What should be my next WWII era firearm?

[Aragorn243]

I'm also a guy that bought what I could afford and as time went on bought something better. I bought a Type 99 pretty early on without a mum and never regretted it. I could not afford one with a mum at the time, and that's when they were cheap. The 99 without mum cost me $90 at auction. It's now probably worth $300 so again, no regrets. I bought it probably 7 years ago. Since then I bought a last ditch with no mum and restored a massive bubba job with no mum. Probably put more into that than it's worth. I sort of kinda regret that one but I also have taken some pride in the accomplishment. I did not have one with a mum until just about 3 months ago. Finally found one I felt I could afford at $400. My finances are quite a bit better than they were 7 years ago and in this instance, I found one for about the same price they were bringing in my area 7 years ago. It's hard to lose money on a rifle, unless you really overpay on it at the beginning. I have on occasion overpaid by a little, knowing how hard it was to actually find one and knowing the price would increase with time.

My biggest problem is once I have something, I don't like getting rid of it, even if I am upgrading. I am adapting and learned that trading solves part of that problem. I have sold a few also. It's tough but I made a rule that what I get out of sales, goes into another rifle, not a new sofa or TV. I think the first rifle I posted here was a 1917 Eddystone that I got for $300 which at the time was about the max I could go on any rifle. Asked for advice, got lots of it and made the purchase. That one is now gone, I got a much better example about two years ago and I traded it away for something else, an Enfield I think. Condition was poor, bore was poor, stock was heavily sanded, I cleaned it up myself and it looked great but was not a collector piece and probably not the best shooter either. But it had rifling and those sold by the CMP for $400-$500 didn't even have that.

So my advice is: Be careful, but not too careful, take the occasional risk, buy what you enjoy, buy what you can afford and don't be afraid to upgrade when the opportunity arises. I don't know your personal situation, kids and wives are severe setbacks to rifle collecting, kids mostly, my wife is pretty good about it all things considered. Pesky kids require braces, musical instruments, computers, clothes and food among other things. I had an 18 year break between my first three milsurps and my fourth. Still have those three though.

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[I.H.1989]

I'm also a guy that bought what I could afford and as time went on bought something better. I bought a Type 99 pretty early on without a mum and never regretted it. I could not afford one with a mum at the time, and that's when they were cheap. The 99 without mum cost me $90 at auction. It's now probably worth $300 so again, no regrets. I bought it probably 7 years ago. Since then I bought a last ditch with no mum and restored a massive bubba job with no mum. Probably put more into that than it's worth. I sort of kinda regret that one but I also have taken some pride in the accomplishment. I did not have one with a mum until just about 3 months ago. Finally found one I felt I could afford at $400. My finances are quite a bit better than they were 7 years ago and in this instance, I found one for about the same price they were bringing in my area 7 years ago. It's hard to lose money on a rifle, unless you really overpay on it at the beginning. I have on occasion overpaid by a little, knowing how hard it was to actually find one and knowing the price would increase with time.

My biggest problem is once I have something, I don't like getting rid of it, even if I am upgrading. I am adapting and learned that trading solves part of that problem. I have sold a few also. It's tough but I made a rule that what I get out of sales, goes into another rifle, not a new sofa or TV. I think the first rifle I posted here was a 1917 Eddystone that I got for $300 which at the time was about the max I could go on any rifle. Asked for advice, got lots of it and made the purchase. That one is now gone, I got a much better example about two years ago and I traded it away for something else, an Enfield I think. Condition was poor, bore was poor, stock was heavily sanded, I cleaned it up myself and it looked great but was not a collector piece and probably not the best shooter either. But it had rifling and those sold by the CMP for $400-$500 didn't even have that.

So my advice is: Be careful, but not too careful, take the occasional risk, buy what you enjoy, buy what you can afford and don't be afraid to upgrade when the opportunity arises. I don't know your personal situation, kids and wives are severe setbacks to rifle collecting, kids mostly, my wife is pretty good about it all things considered. Pesky kids require braces, musical instruments, computers, clothes and food among other things. I had an 18 year break between my first three milsurps and my fourth. Still have those three though.

Thanks for the advice. I'm usually the type to look for a good deal. If time and money permits, i probably will go for more arisakas and other firearms that were used by the various powers, but until then, I will be sticking with one representative for each.

I also understand not wanting to get rid of anything, and I have 3 for sure that I won't part with: my Quality Hardware M1 Carbine (my first), my WWII/East Germany K98 (nice piece of history), and my WWII Walther P38 (first WWII handgun and pitted on one side heavily and still shoots great; wish I knew where it had been). The others, I may be willing to if the price is right, but I will do my best to keep those three working for as long as possible.