How did you start your collection?

[Sonny]

For many years all I had was a .30-06, a .22 and a 12 gauge.This covered all my needs from moose to small game to waterfowl.

Then about 9 years ago I was thinking about the Lee Enfield Long Branch that I had when I was a teenager.

Well I replaced that (with a few ) and then I bought my first Mosin….. Rest is history and I'm a lightweight to some of you guys BUT I enjoy my collection of 70 plus guns.

[racerguy00]

I started hunting at 12 with an heirloom Krag rifle, when I turned 18 I bought used and abused NEW m91 local as well as a few No1 MKIIIs and a t53 from Springfield Sporters.

I put collecting on the back burner for the most part while I raced until a local Dunham's store opened and had refurb 91/30s for $89.99. That gave me the bug again.

[tjtM38]

I started my collection in 1986 with the purchase of a DCM (now CMP) M-1 Garand. It has been a very long road from there and I have just gradually added to the collection over the years. When I see something I like, I buy it. M-1 Carbine, Enfields, Arisaka, Mausers, and several Mosin Nagants. The M91/30's, M-38 and M-44 were acquired in the 2010-2011 time frame when they were relatively cheap. I also collect some surplus pistols including M1895 Nagant, CZ-52, CZ-82, CZ-70, P08 Luger, TT-33 (Polish), and Bulgarian Makarov.

[neal45]

My son and I went to a gunshow and wanted to look at the Mosins that I had heard so much about. All we saw were M44s. My son got the last one from a dealer offering them for $89, I had to pay $99 for mine. He has ended up with less than 5, I have ended up with a few dozens of Mosins, mostly M91s.

[Darryl]

I started shooting when I was 10. Competitively. Got my first Milsurplus rifle in 1970. A Enfield Mk5. I used it for hunting.

But collecting. Hummm ..... I started in 1971 collecting Revolutionary War muskets. Have maybe 12 . Got out of that because the prices went up so damn fast, I couldn't save for one as fast as they went up in price. Started around $600. Ended up at $1500 when I quite. It would take me a year or 2 to save that amount back then. Now worth north of $4,000 and up.

Decided to skip over the Civil War (because the prices were about the same as Rev War item). Went to a sale in the early years of Big 5 selling Mosins. Payed $49 for My first Mosin.
First one M91/40 Tula 1937




I bought my second one a M44 Izhevsk 1945. (now a collection when you have at least two)

http://thedolk.com/M44/model44_004.jpg


Still own them both. In fact, I own every rifle and hand gun I have ever bought. I have never sold anything. Collection is now 300 plus strong. Not as big as JYD, or maybe Zeebill, or Martin or maybe some others, but I'm still working on the collection.

Dolk

[tailgunner67]

One at a time. I collected whatever caught my eye. Then I bought a Sako Sky M39 and that was it. Mostly Finns since.

[etprescottazusa91]

Noticed an orphan rifle in the corner of my dads closet when I was 7 years old. Rifle has bullet hole damage on the wood (bullet hole is another story) why it was not with the others and why my dad said You can walk that down the hall to your room. After 40 years still hanging on the wall.

IMG_0421 carcano.JPG

When my son was about 7 he noticed a mismatched, scrubbed, last ditch series 8 Type 99 in my closet, not worthy to be with the others, child must have known that because he immediately asked,"can I have this" and of course history repeated itself.[/font]

[Miller Tyme]

Started when I was 13, got my 1st rifle from my Dad, grew slowwwwwwwwly up to my early 40's thanks to a marriage, divorce, new/better wife, house and finally new house. Then it kicked into gear with 25-40/yr. Now starting to shift my collecting, concentrating more on snipers, with a goal of keeping 50-60 rifles, and selling the others to help fund new ones.

[steelbuttplate]

Flea markets used to the THE place to get guns. Every one of them had a gun section.

That’s amazing to me. I am hard pressed to find a gun show worth a damn, much less a flea market!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This isn't the case anymore. I still see the odd rifle or shotgun (usually overpriced), but not the old guys with tables full like in the past.

Do you think a table of Mosins would do well at a show , maybe a few old S&W ?

[millman]

Yes.

[willyj73]

After Sandy Hook, all/mostly all ammo was drying up and was high priced. I saw the M91/30's in Cabela ads. I kind of liked them, but wasn't totally sold on them. I ended up buying one online (I can't remember if I bought it from Classic Firearms, J&G Sales, or Widner's). I paid either $150 or $180 plus shipping and transfer fees. People were complaining that the prices were too high. I found a spam can for $130 or $150 from my local gun store. I later bought a few more spam cans from Dunhams for $110 and a couple of 20 round packs from the guy who did the transfer (oddly, I've barely shot any of the surplus 54r ammo that I bought...probably less than 20 rounds). I did accidentally remove a lot of the shellac while cleaning off the cosmoline, and I ended up stripping off the rest of the shellac from that rifle (I had no clue, and in some forums, this was par for the course). I started researching Mosin's online and was fascinated by all of the different models--I never saw them before. I started reading forums, but did not join one until 2014. I really caught the bug after I joined some surplus groups on Facebook. Initially, I was smart with my money, and only bought a few here and there when funds permitted. This ended after I found online auctions and got a C&R. I usually only buy one rifle at a time. On a few auctions, I could have filled most of want list for a good price (unfortunately, my want list was already filled and I couldn't justify spending over $1,000 for rifles I already owned). If I found a stash that was selling for a few hundred or thousand dollars under retail, I would probably buy a few in bulk. Otherwise, it's one at a time.

**** I do like that the breakable Christmas bulbs are up again. Just had to say it, because I do like breaking them. *****

[Rongo]

My first gun was a 10/22 for my 15th birthday. Saved up lawn mowing And hay bailing $$$ and Dad bought it at Target... When they still sold guns. First milsurp was my Norinco SKS Paratrooper a few years later; IIRC I paid $99. Got a Soviet Tula SKS a few months later & that was it. I wanted one of those M91 Ruskie guns for $44 in the SOG catalog; My Dad convinced me to pass since I was a Southpaw shooter & besides, "The bores were toast from all that thar corrosive ammo"!

Fast Forward over 20 years later & my buddy convinced me to by a Mosin... They are a blast to shoot he says. So I buy a Romy M44 for $80. From the start I dedicated to shoot them right-handed & it only took 20 minutes to get it down. I have a hard time shooting left-handed now.

Then it was another, and another, and another & so on to the collection I have today.

Dang you Entropy!!!!

[zeebill]

Simple! I bought a rifle, then I bought another rifle and pretty soon I had a bunch of rifles, mostly Mosins but with a few others too. Sometimes I bought a bunch of rifles but most times I bought 1 or 2. Story really started 40 or so years ago and hasn't stopped yet. Bill

[Junk Yard Dog]

40 years? You got into it late Bill.

[zeebill]

40 years? You got into it late Bill.

You forget I actively raced cars till the late 90's and raised a family and sent 2 to college so there wasn't much money or time left for guns. Bill

[Junk Yard Dog]

40 years? You got into it late Bill.

You forget I actively raced cars till the late 90's and raised a family and sent 2 to college so there wasn't much money or time left for guns. Bill

Milsurps could be had for ten bucks in the 70's, some of them, you couldn't even manage one little milsurp? People used to give me Berthiers, Lebels, Carcano's, Arisakas and type 53's for free just to be rid of them. I wish they still did that shit, my steak wouldn't have to come in a tube then. I loved guys who raced cars in the 90's, everyone seemed to be doing it back then, and none of them could drive worth a shit. Wrecked every other week, and then I would sell them another truckload of parts. Buick Gransport, Malibu's and Montys, a dodge or two, regals and one guy with a Hurst Olds. I sold four Malibu 78-81 bodys to one guy in half a year, and it's not like I was selling them cheap. Guy keeping his shitbox on the road so he can keep putting meat on the table I take pity on, give him a break. Racers wrecking cars for fun I shoved the cost right up their asses. That Buick GS from the 80's is a big money car now, but I was never a big fan of Buicks V6, they always had issues when I had one.

[bunkysdad]

In about 1990, I bought a Hakim Egyptian 8mm rifle, a bunch of 8mm ammo and had a blast shooting it. I still have it. Fast-forward to 3/18/2008, looking at the receipt right now, I bought my first Mosin for 59.95 plus 45.93 for 300 rounds of Bulgarian heavy ball for a total of 126.95 including shipping. After that it was ON! Bought a M44 then a Russian SKS then somewhere along the way I started buying Finns. Oh and Mausers and Enfields. And lots more ammo for them all.

[Longcolt44]

I was racing circle tracks in the early 70's. One of my sponsors was a wrecking yard that kept me in Mustang fastback fenders and bodies that we fit to a 60's ford truck frame. I did pretty good with a 289+ motor that Johnny Rodriguez built so it turned backwards so it fed with added inertia to the track..

[Junk Yard Dog]

Many small boat motors turn backwards, we had some 302's from boats that did that.

[zeebill]

40 years? You got into it late Bill.

You forget I actively raced cars till the late 90's and raised a family and sent 2 to college so there wasn't much money or time left for guns. Bill

Milsurps could be had for ten bucks in the 70's, some of them, you couldn't even manage one little milsurp? People used to give me Berthiers, Lebels, Carcano's, Arisakas and type 53's for free just to be rid of them. I wish they still did that shit, my steak wouldn't have to come in a tube then. I loved guys who raced cars in the 90's, everyone seemed to be doing it back then, and none of them could drive worth a shit. Wrecked every other week, and then I would sell them another truckload of parts. Buick Gransport, Malibu's and Montys, a dodge or two, regals and one guy with a Hurst Olds. I sold four Malibu 78-81 bodys to one guy in half a year, and it's not like I was selling them cheap. Guy keeping his shitbox on the road so he can keep putting meat on the table I take pity on, give him a break. Racers wrecking cars for fun I shoved the cost right up their asses. That Buick GS from the 80's is a big money car now, but I was never a big fan of Buicks V6, they always had issues when I had one.

I raced open wheel formula cars at places like Pocono, Lime Rock, Thompson, Road America, Marlboro, New Hampshire, and all over the USA. Everything was super expensive and sponsorship was few and far between. I drove 100+ miles Tuesday and Thursday to the engine builders house in northern NJ and worked till 11 PM and then drove home to maybe work 16 hours in a chemical plant anyone of the other days of the week. That was how I paid for my engines. Tires came as I worked overtime and sometimes we went out on threads to get laps in one way or the other. We camped in the trailer and my daughter was 4 weeks old when we brought her to the track in July with the temps running 100+ that weekend. I packed lunch everyday I went to work to save money and did anything else I could to scrounge money to race. My street car was a beat up VW of various vintages with engines I cobbled together out of worn out Race parts. They only let me down one time when it blew up on the NJ Turnpike at1 AM in the morning. I physically pushed it 2 miles to the turnpike exit paid the toll and pushed it to an industrial park parking lot and called a buddy for a ride to his house. That was Wednesday and Thursday I had a new cobbled up engine in it and drove north the engine builders for my shift on the engine builders dyno building race engines. My wife worked her butt off at the track and home to keep me on the track racing. One time at Watkins Glen she singlehandedly changed two cars to rains from dry tires by hand in time to go out and finish the race. We never had decent street cars or time to work on them till the kids were in high school and with all the sports they played we had to get new stuff. All the parts I used were special made as light as legally possible. I rarely saw a junk yard and when I did it was for the street cars to keep them running. Between hours in the engine shop and over time when it was possible to work I didn't shoot anything for well over 10 or 15 years. I still kept an interest and read a lot about stuff but that was about it.. So no $10 went to any Milsurps for many years! Bill