Which fun, old, cheap to shoot bolt gun should I look in to?

But no "military surplus" bolt guns were chambered for it that I can think of (of course, one of the Remington 700 M40 Sniper rifles from Vietnam would be nice ).
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Like I mentioned, Indian Ishapore 2A1 Enfields were built in 7.62 NATO, and Israel converted a bunch of K98s in the 50s to 7.62 NATO. Spain also converted M43s to FR8s (as AK103K mentioned) in 7,62 NATO.

The Spanish 1916 carbines and FR7 are small ring Mausers and in my opinion should not be fired with 7.62.

Model12Win said:
moison nagat chambered in 30. russian.

invented in ww2 for snipers and the most accurate rifle at that time. they are cheap now and ammo is crazy cheap.
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Huh? No. They were designed in 1891, and were the standard infantry rifle for the Russian Empire until the revolution in WW1, and with slight modifications for the Soviet Union through the end of WW2. They are also not the most accurate rifle at the time, unless you are talking about the Finnish conversions, the Soviet versions are at best average for a military rifle at the time, and probably a little below average. I am a fan of Mosins, but they are what they are.

They are also no longer cheap (the days of $70 91/30s at chain stores are long gone), and the surplus ammo has pretty much completely dried up, to the point .308 can regularly be found cheaper.
 
I guess I didn't provide much information, I already have modern bolt guns in .22, .223, and 7.62x39. I do not hand load, I've dabbled in it before but probably won't be doing it in the future.

I don't mean to knock the mosin, they're great and have certainly held up against time. I just wanted to see what other options are out there because the ones I know and love (Lee Enfield, k-31) seem to be a little too expensive for me to plink with.

Just trying to get ideas is all!
 
The surplus market is drying up. WW2 is long over and since then not much if any thing is going to get added. esp bolt gun wise.
I say better buy at least one of every thing you can find.

I remember walking into the hardware store and buying a 303 Brit for $35 Cash and carry.( Mom had to pay for it)
I took it to show and tell at school for history class. 7th grade and this was North Minneapolis.
Those were the days.

As for old cheap shooter now days. Savage 340 is the bomb!!
 
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What you should consider is handloading.

That way, ANY of the common milsurp calibers will be essentially equally cheap.

Cheap surplus ammo for the pre-WWII cartridges is essentially gone, with the last drying up fast.
 
With all the new and inexpensive rifles in common calibers now on the market, it's getting harder to justify getting an oldie other than for collecting.
For shooting, the $300 - $400 versions from most of the major manufacturers has to be worthy of consideration.

The cheapest ammo for my WW2 rifle is .75 per round.
Even with all the history behind it, for actual range time, I'd choose something from Ruger, Savage, Mossberg, Remington, Marlin, 'etc.
Not only for the accuracy of a modern rifle, but for the readily available ammo, and factory support if needed.
Even if they won't look nearly as neat hanging on the wall.
 
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As others have touched on, surplus is drying up and will eventually be gone. Unless you are set on a bolt gun I would personally get an SKS or an AR for plinking, as these will be using the next generation of surplus ammo.

Or you could do what I do and reload 8mm for the Mauser.
 
A few years ago I found a remington 700 ADL in 30-06 for $200 OTD. The poly finish was flaking off the stock and the stock had lots of little dings in it. The blueing is a little thin also. But the bore was perfect and the bolt has about 98% contact with the bolt recess. It has a scope on it now but I also have a Williams Guide sight if I want to shoot open sights.

I stripped the stock, sanded out all but a couple of big dents and restained and sprayed satin poly back on it. It has more figure in the buttstock than most any wood stock rifle you see today.

And its a shooter. I have been reloading for 35+ years and reload for 30-06. The 30-06 case is good for lead bullets because the lead isn't exposed to the powder charge unlike short necked cases like the 308, 8mm or 243.

That makes it a good candidate for cheap cast bullets. And I just bought a new mold for 170gr flatnosed bullets for this and my two 30-30s.

I see guns like this on all the time in gunshops and pawnshops. I would rather have this than a military surplus rifle. But that just me. But it seems that now if you want cheap plinking you better be willing to reload.
 
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The cheapest ammo for my WW2 rifle is .75 per round.
Even with all the history behind it, for actual range time, I'd choose something from Ruger, Savage, Mossberg, Remington, Marlin, 'etc.
Not only for the accuracy of a modern rifle, but for the readily available ammo, and factory support if needed.
Even if they won't look nearly as neat hanging on the wall.
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That's the practical aspect of it, but it's still fun to shoot an old relic. Kind of gives you a perspective on what our forefathers went through in the wars.
 
Unless you reload, 7.62x54r is the only fifty cent ammo out there, and that locks in the Mosin-Nagant rifle.

Get the rifle you want, and a reloading setup, or find a buddy with one.
 
In my experience, the one that was the best combo of cheap, accurate and fun was the M44 Mosin Nagant.

Feel free to remove the bayonet. I did and it didn't affect accuracy. It was also counter-bored, but seemed to shoot as accurately as I took care in aiming.

Happy Shooting
 
Taking the OP at his first item, i.e. a MILIERY BOLT ACION.

Consider a Model of 1917. 30-06, great peep site, lot of fun.

Be careful, biggest issue is barrels.

I have done fine with mine, but if its shot out barrel its no fun.

If you can get a TE/MW reading that is best (Throat Erosion and Muzzle Wear)

I have seen good muzzles but rifle was shot a lot of blanks and the throat is eaten out.

Goes for 1903s as well.
 
One caveat with milsurps is corrosive ammo-that's why so many of them have barrels. Another is headspace in rifles that are of late war manufacture-they took lots of shortcuts.
I own a Type 53-Chinese copy of the M1944-can be a little rough on the shoulder.
Reloading lets you experiment with bullet diameters, find something that fits your bore better.
Centerfire always a little too big and expensive for plinking IMHO.
 
the reasons they have barrel is they are rifles?

With US, far fewer Bad barrels, some yes, some no. Bad ones are those that had blanks shot out and took out the throat, muzzle fine.

Bore may not look great but a lot are pretty darned good.

Headspace is usually not an issue but should be checked.

Couple hundred in tools including a TE and MW gauge.


One caveat with milsurps is corrosive ammo-that's why so many of them have barrels. Another is headspace in rifles that are of late war manufacture-they took lots of shortcuts.
I own a Type 53-Chinese copy of the M1944-can be a little rough on the shoulder.
Reloading lets you experiment with bullet diameters, find something that fits your bore better.
Centerfire always a little too big and expensive for plinking IMHO
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cheapest and most simple solution also when it comes to ammo, would be a mosin nagant. it's impossible to not have fun with a mosin nagant.

if you can spend a little more money a swiss schmidt rubin straight pull rifle is absolutely awesome. just make sure you use the correct ammo for the correct rifle model.

if you got even more cash to spend there's the krag jorgensen rifle, which can have different calibers. i think the norwegian variant caliber is what you have in the usa. there's also the 8x58 danish variant.

those would be the old military bolt actions i'd go for.
 
boesman,
Yessir.
Just from playing with them in stores, those last two would have to be at the top of the list.
Very neat and different.
Like Studebakers.
 
Not that I got them because they were cheapest to shoot, but I ended up with them anyway's! I have 3 CZ 22's all primarily for squirrel hunting, and my Ultralux is my favorite rifle for hunting and now long range shooting with the stock open sights. I've only touched on 200 meters this past year but this coming year I'm already dialed in and will do so a lot more. I've shot quite a bit at 150 meters already.

My 2nd favorite is my 91/30 Mosin and the sights being almost identical to my CZ makes it all the better for me. It to I've only tried out to 200 meters but will extend that this year. It's quite accurate and does better with the cheap PPU 150gr SP's but this is the only ammo I've tried so far other than the dirty Mil-Surp stuff.

I compare my CZ at long range to BPCR shooting, the wind being tougher on a 22 than highpower rounds. I could shoot tighter groups with a receiver sight, but the open sights are what I like to hunt with so I gladly except their handicap for long range shooting and enjoy the challenge!

I didn't buy them for this purpose because they were cheaper to shoot, it just turned out that way and that's fine by me!
 
if you got even more cash to spend there's the krag jorgensen rifle, which can have different calibers. i think the norwegian variant caliber is what you have in the usa. there's also the 8x58 danish variant.
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The US Krags are generally 30-40 Krag. Norwegian were 6.5X55, same as Swedish Mausers. I don't think I have ever seen a Danish one, and the ammo for that makes .30-40 Krag ammo look downright common.

Neat rifles though.
 
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