My bolt-action milsurp rifles
Posted Aug 25, 2020, 11:55 AM UTC
1.5K45
The wood color contrast on those three is cool
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Yes!
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The 1917 has darkened quite a bit with age. At some point I may try to clean off the old oil finish, and wipe on a fresh coat.
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Best way I’ve found to replicate a military finish is tung oil and Feed-N-Wax.
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How does the Enfield perform compared to the other two?
Edit: nice collection starter .
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To be honest I haven't shot the 1917 yet. I just got it a couple months ago, and haven't had a chance to take it to the range yet. I will say, it's the heaviest of all three, it's heavy as hell.
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Just means you'll feel less recoil, and have an easier time keeping in shape for the lasses.
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Yes! These old rifles really suprise you with how heavy they are!
Heres something crazy to think about: an M1 Garand weighs in at a whopping 11.6 lbs loaded, and the average size of an American GI was 5'7", 140lbs! These dudes were tiny and they carried around these types of guns!
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5’ 7” and 140?? Jesus have people gotten bigger over the years?
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Its partly that yes, people have been steadily getting bigger on average, but a big big part of those guys size was due to the depression...guys that served in ww2 generally grew up during the depression and at that time, due to them being poor and everything, their nutrition wasnt the best leading to stunted growth for a good chunk of people at the time.
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I guess I missed the memo. Am 5'7 138lbs
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I have a Remington M1917. Absolutely amazing gun. Insanely accurate and the trigger is great for a surplus gun.
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The 91/30 is at the bottom of the list for WWII issued firearms. Woefully outdated by WWII, though still perfectly functional.
The 1917 is in effect a Mauser action, so its pretty similar in performance to the K98k. The sights are much better in my opinion, being a peep sight rather than tangent blade sight.
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K98 looks great (as do the others ofc) was it reblued/refurnished when captured?
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I'm not sure. It was completely smothered in cosmoline when I bought it, so I wouldn't be surprised if it had been reblued before being put away for storage.
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Awesome visual.
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Is that an authentic bayonet for the M1917 or replica and where did you pick it up?
I've been looking for a full size bayonet for my 1903a3.
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Yes, it's an authentic one. I got lucky and found it at a gun show about a month ago, but it wasn't cheap. I gave $300 for it, but it's in great shape, including the scabbard. I figure one day when I get a hold of a model 97 trench gun, I'll already have a bayonet for it.
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From what I've seen for a 1917 $300 is a decent price. I've only seen them between 4-500
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How did you date the K98k? I have a Yugo capture that I think is pre/early war judging from the hardware but the receiver scrubbing is enough that the manufacturing marks are all gone.
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Top if the receiver has a number on it, that is the manu. Year
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Yeah, but many of the Yugo K98ks had that info scrubbed off the receiver and replaced with a crest with no date instead.
You can make an educated guess using Waffenamts on other parts but some of the codes are used in multiple places or years.
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Thanks for the info!
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I'm judging based on the cupped buttplate (introduced 1940), and I just realized I meant to put "after 1939" instead of "before 1939".
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Thanks. My Yugo also has the cupped buttplate and the early war / non-krieg barrel band. I have WaA77 Waffenamt marks on the receiver so I lean towards it being a 1940ish Steyr but I guess I'll never really know.
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You likely won't be able to date it unless you can ID enough marks to get an idea of what it was originally before being refurbished. The parts used by the Yugoslavians can't really be used to date the rifle since almost none of them are going to be original to the barreled action you have.
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Yeah I noticed that. The barreled action is probably early war Steyr, but there are markings from all over the place on other parts.
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My Kar98k looks exactly the same. I feel compelled to go check the safe.
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very nice. The K98K and M1917 are on my list to get. I have the Mosin.
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From top to bottom:
beforeafter 1939, Yugo captured. With 1937 WKC bayonet and NOS German WW2 leather slingThese are all nice rifles but my favorite by far is the k98k. I want one of them so bad... Im not some nazi weirdo, its just a beautiful firearm and there's a reason its so damn popular, i mean the original mauser 98 is the rifle that most bolt actions today are based on, or at least draw some "inspirations" from it.
Damn and you got the karabiner model too..the exact one i want. Say what u will about the Germans, they make a fine weapon for every insane one they made. Like for instance the k98k was a great weapom that they fielded, but they also made an attachment for it that had a barrel with a 90 degree turn on it, complete with a mirror/periscope thing to allow soldiers to shoot around corners! It was as worthless as it sounds and could only hold up for a 100 or so rounds.
Get one of those for your rifle, bet you wont. Lol
The attachment you're thinking of is for the Stg44 assault rifle, not the K98. The K98k is my favorite as well, specifically the German made ones. The Yugo capture ones like mine are a great value, you can pick them up far cheaper than an original German one. Since most of the German markings were ground off by the Yugoslavs, they're not worth much from a collector standpoint - however, they're still a German made K98, the best quality K98s. There are also Russian capture K98s available, which tend to go for a bit more money, since they left more of the German markings in place, but can still be had for cheaper than an original unmolested rifle.
And then you got the RTI Ethiopian ones lol does anyone know where they came from before that?
Mine has full markings mismatched parts 1939 42 receiver
Supposedly all the ethiopian ones from RTI are Czech post war. I wouldn't chance it as I've only heard and seen they are in terrible condition with sewer pipe barrels and cracked stocks
Buy one then
Ahh man I was unemployed due to covid for a while so wasnt able to keep buying guns like i wanted lol.
I just started working again and I've been trying to save up for a little while now so hopefully soon i can get one, its definitely on my list for the future. Cant do it right now though.
Just eat like corn or smth for a month that's what i did to get my SVT lol
Maybe the picture makes the scale weird but isn't that an m44?
Beautiful weapon regardless
I want a M1917 that was a confirmed US WW2 rebuild. I have a Winchester M1917 that based on its stamps appeared to have been transferred to Canada for domestic use there. What stampings does yours have to suggest its history?
It has "OGEK" inside a box stamped into the stock, indicating that it was rearsenaled for WW2 by Elmer Keith, according to my research. Also the fact that although it's an eddystone receiver, lots of the small parts like the barrel bands, butt plate are stamped with a W for Winchester. It was clearly rebuilt from other gun parts.
My understanding is that the Winchester M1917s tended to not get sent overseas or to the front lines due to parts interchangeability issues with the Eddystones and Remingtons.
Your rifle there is exactly what the next thing on my list is (or a 2nd M1903 or mint Garand)