Gunbroker.
 
I've been on cmp and there is none available according to their site. First weekend of January there will be a good gunshow. He has a Lil money saved up and got a Lil bit more for christmas. I will match what he has and see what we can come up with. Thanks for all the help and info. Keep it coming please.
 
Not sure if you were looking at the store reports or what? They look available to me via mail order, which is pry your best bet. The racks at the stores have been pretty dry of service grades in the last few years compared to say, 5 years ago. Here's a link right to the rifle sales page:

http://thecmp.org/cmp_sales/rifle_sales/m1-garand/

Service grades are $730 shipped, and about half way down the page. Special grades are $1,030 shipped and right below the service grades.

If a Garand is what your after, you'll never find the bang for your buck at a gunshow like you will mail ordering one from the CMP.

Regards,
Mike
 
I'm headed to a gunshow in the morning. Hopefully we will leave the show with atleast 2 maybe 3 rifles. He has $300 and I'm a sucker when my kids eyes light up so what is the best bang for the buck going right now?
 
The Lee-Enfield is still available in nice condition, and the SKS. Don't be surprised to come home with just one or two rifles for all your money.

Condition is everthing.

If you find a nice US Krag, Springfield 1903, or M1917 for a decent price, buy it and be good for the day.

A nice British P13 would be another one.

Look for good metal and wood.
 
He will likely spend his coin quickly and I will look thru the rest of the show. He will buy his first and I will likely get the second. I have several sks's he can choose from already but he's into WWII right now so it will likely be both bolt guns in the morning.
 
"but he's into WWII right now"

I've always felt that any collection is more meaningful when is has a larger meaning than just a bunch of guns. Don't just buy guns that are cheap, or all you can say is that this was a cheap gun collection.

If you were in the service, how about collecting all the guns that YOU used or were in world service at the time.

Otherwise pick a period in history that interests you and focus first on obtaining all major arms used during that time.

It's always more interesting when the collection can also lead to some story telling.
 
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Most veterans were in the service during the M16/full auto days, can't build much of a collection on that basis, unless you're doing handguns only or are very well heeled.

WWII themes are good, Korea as well, that just WWII updated a bit. WWI is good, but guns are scarce and expensive.

One main battle rifle from each of the WWII belligerants would be a good starting point, US, UK, Germany, Italy, Japan, Finland, Russia. Then get into the minor players, like France, Holland, Poland, Hungary, etc., and even into important Neutrals like Turkey, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden. Both sides spent a lot of money and effort keeping the neutrals out of the war or courting them to join it on their side. The Commonwealth had Canada, Australia, and India as major allies, all these had their own rifles. The No. 5 Lee-Enfield was used in the Burma/SE Asia theater exclusively.
 
Very poor excuse for a gunshow today. Very few examples for him to look at. I picked up a couple nice guns but none in the c&r category. There will be another show next month from a different company.
 
Kilimanjaro - "Most veterans were in the service during the M16/full auto days, can't build much of a collection on that basis, unless you're doing handguns only or are very well heeled."

Now you're making me feel pretty old.:D Actually, I was in during the early Nam years, but believe it or not, the first weapon I was issued was an M1. I finally graduated to the M14 and never carried the M16 at all. In the late '60's, it was surprising how many WWII and Korean era arms were still in heavy use on all sides.

late 19th century and WWI arms are also a very interesting era, having a lot of transitioning arms from single shots, with many action types to some good bolt actions arms that made it right thru WWII. Not too expensive to collect either in many cases.
 
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Well I finally got a chance to pick him up a couple rifles today. Picked up a 03A3, and a remington rolling block chambered in .43 Spanish. The 03 is a national ordinance refurb and looks brand new. I'm still searching for some .43 ammo. It came with bayonet and scabbard. If anybody has any helpful info on this argentine rifle I certainly would appreciate it. I got a marlin 1894 in 32-20 in the deal for the ol lady. All 3 for a very good deal. Sry I can't post pics.
 
You might luck out with .43 Spanish at Buffalo Arms in Idaho, they will have brass and bullets, too.

I've never seen it except as an antique, I had to pony up for a Lee loader set for my .43 Danish Rolling Block.

That bayonet and scabbard are worth a couple bucks, alone.

The rifle was used by Argentina in the series of wars there, Paraquay, Uruguay, and Argentina were pretty much constantly at war for a couple of decades. They all went from ally to belligerent with each other at the drop of a hat. I don't remember the basic casus belli, territory or something, or perhaps just Latin pride.
 
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