[Doc Jones]

Just had a guy bring me an SKS as collateral for some vet work he needs to pay for (yeah, the economy has turned my vet clinic into a pawn shop).

Anyway, I didn't know anything about the rascals so got to snooping. Looks like one can buy ammo for an SKS for 25-ish cents per round. That's an awfully lot nicer than the buck a round I pay for .45 Colt for my Winchester (Got to get that re-loading gear!).

So I'm just wondering, Are there other highly "economical" rifle calibers out there or is the SKS a fluke?

What do you think is the best "knock down/nickel" out there?

Doc

[GlockMeister]

Yea, ammoman.com has it for $399 for 1000rds. I believe. So closer .39 cents a round due the the Obama factor.

No, the SKS is not a fluke. Another economical rifle and great shooter is the Mosin Nagant. See that forum here.
Mosin Nagant

And you can find great information on both the SKS and Mosin Nagant and others here as well...

Collecting and Shooting the Military Surplus Rifle (2006) - Surplusrifle.com choose your rifle of choice on the left...

And there are a few other military surplus rifles out there well worth investing in and enjoying. Hand guns also. But not as many to choose from. One is the Makarov and another is the Nagant revolver and yet another is the PA-63.


And FYI, if you like the SKS, there's a few out there to choose from and collect. lol There's the more common Yugo SKS, then there's the Romanian and Russian SKS's (the Russian is what all the others were copied from), then there's the Chinese Norinco. The Russian being to more expensive of them all.

Same with the Mosin Nagans. There's Finnish models and or capture models also. And the different models are the M44, M38 and 91/30...Russian Tula's getting more money I believe.

Another rifle that came to mind is the Enfield. A tad pricier and ammo is a tad more as well. But they're fun to shoot as well as collect...

[Capt'n Mil Coll]

The High Point 9mm Carbine is fun to shoot for less.

10/22's are supremely viable for 22 fodder prices.

The M44 gives you a HUGE bang for the bucks.
And who can pass up the HUGE fireball comming out the barrel.

There are some ideas anyway.

[Metronome]

Look at Russian surplus and military rounds; 7.62x39mm (SKS, AK-47), 7.62x54Rmm (Mosin Nagant) and the NATO calibers .223 (5.56x45mm) .308 (7.62x51mm) and 9x19mm (9mm Parabellum) etc...
I have the Yugo SKS, an M38 Mosin Nagant and the Hi-Point, and all are cheap to feed and a lot of boom!
The Russian ammunition is where the fun is, hard to beat a case of Wolf and a good SKS - it's like the Costco Hotdog deal of the gun world!

[big boomer]

Ar's are spendy to buy but the ammo is not bad price wise (but hard to find now with the war effort going) 9MM is cheap to buy as are 22's

[Laufer]

Glockmeister:
A few days ago Russian 7.62x39 at Ammoman was about $240/1,000 rds., including shipping. Similar prices are found at two or three other distributors.

Apparently many scalpers who created much of the shortage last spring are now on
"thin ice". One of them might be the guy in New Hampshire who recently posted 70,000 rds. of x39 for sale on Gunbroker. I saw the link.

For rounds larger than .22, the number one rifle value for price is always reported to be the Mosin Nagant, unless a semi-auto is the goal.

Number two still seems to be the SKS, or the AK-74: the rifle costs more, but the 5.45x39 ammo is a good bit less than 7.62x39. Numerous (Century?) AK-74 owners report "bullet keyholes" at 100 yards.

If we ever have an embargo on Russian-made ammo, 5.45 would might disappear.
'Gun-deals' or 'ammo-deals' has retail prices for about fifteen ammo calibers.

[Dragunov]

You can't beat the SKS for value, especially if you find an exceptionally accurate one.

Saiga in .223 or 7.62X39 is a great deal too.

[G23c]

you can find 5.45x39 for the AK-74 for $150 for a spam can of 1080.

[big shrek]

Quote:       Originally Posted by Doc Jones

Just had a guy bring me an SKS as collateral for some vet work he needs to pay for (yeah, the economy has turned my vet clinic into a pawn shop). Anyway, I didn't know anything about the rascals so got to snooping. Looks like one can buy ammo for an SKS for 25-ish cents per round. That's an awfully lot nicer than the buck a round I pay for .45 Colt for my Winchester (Got to get that re-loading gear!). So I'm just wondering, Are there other highly "economical" rifle calibers out there or is the SKS a fluke? What do you think is the best "knock down/nickel" out there? Doc

.30-06

there's enough surplus of that to take us another hundred years...not even counting the reloading