good first milsurp rifle?

[Steve]

Most 7.62x54R is NOT reloadable. You're best with newly made stuff. Lapua is king of the 7.62x54R brass but well worth it. Hirsch Precision http://www.hirschprecision.com as well as Epps, Milarm should have it.

Milsurp is generally .310 diameter Berdan primed stuff. If you get a 7.62 x 54R rifle, make sure that you slug the bore before you invest in any bullets. VERY FEW of these milsurps (Russian, E. European or Finnish) use 308 diameter bullets, yet virtually all US load data was developed using .308 bullets. This simply means that accuracy will be bad using many of these recipes, which is often a complaint of MN owners that reload.

It's best to take Stevo up on his offer. You'll get to play with one. All of the MNs use the same action; that is, they are made in Russia. The Finn rebuilds are Russian captured or purchased actions.

Have fun!

[Brewster]

I managed to "find" about 500 reloadable 7.62x54R brass last year.

I shoot the stuff as I need new brass to re-load. It is Privi-Prizta brand (Igman).

Anyhow, I agree with the others, a mosin is th eway to go. Try P&S Militaria. He has quite a few Mosins.

[Claven2]

You won't hear any arguement from me on the advice to buy a Mosin

If you're looking to get hooked on the new hobby of milsurp shooting and collecting, I'd HIGHLY recommend getting a good relaible rifle with a nice bore in a caliber that's available CHEAP. (read lots of milsurp ammo floating around).

Once you decide you like it and better refine what your tastes are, then you can look at the more exotic and expensive offerings and decide if you want to reload or buy expensive Remchester ammo.

Right now, the most available ammo is 7.62 NATO, 7.62x54R and 7.62x39. This means you ought to be looking for a decent Mosin with a mirror bore (around $200 or so), a bolt rifle of some type in 7.62 NATO (ie, Israeli Mauser - about $300) or a military SKS, preferably NOT a Chinese commercial version, as many in Canada are out of spec thanks to a western dealer that sold low quality SKS here recently.

The most affordable option right now is to order a post-war M44 from SIR Mail Order out west. Post war = better bore most of the time, but in the end it's a bit of a crap shoot. Another good option is to e-mail Jeap Plamondon over at P&S Militaria. He's got many of the common Mosin Nagant models in stock and will even help select one with a nice bore for you if you ask politely. Don't overlook the Finnish M91's - Finn Mosins shoot the pants off most Russian models.

The ammo is cheap and plentiful, but beware that it is corrosive an you will need to clean accordingly. If there's not already an article posted here about corrosive ammo, there will be soon.

[Steve]

If you want a quick read on milsurp ammunition, here's something that, while written about 303 British cartridges, describes milsurp ammunition in general.

http://www3.sympatico.ca/shooters/Corrosive.htm