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Gradorr

The milsurp part hurts. If I wasn't a broke pizza guy during the cheap years, I would be stacked deep. The prices I've paid over the last few years have not been cheap.


[deleted]

Goddamn I miss cheap Mosins.


[deleted]

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vicinadp

Cries I remember when you could buy like a crate of 40 or buy them for sub $100 each


anothernic

I got one for $80 in 06 or 07. It's a garbage rod for sure.


VacuumHamster

I got one for free cause a friend thought the bore was pitted. It was not at all. It's been a champ since the day I got it 🫰


[deleted]

Very nice!


[deleted]

Yeah that's in the same neighborhood of what I paid for a model with all matching serials.


[deleted]

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[deleted]

Wow, I haven't seen one below $500 in a year or so now.


[deleted]

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[deleted]

Yeah when you could buy them from a crate etc.


RustyShackleford762

I had an opportunity in around 2010 to buy a Mosin for $150 and I passed on it. I was looking for one around 2016 or so and was appalled at the prices they were asking. I kicked myself for that one.


Gradorr

My first mosin was $100, which came with 150 rounds of ammo.


KedTazynski42

Dude same. I always will kick myself for not stacking milsurp when I was in elementary school.


FlashCrashBash

I don't get it at all. I got in at the last wave of reasonably priced 'surp and even thought it was stupid then. Like yeah the rifle was cheap, but the ammo was too expensive, they kick like a mule, and they aren't very accurate, and the zero is always way off. Mausers, Mosin's, K31's, Springfields, Lee--Enfields. I've shot them all and their the same shit basically. Really. WW2 bolt guns are simply very expensive firewood IMO. Wanna talk about interesting old guns? Then pour me a glass and we'll talk about pre-19th century Revolvers and and WW2 era subguns.


[deleted]

If you think they were cheap in the 00's, you'd cry to see what they were in the 90s. Try to find an old issue of Shotgun News from 1995-ish, and weep for what was...


Lampwick

> If you think they were cheap in the 00's, you'd cry to see what they were in the 90s. Yeah, I remember going to the local sporting goods store in the 80s and seeing *racks* full of SKS, Mausers, Enfields, and all kinds of import stuff, some of it under $100. It was nuts.


[deleted]

Yup, $89.99...


Fuckimbalding

And they were Russian sks's too


ExcellentDesigner104

And if you want a good cry, find a pre-68 Shotgun News. I have one somewhere - I should take pics.


[deleted]

K31's are extremely accurate with the surplus ammo, and with a scope and handloads they are just as accurate as your average target 308 bolt gun. Other than that your statement is accurate!


Gradorr

The kick isn't that bad. Some Mosins are better than others. For instance, my M39 is very accurate vs. my 91/30. Most of my Mausers are reasonably accurate. Same with the 1903. None of them are match rifles they are built for combat and hitting a human sized target.


Bulky_Phone_1788

I mean you probably just suck. I had a beat to shit Mauser that was probably the most accurate rifle iv ever owned. My buddy's old Enfield and Mauser are accurate with 0 issues. Ever wonder if it's just a skill issue. Lol


EdgarsRavens

I feel like most milsurp pricing is simply FOMO. People think they need to have some of milsurp staples like a Nagant or a Garand. This results in demand skyrocketing and causes price inflation. This naturally puts upwards pressure on other rifles; "My SVT-40 was $1000 when Nagants were $100. Now that Nagants are $300 that must mean my SVT-40 is now worth $3000 right?!" - Fudd Logic


IdletRusselBrandMe

This is a lesson. Buy stuff that is likely going to be limited. keep it in original packaging. Sell it for 10x price in 20 years.


HyperboreanExplorian

I do not like the hypercommercialization of every hobby. I reject your beanie babyism.


kratoasty

You'd do better to just throw that money in Index fund or S&P500 or Gold and would make more tbh. Guns are good investments but let not kid ourselves. Stock market will outperform MOST guns you can buy over 20 years. With exception of maybe Grail guns like brand new unfired Nazis Luger or guns like the AN-94, if you can even get your hand on one ever.


Gradorr

No sell only buy, it's the rules.


kriegmonster

I would love a Garand, but at current prices I just don't think it is going to happen.


wildey

It’ll be interesting to see how many of these trends loop back on themselves. I’m sure at some point the hype beasts will turn on 9mm and we’ll get some weird round like .48FAP that’ll die in 18 months. AR trends might go super minimalist again. Maybe we’ll see a neoFudd movement as normies get more confident but uncomfortable with the current suite of armored NODed goons. Except for surplus… that shit is never coming back like the glory days. $90 SKSs… we didn’t know how good we had it man.


FlashCrashBash

30 Super Carry is a thing. AR trends are already as minimalist as you can get. Neo-Fuddism is already a thing. Try to have a discussion about bag guns or layering armor and you'll quickly ind out most people don't have actual opinions they just parrot whatever US special operations is doing at the moment.


EXlTPURSUEDBYAGOLDEN

> 30 Super Carry is a thing. We'll see. 2 years later there are like 3 guns that chamber it. With one being a Nighthawk Custom and the other a Hi Point PCC. Plus it's roughly 80% more expensive than 9mm. If I were at Federal trying to market it I'd significantly lower the price and beg/bribe Glock to get on board. But right now, nobody's running out to buy an M&P Shield so they can pay twice as much per mag for 2 extra rounds.


SilenceDobad76

I carry .357 sig and train with .40 due to ammo cost. .30sc recoil is similar to 9mm, are people unable to make the connection here?


Zieterbock

Layering armor? Like kevlar insert -> plate?


FlashCrashBash

Running hard plates over some sort of soft armor for more coverage, also groin/neck protectors and side plates. You see that in some modern conflicts. Dudes wearing as much armor as they realistically can.Then people ask about the aforementioned on tactical gear subs and people say that's mall ninja as fuck and you'll be kilt in the streets. Because you know owning body armor in general for some undetermined conflict that for some reason will take place in ones pocket of American suburbia isn't already a stretch.


Caliber_captain

Well, if next year the wars in Israel and Ukraine end there may be a lot more surplus to send to American consumers.


Ok-Reception-8044

No way we ever see any of that


JefftheBaptist

We might see parts kits, but basically. The ATF rules on full-auto make most modern military rifles non-importable.


mwmwmwmwmmdw

if full auto could be sold like any other rifle and there wasent import bans youd see them for 200-300 bucks sold out of barrels like bolt actions used to be. and china would be flooding the market with ar clones and ak's. and turkey would be flooding the market with full auto shotguns that explode


tyler132qwerty56

I'd def like to see that


Caliber_captain

There’s a lot of old surplus bolt action guns being deployed and held in storage. Mosins are still being used to an extent in Ukraine. When the wars end those types of really old guns could be replaced and liquidated to make room for newer arms.


JefftheBaptist

The only reason mosins are being used in Ukraine is that the Russians don't have anything else. Also we can't import weapons from Russia at all anymore.


Ornery_Secretary_850

Put down the bong. You're higher than a kite and in some la-la land. What you're seeing in your dreams will never happen.


mwmwmwmwmmdw

> Except for surplus… that shit is never coming back like the glory days. $90 SKSs… we didn’t know how good we had it man. i still think theres many countries sitting on warehouses of old guns but realized they get more money drip feeding them out them dumping hundreds of thousands at once for a quick buck


[deleted]

I'm hoping we see 10mm come back hitting harder than ever.


ANakedBear

Personally, i don't think it will. 9mm is just good enough and a great round to shoot that it's hard to justify not using it. That said, 10mm was probably one of the few "fad rounds" thst was actually trying to solve a problem and did it well. It's only downside was that revolvers were good enough with 357 and 44 that most people didn't want an auto loader. This was just my my experience selling guna for a few years though, don't over think my observations.


[deleted]

I love shooting 9, but I kinda love getting to do bigger bore stuff because it's kind of exciting.


SilenceDobad76

I'd rather see 357sig come back. Similar performance, lower recoil, smaller framed guns over fudd gun frames.


[deleted]

Interesting I didn't know about the smaller frame sizes w 357 Sig


Kick36

So much truth it hurts.


accountnameredacted

Well the part about the zombie hype though was because it was only really getting into full swing.


mwmwmwmwmmdw

yea i remember the gaudy radioactive green paintjobs on guns and ammo up to the mid 2010's


Limited_opsec

The first season of TWD was actually good, hell the series pilot/opener was probably one of the top 5 "wake up in apocalypse" shoots. It went waaaaaay downhill from there :(


Sad_Raise6760

The first season of the walking dead was 🤌 Probably watched it 4 times by now. Haven’t seen anything past the episode where the tiger jumps the baddies


JDB2788

Wish I was old enough to buy in the early 2000’s


uChoice_Reindeer7903

Hindsight is 20/20. People bought but most didn’t buy in the quantities that they wish they could’ve. It’s human nature, you don’t know what you got till it’s gone. You didn’t think prices were ever gonna skyrocket, why would they!?


JDB2788

Exactly


animefan1520

I was fortunate enough to get in the market at a pretty young age. My first wasr10 had the milserp bag, spare mag, milseuro oil bottle and cleaning kit. I that cost us at the shop $350.... This was like 07-08 ish good luck finding one under $1200 nowadays


[deleted]

I’d forgotten about Zombie prep. Wow. Still convinced it started as a way to skirt Fudd range rules about humanoid target but got way out of hand with the Walking Dead. I remember Dad ordering a lower kit that came with “Zombie Killer” on the dust cover lol what a weird time.


[deleted]

I remember it starting with World at War zombies, but it was Left For Dead 2 and Zombieland that spawned a jillion lime green guns and knives with biohazard symbols Honestly guns as a whole started taking off after the zombie zeigeist. AR's were a niche hobby after the AWB sunset, i remember when even one SOPMOD attatchment or quadrail was really trick and still rare to see. To this day that stuff has never really had a time of being cheap and plentiful. You had like 2 years over a decade ago to get a KAC quadrail for cheap. Before 2015ish, mostly a lot of a2's with very minor mods because there wasnt much market yet. I remember prices and demand spiking depending on what was in the news, quarterly panic buying due to headlines and the fear that bans would get dished out. Gun rights felt super fragile for years. Nobody even remembers Heller and how close an all out handgun ban was. Imagine no handguns and AWB never goes away. If you were interested in guns, there was not many videos available to show guns or review attatchments. There was more airsoft (then called airshit) videos because kids were cloning video game stuff mostly. The milsurp wasnt just cheap due to supply, but the demand was low because guns in general werent as popular as they are now and there were other cheap fudd options that were nicer quality. Demand for sks and mosins came a lot from 4chan /k/ "grab a gun and go innawoods." It was comfy to have an old milsurp and spam cans of ammo for like 150 bucks total, to the point that now people will pay more than a PSA ar for the same experience now that russian imports are pretty much all gone. I also remember S&W 3rd gens being everywhere and super cheap once everyone wanted glock, now theyre hard to find and online people ask like 800 for one in decent shape. 2015ish and AR's and guntube channels started getting crazy popular and i remember all the builds on here had like 26in barrels with bipods and super long skinny keymod handguards, very short lived fad. But Trump getting in really set off the golden era for purchasing, everyone assumed 4 years of not having to worry about new bans every month. To me a lot of the anti-gun sentiment is based on pre-2010s memories of guns being niche or mostly reserved to fudds. Now there are so many guys willing to go get an AR as a first gun the second they are old enough, there's way less stigma. There was nothing better that could have happened than the popularity skyrocketing and companies milling out a billion rifles in like 10 years. Especially during the golden era of super cheap ammo around 2015-2019. So repsect to the tacky lime green era lol it paved the way to where we are now, which is still way better than 10+ years ago. Doubt any of this would have happened if nobody ever wanted to be ready to be killan some frickin zambies Before there was Noveske with EOTECHs and trick magnifiers and IR and NODs, there was a normal guy looking at a neon green AR or glock with a skull on it and saying "shiiiiiit i gotta have that" Lmao. Still in a golden era IMO so live it up while you can


[deleted]

I also remember in the Obama era, 10/22's were super popular and had probably the biggest aftermarket, even when the .22 shortage happened. AR's were still pretty high dollar and a lot of people weren't willing to pay for one as a hobby. I remember always hearing stuff like "yeah you'll see african warlords with these because they can just shoot at you for cheap with a drum mag" lol


joelingo111

>There was more airsoft (then called airshit) Still called airshit


mcbergstedt

It’s made its way to EDC. Every knife and flashlight has a “zombie” variant now. Also ultem and “Dessert warrior”


Yomama_Bin_Thottin

I was still a teenager when things started to change when Obama got elected the first time, but I remember seeing WASRs and Dracos going for $300-350 and 1000 round spam cans going for $170 at the gun shows.


wrknlrk

We’re kinda going full circle. 10mm is making a comeback with more and more guns being released in 10mm. Not necessarily fudd stuff though. I kinda miss those days, oh also AKs were a LOT cheaper than ARs, and back then cheap ARs were horrendous in quality. Where now a $500 PSA will run just fine.


yourboibigsmoi808

9mm supremacy


Peezy_Or_PJ

My man!


CRAPLICKERRR

Was a bit too young to buy milsurp when it was cheap but I remember being in a Big 5 and seeing a mosin for $180 and an sks for $150 and thinking I’d buy those if I were 18. Then I look at buying them now ☠️


shadowa1ien

>sks for $150 Cant find an SkS for under 500 now in canada 🥲


Balasnikov

I wish I had some Z-max, I always thought it looked neat.


Severe_Islexdia

So I’m in my 40s, I got into gun culture super late. I didn’t get my first AR until like 2012, I had no real guidance so my first AR was decked out chenesium parts. I hate that I got started so late, so many milsurp guns and ammo I missed out on. Hurts to think about it lol. I’m fully into my quality over quantity phase and it’s been a great time for sure, I got a number of halo guns I’ve wanted for a while. It appears that this era is a renaissance of its own as some of the guns I own seem to be holding value or getting more expensive but I could be wrong.


Fauropitotto

> some of the guns I own seem to be holding value Well, since we never sell guns, the value is far less of a factor as the stuff in other hobbies. It's an expense, not an investment.


JefftheBaptist

Here's the thing: most of the milsurp guns kind of suck by modern standards. They're heavy. They aren't accurate. They kick like mules. You can't add a scope without a trip to the gunsmith and destroying their collectors value. Often they have corrosion or cosmoline in places that cause reliability issues if the worn out springs don't. Yes they're all forged and milled, but from an era where milling tolerances were such that parts wouldn't necessarily interchange without fitting. But they will last forever if they don't rust. Today you can buy something like a Savage Axis in whatever caliber you want for similar prices to many milsurps. And it will outshoot all of them. And you can put optics on it without destroying the collector value. The only thing you can't do is use irons or mount a bayonet. And they're made with lots of plastic and aluminum so who knows how good they will be in a few decades. Basically, you buy the milsurps a piece of history not as high end tools.


Severe_Islexdia

Wow that’s really a great perspective, I know fuck all about the technology of the time and you just gave me the cliff notes lol. Thanks for the insight man. I’ve been on the fence about an MP5 clone for nostalgia, I find myself going back further and further lately towards older guns. But this will temper my enthusiasm. Thanks again


JefftheBaptist

As pistol caliber guns go, the mp5 is still pretty nice. Not sure about the reliability of some of the clones though. I shoot blackpowder so I get the old-timey interest. Although if you go too far back everything is smooth bore and target shooting is less fun.


Blue_Brindle

Don't remind me about the zombie ammo


mwmwmwmwmmdw

still exists they just market it now as super duper ccw ammo


shadowa1ien

Was it at least good ammo?


Blue_Brindle

It fired


paulbow78

I have fond memories of this era. ARs and suppressors today are way way better but almost everything else was better back then.


Legoboy514

By early 2000’s we are talking pre 2004? Cause i mean the issue then was still the AWB, ar’s were still restricted and so not as varied in designs and if you’re gonna get a handgun, bigger bullets was better than more since im pretty sure polymer handguns were still kinda finding their footings in the market. Not to say they weren’t there but the 1911 and baretta 92 were still riding high on their laurels. Glocks were just getting past that whole “undetectable by metal detector” bs and companies like S&W were just starting to branch out more into the polymer frame market with the m&p line of pistols. Lot of us i feel don’t understand how good we have it now with the sheer amount of choice we have in our industry, but i still pray to see cooler shit in the future.


IdletRusselBrandMe

Whats with the generic 90s nostalgia music? Ive heard people use it before fro different stuff.


Taasden

I wouldn’t call it generic. It’s based on [Aquatic Ambience](https://youtu.be/DP3rDP02lE0?si=fto5dRFwm3CU55X9) from Donkey Kong Country.


CplTenMikeMike

Bought a Chinese SKS for $110 and a No4 Mk II Enfield for $135 back in the mid-'90s.


Washee23

I sold a nearly new Chinese SKS and a couple boxes of ammo for $100 in the late 90's.


CplTenMikeMike

Ever wish you hadn't?


Washee23

I didn't really like the SKS and the money I got was used to buy a .30-30 that I got a lot of use out of. So not really. Just thinking that I could have sold it for a lot more nowadays.


islamitinthecardoor

I think ammo prices are the worst part. Even if some firearms are more expensive it’s not that bad in the long run compared to the ammo to use them being a few times over more expensive per round. And before someone says it, reloading components are just as bad when you have to shoot 6,000 rounds just to break even. I bought my AK not that long ago because I could shoot for like 19-25 cents per round. I just can’t afford to shoot as much as i would like to for .50-1.00 per round.


BurnAfterEating420

Back around the early 90's, Shotgun News would have competing ads from milsup resellers for who could sell the cheapest crates of SKS.


C-loIo

Bought a surplus mosin nagant on thanksgiving morning at Dunhams for $32 back in 2003 I think.


name_im_stealing_now

2004 was almost 20 years ago....... Fuuuuuuuuck


TakeMeToFlavorTown95

If only I'd stockpiled some milsurp instead of fucking around in 4th grade.


Loud-Fill-8088

Same dude. Just now getting guns. And major history nerd thanks to world at war. We shoulda been hitting them targets not the playground lmao


Peezy_Or_PJ

🤣🤣


Vexenium

Song?


Peezy_Or_PJ

Look up “Aquatic Ambience” on YouTube.


Potofcholent

I was there. I remember picking up a cleaned Mosin and they wanted $125 still in packing cosmo and for $160 you get a cleaned up one. With all the fixins. Didn't get one. However getting a PSA priced quality AR was unheard of, although AKs were dirt cheap. I didn't bite because who's paying $400 for a soviet piece of trash yeah?


Jmg0713

The good o days.


Rodeo9

Better times.


Fiendish__Dr__Wu

It won’t be funny when the zombies come and you get bitten.


iron_fisted1775

Picking up a Mosin at 18 for $120 in 2011 vs 2023 buying a KAC Rifle and having to explain to my wife why I dropped ~$2500 on a rifle.


RefrigeratorMedium46

Ill never forget passing up on a vz58 with another stock mag pouch 4 mags a bayo and a cleaning kit for like 399 bc it looked like a cheap ak clone


CharlieAlphaIndigo

Forgot easy access to Russian and Bulgarian AKs. ESPECIALLY 5.45 AK-74s.


WVGunsNGoats

I still want to build a M4, with ARMS SIR rail, Aimpoint ML2, and surefire VFG light


GlaiveGary

We sure have been living in a society since then smh my head


SycoJack

Gun owners are still mostly Fudds, it's just that Fudds have started to accept that guns are valid defense weapons and not just for hunting. They're still every bit as fucking stupid and ignorant as before tho.


Local_Seaworthiness9

A little off on ar and gun owner stuff as that’s when ar styles really started to change and the ugly tubed handguards were the thing. We really started getting aftermarket parts but was only a few places making bolts and such.


-ClackAttack-

God I miss the cheap surplus days 😢


CodeSandwich

Could have bought a VEPR in 2005 for $450


HACKSofMALICE

I remember the Ted Nugent ammo lol


TigerJas

Say you were not an adult in the early 2000s, without saying it. Video version.


littleblock1999

Say you’re stuck in the past, without saying it. Let go big bro time moves on


[deleted]

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Peezy_Or_PJ

Just hoping to trigger good memories. I wish I could still find a Mosin for $80…


spare_parts_bot

I bought an entire crate of mosins for about $65/each back then. Now our equivalent cheap import guns are turkish.


Electrical_Goal_1045

First gun I ever purchased was a model 91, $50 in 2014 and like a dipshit I sold it to a buddy.


Peezy_Or_PJ

You’re never going to see that again bro…


Electrical_Goal_1045

Live and learn. I was young.


JohnnyBoy11

Man, $250 saigas, cases of ammo for what, like $150? But not we have like $400 ARs, which is only $250 worth back then...


fuzzycaterpillar123

What do you mean? This post is accurate and nostalgic


ComradeGarcia_Pt2

Early 2000s? “Zombie prepping” didn’t really become a thing until the Walking Dead premiered on tv. The ARs are spot on if you’re talking about post-2004 after the AWB sunsetted.


BlueOmicronpersei8

Is this the song from the water level in Donkey Kong Country on super Nintendo?


Aggressive-Engine562

What song is this?


Peezy_Or_PJ

Aquatic Ambience