how would you rate them

[pocketshaver]

surplus rifles.

safety of design
recoil
usefulness of the cartridge

cost of reloading
cost of factory new ammunition

longevity of the gun itself.

Information

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[NORTHOF60]

Sorry to high-jack your thread, but are we talking military rifles that have been recently surplussed because they are no longer useful, or are we talking old military rifles in general?

[pocketshaver]

in general pre Korean war military rifles and even civilian ones based on them.

[NORTHOF60]

That being the case, you will have to include the categories of condition, scarcity, and collectability, or am I still missing the purpose of this exercise?

I don't collect military rifles as such - my interests are with sporting rifles. Many truly excellent sporting rifles are based upon actions designed for military use, and some civilian designed rifles have been adopted and modified for military use. That being said, I like accurate military based target rifles, and military rifles of special interest such as Canadian marked rifles.

I understand that there is even a category of military firearm collectors that collect "ethical" military weapons: never been used to kill/never issued.

[Ovidio]

If I get it right, I’d vote for an M96 Swedish Mauser.
Great rifle, great action, great and cheap ammo.
Reloading is simple and can be also very cheap with the right components. Factory ammo is available everywhere and can be cheap too.
Unfortunately a “neutral” gat, but still great.

[NORTHOF60]

I agree, the M96 Swedish Mauser combined with the 6.5x55 Swede swing well above their weight.

[pocketshaver]

yet how would you put the pre model 98 gas venting system into the M96 swede?

[Ovidio]

Sorry, I did not understand this question.
The M96 is adequate for the ammo it uses. Doesn’t seem to be any problem with safety.
Or do you mean something else?

[pocketshaver]

Sorry, I did not understand this question.
The M96 is adequate for the ammo it uses. Doesn’t seem to be any problem with safety.
Or do you mean something else?

gas venting through the bolt issue. although MOST current production rifles have the same intrinsic issue of using the firing pin hole in the bolt to vent gas from a ruptured case or primer directly into the shooters face some have in the pastpointed out the model 96 may be more dangerous from it

[Ovidio]

I need to take a look at the rifle...can’t recall exactly, but I think it is very similar to the K98, with big gas ports in the body of the bolt.