One reader writes to ask if military surplus rifles are still a good idea for hunting, recreational shooting, and all around backwoods use.
The answer is more complicated than the question. A relevant answer encompassing modern arms has to include commercial "clones" of military rifles, as well as genuine military surplus.
Walter English of Arsenal, Inc. displays his company's US-made "AK47," the finest of its kind in author's opinion (and priced accordingly). Note that even with magazine removed, AK's silhouette is distinctly recognizable.
Walter English of Arsenal, Inc. displays his company's US-made "AK47," the finest of its kind in author's opinion (and priced accordingly). Note that even with magazine removed, AK's silhouette is distinctly recognizable.
When I was a fledgling shooter in the 1950s, you couldn't get brand new military-style rifles the way you can today; if you wanted military, what you got was military surplus, from our country or others. The Director of Civilian Marksmanship controlled the release of our country's leftover, obsolete bolt action and semiautomatic firearms. I was still a kid when the National Rifle Association (NRA) announced the availability of light, handy .30 caliber M1 carbines for about $35 apiece. Guys who were around before my time proudly showed me ex-GI 1911 and 1911A1 .45 caliber pistols that they'd purchased for around $17 through the NRA.
It's a tradition that goes back through at least three centuries. There were private citizens on the Western frontier who carried trapdoor Springfield .45/70 single-shots like the Army used then. After the adoption of the Springfield .30-06 in 1903, leftover Krag-Jorgensen rifles of the Spanish-American War period were released for sale cheap to the public, and to this day in corners of backwoods America, you'll find men hunting deer with a .30-40 Krag that's been handed down through the family. The Krag was famous for its smooth-as-butter bolt action. The Cavalry carbine version was already "sporterized," with a stock like a hunting rifle's and a short barrel that was handy in the woods.
By the end of WWI, a generation of Americans had been habituated to the fine Springfield '03 rifle, and to its rugged American Enfield counterpart, the P-14. Springfield rifles were available to the public then, and became the mark of the discriminating outdoorsman, usually finely customized by a gunsmith house such as Griffin & Howe. Many returning doughboys found their souvenir German Mausers could also be fashioned into superb hunting rifles.
It was the post-WWII era, however, that was the heyday of what became known as "sporterized" military rifles. A now "obsolete" Springfield could be had for $29.95, and one of the various Mausers for the same or less. The British Lee-Enfield sold for $19.95 or less in clunky Mark III or Mark IV infantry rifle trim, and for only $25 for the handsome little Jungle Carbine version.
The Jungle Carbine in particular captured the imagination of hunters. It already had a sporter-style stock, and a short barrel just right for woods hunting. The sportsman probably wouldn't need all 10 rounds in the distinctive magazine that protruded in front of the trigger guard, but the SMLE (short magazine Lee-Enfield) had a super fast bolt action and fired the powerful .303 British cartridge, which had proven hugely popular for hunting in Canada where the SMLE was the standard military rifle of the early 20th century. And the Jungle Carbine even came with a recoil pad.
