.....

[McNally M.]

Here here Dr. Mauser! I myself am 20 and my love for nothing but C&R's is almost frowned upon by my friends who what noting but the latest and the greatest. That's all fine and dandy but there are those who take pride in the predecessors to today's science fiction weapons. The weapons that made and destroyed empires and nations. What the grim, dents, and dings of the C&R's symbolize is something that the finely finished and gleam of today's guns will never come close to.

[themosinator]

...oooops...not me...I own NO plastic or aluminum oriented firearms...

...only the oldies but goodies in my collection...as they say, bolt actions forever, baby!!

...and, I would NEVER sell them off to get into the 'tactical' craze...but, that's just me...(maybe it's because I am just an 'oldie' myself?!?!)

[echo1]

For the longest time my entire collection was almost all WW2 firearms. After spending enough time on calguns and at the range, I got jelly of blactical tactical guns. Long story short I sold off all of my guns except for a few mosins to get into the Plastic and aluminum game. yeah its way cool and all, but theres a deep void when holding those guns, anyone else get that type of feeling? Im starting to regret that I did this.

I feel for your loss. What all the other C&R lovers have said rings true. Also, for me, my dad and relatives were WWII combat vets, and an uncle gave me an Arisaka T38 that he relieved the previous owner of. They were in the 1st Filipino Regiment. It's too bad you had to sell off treasure for plastic vs being able just to buy what you seek. I too am going to give an AR build a shot for the heck of it, but by the time I'm done doing it as cheap as possible, I'll have been able to pick 2 SKSs without even haggleing. ARs & AKs just don't float my boat. I like old cars and aeroplanes too. PAX

[nick]

Its interesting to me that most people my age (I'm 21) have never even heared of a Lee Enfield, Arisaka and some people I've met, (even at the range) don't even know what a K98 is. It seems to me that the love and appreciation for historical firearms and all of its majesty is shadowed by a gun you can put a flashlight on...I couldn't imagine owning anything that wasn't a C&R.

Hey, now that's a neat business idea! A flashlight adapter for a K98 or Mosin, that might sell well

[TRAP55]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, history is felt, in the hands of the holder.

[Dr.Mauser]

+10,000 to traps post!

[Dr.Mauser]

As said above, holding a vintage military rifle seems to just have something about it, like an aura and a weight to it that a brand new off the shelf M4 or Remmingron 700 just don't have. These rifles carry the emotions of memories, fears, and hopes that the man serving with it passed on into his weapon...call it super natural if you'd like but its true. Just think, with an early dated K98, that rifle could have seen the massive military parades in Germany, the invasion of Poland, Holland, Belguim, France, Greece, the Balkans, and then into Russia. All the history these rifles could have seen, from the pre-dawn barrage for Operation Barbarosa, the the battle of Sevastapol, Kiev, Stalingrad, Murmansk, Kursk, and Kharkov, not to mention the Battles in and around Normandy, Operation Market Garden, the Ardennes Offencive, ...then eventually the fall of Berlin, and for some rifles, the end of the second world war was just the begining of their military service. These weapons of history have created our present. From the creation of Isreal as a nation to the cold war and how we split Germany in half, and how that choice and event effected our history, it just blows me away that these rifles were part of that. For instance just think about how much history an original Mosin Nagant M91 has seen, how many changes of political power it helped destroy, and how many it created, from the Czar to Stalin. You won't ever find that with a tacticool rifle.

[Peter.Steele]

Because History has weight and mass. Hands that make, hands that carry, hands that fought. These impart an unmeasurable, but noticeable, mass to the items. The modern weapons are advanced, yes, accurate, yes, effective, yes, but what of the hands that made and where are the hands that carried, and the hands that fought with those weapons?


When you hold WWI and WWII surplus you are holding something that likely saw battle, that was made with intent, and carried by willful hands. You cannot "craft" history into a modern weapon. I would hazard a guess that you would "feel the same feel" that you get out of WWII surplus if you also had in your possession a modern M4 that was carried in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Even if he does have a strange pony fetish, this guy speaks the exact truth right here.

I love my AR, and I love my Beretta, and I love my 10/22 and my M&P 15-22 ... but I LOVE my Israeli Kar98k, my 91/30 PU with shrapnel damage on the receiver, and my 1937 SA-marked Tula 91/30. There is a certain weight and majesty to them. They don't feel the same when you touch them. Even my two Mosin carbines, the 1929 91/30 and my Yugo M48 - all of which also probably saw combat - don't feel the same.

It's like somehow those rifles feel heavier.

[olhunter]

I get that feeling for all C&R's. Anything with wood and blued steel that was carried in the woods, on the battlefield, on a farm or just stuck in a closet since 1925. I find a real resistance to composite stocks and stainless barrels.

I know the benefits and they're real, but I can't shake the cold, antiseptic feeling when looking at or holding one.

I carry heavy rifles in the field when hunting because I just can't bring myself to buy a plastic stocked rifle or shotgun. I don't know why exactly other than it just doesn't feel right.

I like a walnut stock with sweat stains, wear marks, dings and anything else that gives the gun character and tells a story.

I especially love my old .22's, knowing they probably started some young man on his growth into adulthood, his hunting skills and maybe even becoming a soldier or Marine and fighting in battle.

Same thing with the milsurps. They have a story and they talk.

You just can't get that with plastic.

[223556]

I beleive everyone should own a C&R of some kind, the history in it just amazes me, In the process of getting a Mosin Nagant M44 Carbine
Cant wait for it.
A good friend and a cousin of mine both have Mosin Nagants, I can finally join the club!

[Dr.Mauser]

The first 3 rifles I purchased when I turned 18 were all Mosin Nagants I bought all 3 at Big5 during a December sale I had a hex 'peter the great', and 1924 and 1936 Tula. After that I boght a little M91/59...that was by far my favorite of my Mosins. They just feel different...they carry what the created...what they witnessed, and what they caused. It moving really, you can't ever really explain it, and the best part if they are ALL different.

[majones24]

I couldn't have put it any better Meaty. Old firearms have weight and mass. My first hunting rifle was a 1930's Winchester 30/30 with flip up peep site. When I got it it was beat up with dings and scratches. There was no blueing left on the receiver and dings all over the barrel. I dropped that gun about 10 times walking up and down the mountains( I was 12 years old) with my dad. I remember my dad getting really mad at this. So I now have put my imprint on this fine rifle. I still shoot it to this day. I have been offered over 500$ for this gun and there is no way I would sell it. It was my grandfathers and then my dads and it will be mine when he is gone. I also have a 1940 M1. I would love to know what this rifle has seen. What stories would it tell me?As 'Fate' posted, "I am only a curator of my old firearms". I have imprinted my history onto these weapons and some day hope to pass them down to the next generation to appreciate.

[Mr. Gillious]

lol this thread reminds me of my last trip to the range. My buddy had brought his sporterized mosin he built (ak 74 muzzle break, ati stock, rear sight leaf rail adaptor, scoped, with drilled bent bolt handle). i thought i would like it, i was jocking the hell out of it during the build time and just the idea it was being built. Shot a couple shots and didn't really like it. actually, i didn't like anything about it. it did not feel like a mosin in any way

it looked really nice though

[jsragman]

My son-in-law and I took an original 30-40 Krag to the range on Saturday. I inherited it from my dad and I know that this old rifle hadn't been fired for at least 60yrs. The ammo was very old but it was properly stored. The rifle shot like a dream! The action is butter-smooth and the trigger is superb. Only problem is the cost of the ammo....$2.35/round. I ordered a couple of boxes anyway, and we can't wait to shoot it again.

[KaemosFiveZero]

Its interesting to me that most people my age (I'm 21) have never even heared of a Lee Enfield, Arisaka and some people I've met, (even at the range) don't even know what a K98 is. It seems to me that the love and appreciation for historical firearms and all of its majesty is shadowed by a gun you can put a flashlight on...I couldn't imagine owning anything that wasn't a C&R.

Here here Dr. Mauser! I myself am 20 and my love for nothing but C&R's is almost frowned upon by my friends who what noting but the latest and the greatest. That's all fine and dandy but there are those who take pride in the predecessors to today's science fiction weapons. The weapons that made and destroyed empires and nations. What the grim, dents, and dings of the C&R's symbolize is something that the finely finished and gleam of today's guns will never come close to.

Hah, I had no clue you guys were as young as you are. I'm a little younger than you guys, (18) And I too feel a great appreciation for C&R rifles. I have some friends that get all excited over their new, home-built loltacticool ARs, and not to (excessively)bash them on it, that's cool if that's your thing, but I really don't feel as happy holding onto an little plinking AR-15, as I do getting my *** kicked by my 91/30, firing the years old surplus ammo it was intended to fire.

I'm going to be a poor, poor college student about the time I get my C&R in a few weeks. Screw books, I need myself a Mauser