Which bolt action would you purchase?

[thecoltsman2006]

I collect WWI and WWII bolt actin military rifles. I am pondering my next purchase and wanted to see what everyone else thinks. All the guns that I am considering seem to be in the surplus market and close to the same price.

Enfield rifles
Spanish mausers
Turkish mausers
Swiss rifles

Please let me know what you like or dislike about the rifles above. Looking forward to reading responses.

 

[walleyepw]

I like the Swiss rifles. But get what ever one you can.

 

[Sniper 79]

I always wanted a Swiss rifle. Owned a Spanish mouse. It was a good shooter. Ammo cost and availability forced me to sell. Hated the corrosive ammo and all the cleaning too. 8mm was a power house. It was fun for awhile. If you can buy cheap do it. I paid fifty bucks for mine and sold it for three fifty. Wish I. Hold do that on a regular basis. Guns are always good investments.

 

[chevyguy]

Get a mosin nagant. Cheap to shoot, good powerful cartridge, for now can be purchased for less than most other milsurp bolt guns and like any other Russian gun its strong like bull

 

[stormryder]

Lee-Enfield Love mine will not part with.

 

[DarkRose]

I've been wanting on of the Swiss straight pull bolt rifles (Schmidt-Rubin K31?). Handled one and that action was smooth like butter!

 

[whiskeytangofoxtrot]

k31 is the way to go. Excellent rifle, GP11 is excellent ammunition.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Tough choice! I like 'em all. If going with an Enfield, you might consider trying to find one of the RFI (Indian) Model 2A1 rifles. They're chambered in 7.62 NATO so ammo is a little cheaper and easier to find than .303. Many of the Spanish Mausers are in 7mm, which is a little harder to find than 8mm that the Turks most likely would be chambered for. Some Spanish rifles (ie. the Model 1916) have also been converted to 7.62 NATO also though. The Swiss K31 is a SWEET rifle, and the GP11 ammo is pretty readily available. Even though it's Berdan primed (at least the surplus GP11), it can be reloaded, but takes a little extra effort. Also, don't rule out Swedish Mausers. They are typically in great shape and are what I consider to be the cream of the crop when it comes to Mausers. The long rifles (Model 96) are readily available and while usually a little more expensive than the Spaniards or Turks, they can still be had for around $300-400. Both the Swedes and the Swiss tend to have very nice bores because they never used corrosive ammo, and due to their neutrality, didn't see a lot of war time use.

 

[Mark 1911]

Lee Enfield. Beautiful rifle and revered place in history.

 

[thecoltsman2006]

I am not worried about ammo as long as I can get brass I reload my own. So it looks like the Enfields and the Swiss k31 are the preferred guns. I think I will start with an Enfield. Thanks for all the replies.

 

[Sgt7330]

I like the look of the Enfield with the long stock and the magazine. One day would like to own one. The Swiss rifles are cool too.

 

[tradertator]

Lee Enfield for me. The Mausers and Springfields make a much prettier sporterized rifle, but the Enfield is my favorite from WWII.

 

[LarryC]

I have all four you are looking at, the Swiss K-31 is a beautiful rifle, the bore on mine looks like it has never been fired. It is a very flat shooting rifle, and the original ammo is some of the finest match ammo ever produced. (price has risen a LOT for the ammo in the last year or so). Enfield is also a fine historical weapon, quite a bit less power than the others listed. My Turkish Mauser is very accurate ~ and the 8mm Mauser is the most powerful of the lot.

By the way many of the Turk Mausers have the large ring receiver with both receiver and barrel threaded for the small ring ~ another story!

Also available is the US Enfield chambered in 30-06 ~ "United States Rifle, cal .30, Model of 1917", as I remember mine is an Eddystone. These were heavily used in WW1.

 

[YoungMilsurpGuy]

I would go for the Isaphore(however its spelled) Enfeild. They are decent workmenship, are in .308/7.62 NATO and are generally in good shape and arent super expensive. I have a buddy in NWI who has been on and off again looking to get rid of his for 3 bills

 

[thecoltsman2006]

Yes the Enfield is my decision. There is someone selling several of them in the WTS part of this forum but I cannot contact him as I dont have 50 posts yet. I will be on the lookout , maybe i will see if beech grove has any.

 

[FreeFAL]

FN or Remington

 

[TheWabbit]

I want a Kar98

 

[LarryHoosier]

One note of caution. The Swiss K11 and K31 (both gp11 ammo) are sweet rifles but have pretty tight chambers and reloading can be tricky, If you full length resize every time you're good to go. If you plan on neck sizing to get maximum life out of the brass go with Mauser or Enfield. Additionally, the Redding 7.5x55 Swiss is made for the K31 and can be difficult to locate.

 

[thecoltsman2006]

Which FN and Remington do you prefer.

FN or Remington

 

[Coumtryflyer]

I have been looking for a while at the Mosin Nagant. Good shooters, and still available surplus ammo. Also love the uniqueness of the Swiss straight pull rifles