Combative Cosmoline

As anyone who has had any dealings or run-ins with Surplus already knows the first major hurdle to over come in the area is Cosmoline. Now, most people you may talk to take issue with cosmoline. It smells, it is sticky, it is waxy, it gums stuff up, it melts onto your hands while you are firing, etc. While all of these are true, trust me it has taken me over a week to get that smell off my hands and arms before, the thing to remember is that it is great at doing it’s job: protecting your little piece of history from rust and aging while it is being stored. After seeing so much hatred for the foul stuff I decided to write a post about what it is, what it does, and most importantly good and safe ways to remove it from your firearm.

So, what is cosmoline? The most important thing to know about cosmoline is in fact it’s intended use and that is as a rust preventative. That being said the actual name “cosmoline” is really just a generic term for rust preventative, usually these agents range in color from brown to orangeish, greasy gel to waxy substance, and dirt smelling to petroleum smelling. Perhaps the most important thing to know about cosmoline is that it begins melting around 110 degrees. The appearance of cosmoline will change depending on whether or not it has been exposed to oxygen, which is also a good way to tell about the storage conditions of the firearm you are about to purchase. While cosmoline is fresh or has been sealed away from oxygen it will provide a very greasy and jelly-like substance that just reeks of petroleum product. The longer cosmoline is exposed to oxygen the more it starts to coagulate and create more of a waxy solid that will crust over parts of the firearm. This means that if you go to purchase a firearm and it has a waxy crust it has been out of it’s original packing for some time, greasy and jelly means they were likely just taken out of original packaging. Cosmoline was used for it’s ability to coat every single surface and action of a firearm. This was great for preventing the rusting that can easily be found in surplus firearms that were not coated with cosmoline or hermetically wrapped.

Bad picture, but if you look closely you can see the cosmoline on the cylinder before it was cleaned.

Why do you need to know about cosmoline? Simple, if you are seriously interested in Curio and Relic and surplus firearms you will have to wrestle with this sticky substance many times. Whether you are buying your firearms from Cables, online (whether through transfer or with a C&R license), or at a mom and pop shop, almost every surplus firearm will come with a thick coating of it. Cosmoline is perhaps most notoriously used on former Soviet-bloc weapons but can easily be found in American, German, English, Chinese, Turkish, and many other weapons as well. Finding cosmoline on a weapon should not be something that drives you away from it, rather something that makes you inspect it more closely. You may have to look closer at a gun with cosmoline to be able to see everything, but you do not have to worry about internal rusting near as much as you would with a surplus firearm you found without any cosmoline on it. Cosmoline can also make it infuriating to check an action, especially with semi-auto weapons, as it will gum up the action and lock it back (or lock it have opened or close). If this happens just keeping pulling and pushing the bolt/charging handle until it frees up some. Cosmoline can also make it hard to check a barrel for rifling as it has a tendency to fill up a barrel and block it off from light. If this becomes an issue for you at a gun store do not let it stop you, walk up to the proprietor or a clerk and ask if they have something you can push through the barrel. I have done this many times and have ended up with a cleaning rod with some solvent on it, fixes the issue and you have taken your first step towards cleaning your gun. So the main lesson is this: do not allow cosmoline to frustrate you or prevent you from purchasing the firearm you want, it does it’s job and does it well.

There is one problem with cosmoline: it does it’s job too well. Cosmoline will get in every nook and cranny of your firearm. This is a huge hazard especially in semi-automatic firearms. Cosmoline will attract fouling and dirt which will gum up the firing pin and action in your SKS, AK, M1 Garand, M1 Carbine, etc. This is dangerous, because as time goes on it makes it more and more likely that your firing pin will stick forward and fire full-auto uncontrollably (AKA slamfire). Slamfires are incredibly dangerous. If the person handling the weapon is not expecting it you can lose control of the aim and fire in unsafe directions, just the muzzle climb can launch ammo to maximum ranges. Why did I tell you this? I assure you it was not to scare you, rather to clean and lubricate your firearms as often as possible. Before you bust out your Hoppe’s 9 and get ready to clean your C&R or surplus firearm like you do your other guns, you have to really clean them first. The first thing you will need to do with any C&R or surplus firearm is to completely disassemble it. I mean completely, remove the action from the stock, take the receiver apart, bolt assembly apart, if necessary the piston, the bayonet, all of it. This is particularly easy to do with Soviet-bloc weapons, most of them have limited moving parts, and were made to be maintained by relatively uneducated Serfs that were conscripted to fight for the empire or working people for the Party. Quick side-note: if you have a punch-pin that is sticky, DO NOT hit it with a hammer or punch, put a towel or felt on it and then apply pressure. Alright, once everything is stripped apart go ahead and take your stock and set it off to the side, we will get to that later. First, you will need to procure some things. You will need a large plastic or metal tub, it needs to be big enough to fit your entire barreled action in it. You will need a solvent, I have used Kerosene and WD-40 in the past (yes WD-40 worked to remove cosmoline from a Nagant Revolver), but you can use Simple Green and other less harsh products as well…you just need a whole lot of it. During the first and second World Wars soldiers would use Diesel and soapy hot water to remove cosmoline as well, I have never tried it and I doubt that I will given the success that I have had so far. It helps to have some stiff brushes and wire bore-bits laying around to help clean the tough stuff off. You can use a toothbrush or you can buy some cleaning brushes from a gunstore or mechanics shop.

The moving parts of an SKS taken down to blocks and waiting soaking, some are soaking, some have soaked and been reassembled.

Now that you have everything together, put metal parts in the tub and pour enough solvent in to cover them. Now, people differ in opinions as to what to do from here but usually I will let them soak for at least 20 minutes before picking up pieces and scrubbing them off. From this point you will need to check the parts about every 20 minutes and scrub the tough spots, once the solvent clouds or changes colors dump and refill it. You will need to repeat this process until the pieces are clean, then you will set them aside to air dry. While your moving pieces are drying it is a good time to get to work on the stock, hand guards, etc. The first thing you can do with your wood components is to do your best to take a paper towel and wipe them down to soak up any extra cosmoline. Once you have done this you can proceed several ways, you can use a hair dryer to heat up the stock, put the pieces out in the sun, or put the parts in a photo-absorbant container (IE black bag) and put them in the sun. I live in Texas, which makes this choice real easy…I just put them in the sun for a couple of hours. Any route you go, you will be looking for the same thing: Cosmoline heats up enough that it will make a greasy layer on the stock. Once you get the cosmoline to rise to the surface of the stock you wipe it off and repeat the process, you can do this as much as you want until you feel done. Now that you have cleaned everything go ahead and reassemble the weapon and open the bolt. Your weapon should be pretty clean but just for kicks I always run a couple of patches with Hoppes on them down the barrel before running a couple of clean ones to dry it up. The last step you need to take, even if it is a brand new gun, is to go ahead and apply a light coating of RemOil or the like to the metal components…this will help prevent rusting (you should also do this after anytime you shoot the weapon). Once everything is cleaned up go ahead and fire a round or two just to make sure everything works, then run a patch again.

My cleaned and fired Yugo M59

Keeping your firearm in clean working order should be done with all arms, but any owner of a semi or full-auto firearm should be that much more vigilant. Keep in mind that with a bolt action you cannot have a slam fire, setting off a chain reaction, only semi-automatics. Maintaining your firearm with prolong it’s effective life and if you plan on shooting and collecting, keep it’s value up. If your firearm begins to secrete some more cosmoline after you fire it some, no worries this happens a few times then it will stop. Hopefully this has helped you out some, if you have any more specific questions like what products I use or how to clean a certain arm go ahead a leave me a comment; I will get back to it.

Stay Safe and Keep Shooting

 

Entrance to the Curio and Relic Underworld

I own, by my own admission, an absurd amount of firearms in a lot of people’s eyes. The first gun that I ever owned was not in fact my first Curio and Relic firearm, it was a Remington 597 chambered in 22LR–a great round and gun for almost any novice shooter. However, my first C&R gun and the first gun I purchased, was a 91/30 Mosin Nagant(more on this later) purchased slightly over the usual price from a Cabela’s in Central Texas. The price was not too terrible, about $10 above usual, and made for a sound first investment. The rest of this post will be my reminiscing on my purchase and the thrill of owning my first C&R firearm.

So, about 18 months ago I was tempted to purchase my first firearm. I had looked at several different variants from handguns to deer rifles, and was eventually persuaded by my roommate to look at C&R. The obvious place for me to begin at was with the Eastern-bloc countries. The obvious advantage to me, the noob and broke college kid, with Eastern-bloc weapons was that they were inexpensive and beyond sturdy. Now, I can admit when I was getting into this I had no clue what I was doing. Not one bit. I just decided I wanted an awesome, cheap, and war-era gun that I could act like I was the coolest dude around town with. Well, in case you did not already know this, almost no one will think that it is cool to own a Soviet Surplus…unless it is an AK-47. This was, I was convinced, the perfect time to buy a gun. They were fun, I had a place to shoot them, and I had an awesome girlfriend who gave me a gift card to Cabela’s for my birthday.

The fact that the card was to Cabela’s severely limited my selection for C&R guns, effectively, to Mosin Nagants and Mausers. Given the option between the two the Mauser seemed the logical choice, superior firearm, except for the price tag. So, needless to say, without really knowing anything about Mosin Nagants I picked one out.  I picked one off the shelf based on it’s barrel and the way the stock looked, it sounds so sad to say that I bought a gun based on how the stock looked now. I managed to get lucky though, I got a gun with all matching stamped serial numbers, great bore, great barrel, all around the rifle was in great condition, and for under $100. I was so excited about this gun, ecstatic really, about owning a piece of history that it was really what compelled me into the hobby that I am full blown about now. The gun is beautiful, and a masterpiece of engineering for the day. The bolt is not that slick and the trigger is pretty heavy but that is pretty standard for any type of Soviet arm.

The real surprise came later on when I got it looked at by a friend and gunsmith. The surprise was that it was an never shot prewar Izhevsk 81/90. This made me incredibly grateful that I did not take my roommates advice and immediately begin firing dirty surplus rounds through my untainted barrel. I could not, and still can not, believe that on a rack at a Cabela’s I found an unfired 70+ year old firearm, a piece of history. This all began my fascination with the Mosin Nagant (all models) and Eastern-bloc weapons overall. It is almost inconceivable that a firearm created and born over 100 years ago is still seeing active military conflicts across the world in the modern day. I mean, Taliban soldiers and the people of Africa are still using these long range rifles today to attack their enemies and in some instances fight for liberty.

I share this rambling post about how I came across my first gun that was outright purchased by me as much for the actual story as what the story represents. This gun made me fully appreciate firearms, something that a Remington 597 or 870 just could not do. It had weight, it had history, it had enough behind it to make me see it as an object to be respected and esteemed. For so many people who go out and purchase a Mosin Nagant, the rifle is deemed a “beater”. The rifle is cheap, the ammo is cheap, so it must be used to be thrown around and abused. I just cannot see it that way. Whether you agree with communism or not, or with Imperialism, this gun played a major role in the spreading of Imperial ideals and the establishment of the Communist party in Russia. The Mosin Nagant lasted through two World Wars, a Cold War, Korea, Vietnam, and several other conflicts. Through all of this it was relied upon by people who wielded them  to protect their lives and defend a country. This is the very gun featured in tales such as “Enemy at the Gates” and by the real Vasily Zaytsev. I am not saying to do what I did with mine and never fire it, I am just saying that you should treat it well and with the respect that it deserves. Who knows, maybe like me you can run out and pay your ~$100 and get hooked into collecting Curio and Relic firearms and Military Surplus. Even if you just really like Mosin Nagants there are Hex bolts, Dragoons, Carbines, Finnish, Russian, Sniper, and even more variants of this fine and affordable weapon. I apologize if I geeked out too hard about my favorite gun, or if it was too school-boyish, but I hope that if you haven’t already that you will consider looking into a first Curio and Relic gun and started in the hobby.

Stay Safe and Keep Shooting.

 

Where Can I Find Ammo?

Alright, to continue our installments based around getting started in the world of Curio and Relic firearms (going on I will continue to refer to this as C&R) this somewhat shorter post will take a look at places in which you can buy ammo for these guns. You may ask yourself, well can I not just go down to my local __mart and buy this ammo like I do all the rest? The answer, in some cases, is a resounding no. Sure if you find a surplus weapon chambered in the world famous 7.62x39mm (the round for Ak-47’s, SKS’s, and several contemporary firearms), this will not be an issue. However, trying to find a  __mart that sells 8mm Mauser (or 7.92x57mm) is a little bit trickier. I decided to dedicate a whole post to the efforts of finding ammo after almost being talked out of buying one firearm and re-chambering another because of “rarity” of ammunition. So, let us get underway for places to find ammunition.

Having a hard time finding contemporary rounds for your new C&R firearm? The first choice, if not the easiest in some sense, is to go ahead and buy surplus ammunition as well. Surplus ammunition is well known for being cheap and likely sealed, in the case of eastern-bloc weapons, in tuna can looking canisters that could seemingly outlast nuclear fallout.  This ammunition can usually be found at sights such as CheaperThanDirt.com, AIMsurplus.com, and so on. The ammunition is still in working order and you have nothing to fear about the pressure tolerance differences between firearms made over 100 years ago and contemporary ammunition. The one major drawback? Most, if not all, surplus ammunition is highly corrosive because of the the primers that were being used in that era (predominantly pre 1950’s). This means that you must break down and wash all metal components of your firearm after each shooting session to prevent corrosion and pitting. This really is not all that difficult to do, the army manuals provided with M1 Garands and Springfield 03A3’s told troops to wash weapons with warm soapy water. It is however time consuming and a royal pain in the rear if you get done shooting, eat, and then have to drive home. Just remember, for $73 you can get 440 rounds of surplus 7.62x54R ammo on AIMsurplus, which makes it hard to pass up seeing that the same amount of money will get you 120 rounds of clean ammo.

Your next avenue of perusal would likely be your local sporting store, and I emphasize local because I try and give back as much of my money to local stores as possible. This can run from an Academy, started in Austin, all the way down to a small gun shop or outdoor store. I can find most of the ammo that I need for my firearms, ranging from 32ACP to 7.62x39mm to 303Brit, at Academy and at a great price. I have had some success in the past when looking for a round that these stores did not carry, to get a local store to bring it in. It does not take long for a manager to realize that when you stock affordable caliber ammunition there are people that will purchase it (in this particular case it was 7.62x54R). The next line of stores are your local small firearm shop or sporting good shop. Growing up in Austin was great to my hobby as it was home to a great store for C&R fans. Tex-Guns ( http://tex-guns.com/) is a great store locally owned and operated by a former high school history teacher that puts his emphasis on C&R guns. Need Ammo? Ask. Need a gun? Ask. If they do not have it, they will do their best to try and get it for you. I know that according to their ratings online, there are people who do not like the shop as it is small and crowded, but to me that is part of the charm. The guys here are knowledge (but not omnipotent) and are always willing to have a chat regardless of whether you are spending money or not. They have a great stock of surplus, new eastern bloc, and new premium brand ammunition for C&R calibers as well as reloading supplies. Here is my unpaid endorsement for these types of stores: I could not find a Nagant revolver anywhere, walked in and 30 minutes later they had ordered 3 for me to pick out my favorite and asked if I wanted to order ammunition for it as they were out of stock (7.62×35 being hard to find) and offered to call me when they got it in. True to their word I got a call as soon as it was in and the owner disassembled all three and used a bore light to let me check out all three, he would later pull one off the counter before I said anything to send back to the distributor because of pitting. So, give a smaller business your money and you help the community but you also find people that are willing to work harder for your money.

Where else can you look? The internet is still a great place to look for new non-corrosive ammunition for C&R firearms as well. Where you go online just depends on what you are looking for. I have not find one online ammunition site that differs tremendously in price from another. These sites (Ammunition Depot, Ammo to Go, MidwayUSA, Cheaper than Dirt, etc) offer all around pretty good prices for ammo varying from the ominous Wolf to Nosler and Hornady. Cheaper than Dirt, AIMSurplus, Ammunition Depot, and Ammo to Go offer great prices on a wide array of ammunition in caliber and country of origin (not to mention price ranges). MidwayUSA has, in my experience, offered a little bit larger selection of caliber sizes but also range into much higher priced ammunition (such as Nosler, Hornady, and the like) as some of the smaller ammunition companies. Do not mistake me, I think that every website that sells ammunition has it’s perks and for sure if you are looking for surplus ammunition that becomes tricky but, you need to find which one has all the ammunition you need (if possible) and purchase it there. On a finishing note for this subject, I have had great personal experiences with all of the websites I have listed (none of them know my name I guarantee you).

The last thing I can list is to visit the super-stores. I have not had much luck finding rounds for C&R guns at Bass Pro Shops, only have really found 7.62×39 at Wal Mart, and have found just about any caliber round at Cabelas. The thing is, I just try to stay away from them. They have great selection, some friendly employees, and are fun to go through, I just try to help out the smaller business first. This being said I have bought a few guns from Cabelas and a lot of ammunition, so please do not think that I view them as some sort of firearm industry pit. They have great sales, good ammo prices, and a large selection, the biggest problem most people will have with them is that they are not in every major town. Neither are in Austin, one being in Buda and the other in San Antonio.

So, I hope that this will help anyone who has had a hard time finding ammunition for their odd caliber firearms to find some ammunition so that you can get out and shoot and have a great time doing so. If there are any questions in regard to specific calibers, websites, or stores go ahead and leave a comment and we will see if I can not get you a little help and information in that regard. I can not emphasize enough that you should not feel obligated to alter or re-chamber your firearm on the basis of the rarity of ammunition. When I had first started looking at Nagant revolvers, not at Tex-Guns, someone had tried to convince me to swap cylinders to fire .32ACP. This is foolish, you are altering parts to create a good fit and the ammo is not really any cheaper (~$25 for 7.62 Nagant to ~$21 for 32ACP near me). So, until next time find some ammo for you and go shoot to your hearts content.

 

What to look for in a Surplus Firearm

So, once you have decided that surplus firearms are what you are interested in (because you will, right?) then you need to buy one. The one thing that you will learn about surplus and Curio and Relic is that they are labeled in any mid to major retail store as “used” guns…which is true to some extent. This being said, there are some basic things that need to be kept in mind when you are looking at C&R guns (whether for collecting, shooting, or both). There is no faster way to become disappointed or disheartened when buying firearms than to purchase one that is either overpriced, not in working order, rusted, pitted, a reproduction, or worst of all; dangerous. So, we will try and go through some of the basic things to look for in your surplus/C&R purchases, if not all firearm purchases, to avoid disappointment and maximize your experience.

1.      Educate. This could mean many things, but in this instance it means to educate yourself on what you want. The worst, or best depending on your finances, thing you can do is walk into a store with money and look. You will have a hard time deciding which firearm you will want to buy, knowing how much you should pay, and what the cartouches on each firearm actually mean. This is especially important if you are early on in your firearm hobby. You need to figure out what you are looking for in your surplus firearms. If you want a piece of World War I or II history than you should probably stay away from AK-47’s, AKM’s, AK-74’s, SKS’s, M16’s, etc. These are all great firearms but none of them were involved in the wars you are most interested in. If you want a Mosin Nagant, do you know what kind you would like? This will help you in more than one way as they vary in cost between types, nationalities, and models. Do not spend Sniper variant money on a plain Ishvesk Mosin 91/30. This goes for most other firearms as well, prices will vary depending on which countries they produced in, the years in which they were produced in (especially war years), the plants they were produced in, and the model. I do not typically advocate the use of Wikipedia, however, in this case go search the name of a few guns and read up on their history and which plants produced more of a weapon. Websites such as AIMsurplus and J&Gsales will give you insight into reasonable prices for weapons you are looking for, and if you like their prices then you can purchase and have it sent to a FFL dealer for the cost of a transfer fee. If you ever enter a store and see mismatched prices (I.E. Mauser K98 prices for a beat up Turkish Mauser) you can try and explain your stance and alter the price, just do not expect any results; this way if they do reduce the price you will be pleasantly surprised. Another consideration to keep in mind is caliber. You don’t want to purchase a gun that you cannot buy ammo for, if you want to shoot it, and you don’t want to buy a gun that you will be scared of. For example, I am the proud owner of a 1933 Tula Armory 1895 Nagant Revolver. It is a great gun, fun to shoot, and an important part of history. The catch? It is not the easiest ammo in the world to find. Lucky for me I grew up not far from Cabelas, who stocks 7.62 Nagant. Luckily for you we have websites like AIMsurplus and MidwayUSA that allow you to purchase weird calibers online and have them shipped to your door.
2. Serial Numbers. When looking for a surplus firearm, or even a new one, it is always important to keep the serial numbers in mind. The first thing to look for in relation to serial numbers on a firearm is to see if they all match. This should come standard with new and modern firearms, but are of much bigger importance in the world of surplus. If you can find a War years firearm with matching serial numbers, then you found a gun that has a lot of value in collecting. The matching serial numbers will tell you that the firearm is still composed of the same components as the day it left the factory and the day it was issued to military personal, if it ever was. This gets trickier with arsenal refinishing, which actually provides for a smooth transition to my next point: Electric penciling. Electric penciling is the enemy of many new-to-surplus collectors. You know to look for the matching serial numbers and you find them…they just aren’t the right ones. Once touched up in a arsenal or sent out by a group like Century, firearms will be marked with a new batch of serial numbers to match the distributor’s logs or less scrupulous reasons. No fear, it is not hard to know which serial numbers to look for. All that you, the collector, need to remember is to look for markings and numbers that are age appropriate. IF you see shiny, new, perfectly aligned, clear to read numbers….that is electric penciling. The old, faded, dark, and imperfect numbers that look like they were the work of a typewriter? Those would be the stamped numbers you are looking for.
3. Stocks. Not only do stocks provide much of the aesthetic appeal to a firearm, but they also are crucial part in the proper firing of a gun (who knew right?). The most important thing to look for in the stock of a firearm is cracks. You want to make sure that there are not any significant cracks developing in the stock of a firearm that you intend on purchasing to avoid the chance that in the future after it dries out some and takes the recoil of firing rounds that it wont just split and break. This is not as important if you are not so much into the collecting side and are more of a shooter. If you happen to buy a gun with a stock that breaks you can either buy an aftermarket synthetic stock to put on, or look for a spare stock at a gun show. I am going to use the other part of this space to talk about the cosmetics of a stock. If you are looking to buy a war era and combat used firearm, do not expect to find a perfect stock. It is more than acceptable to find a gun with dings and dents in the stock, you need to remember that you are looking at guns that can be 50-100 years old. If you want to find a clean and perfect stock, they are out there (covered in cosmoline) but they probably will not have the history of their somewhat more dinged up brethren. One last thing on the riveting subject of stocks, make sure that the color and finish of the stock match the country of origin. This will ensure that you bought a complete original firearm, not one that someone bubba’d.
4. Rusting/Pitting.  Rusting and pitting should arguably be the largest concerns of anyone looking to purchase a surplus firearm. The prolonged use of corrosive ammunition with minimal cleaning will cause pitting in the bore, barrel, gas system, etc. This diminishes the value of the firearm as well as the accuracy of the firearm. If you look at a gun and see any pitting on the outside of the barrel, action, bolt, etc, then my advice is to not even bother looking at the gun. Rusting can be a similarly large problem in old firearms. If you find a surplus firearm that is not completely drenched in comsoline then take a long hard look at the bolt, barrel, trigger, and everything; just make sure that there is not rust in the gun. While some minor rust can be polished off with real light steel wool, and even at times gun oil wipes, it is not a good sign to how the rifle was taken care of.
5. Rifling/Bore. Once again with any used firearm, you just want to make sure you are getting what you are paying for. The easiest way to check the rifling and bore of a gun is to go ahead and remove the bolt, assuming you are looking at bolt action, hold up the muzzle to a light and look down the barrel. If you are at a store where the rifle has a zip-tie on the bolt or trigger-lock just ask someone who works there if you can take a look, if they know much about used guns there will not be any issue. You want to see a strong rifling pattern, which I find easier to see when there is light in the barrel, that does not have any apparent wear spots or pitting. If the rifling is good it will allow you to shoot far more accurately and at greater distances…otherwise, Congrats! You bought a musket…basically.
6. Accessories. If you are purchasing your rifle and it was distributed by a company like AIMsurplus or Century, make sure you get the accessories that are supposed to come with your rifle. I only mention this because I have had an employee at Cabela’s explain to me that my rifle was sold as is, since I handpicked it off the rack. After getting his manager involved, I got my matching bayonet, stripper clip pouches, cleaning supplies, oil can and sling. If at all possible, try and make sure that when you purchase a gun you get accessories with it. Authentic bayonets are becoming harder to find for a lot of guns from the World War I and II weapons, so if you can get one with the cost of the firearm it will save you a decent amount of money. Also, to build of the last point, part of what you are paying for when you purchase from Cabelas are the accessories. In addition to this, the magazine/stripper clip pouches actually can come in quite handy to organize and transport ammo for your firearms.
7. Ammunition. Cause when you buy a gun you are going to want to shoot it, right? You can buy rounds for most surplus firearms in bulk as surplus rounds, but there is a catch. If you are not the most vigilant of gun cleaners do not even think about purchasing these cheaper rounds to fire out of your gun. Most surplus ammunition is corrosively primed, which means that you will need to clean your gun every time you shoot it (with some form of solvent and quite well) to prevent the ammo for corroding your barrel, bolt, etc.  There are cheap alternatives to shooting surplus ammo. Look for brands like WPA (Wolf), Herters, Brown Bear, Monarch, prvi partizan (PPU), and the like. These are non-corrosive, and largely steel-jacketed, ammunition that are being produced in former Comm-bloc countries. Going this route will allow you to buy cheap ammo that won’t be corrosive and is likely being made in the same factories that were making ammo for the guns when the USSR was still standing. (Quick Pricings: 7.62×39–$4.49-5.99 (WPA/Herters/TulAmmo/Monarch at Cabelas and Academy), .30-06–$14.99 (Monarch at Academy), 7.62x54R–$11.99 (TulAmmo at Academy), .303Brit–$16-17.99 (PPU at Cabelas), 5.56–$6.99 to $8.99 (American Eagle and Winchester at Cabelas) 8mm Mauser–$16.99-17.99(PPU at Cabelas)).

So I may not have touched on every possible thing to look into when you are buying a firearm, but I think this should serve as a pretty good primer to anyone who is looking into purchasing a surplus firearm. If anyone who reads this has any questions, go ahead and leave a comment and we’ll see if I can’t give you some sort of an answer to help you out. Remember, cosmoline can be a guns best friend as it protects the gun from rust as it is being stored and is often a good sign that the gun was lightly used or at least has been stored in an effective manner.

My Nagant Revolver

 

A Day at the Range

So, you bought a gun, now what? Hopefully, now you want to go shoot your gun. The main problem that faces most gun enthusiasts is that you do not have access to enough of your own land to shoot for free. The obvious solution? A gun range. If you have never been to a gun range they can most definitely be a source of intimidation, you have all sorts of people at a gun range, many of them in the same situation as you.  My aim here is to try and give you some background information on gun ranges and their patrons, to try and avoid any embarrassing moments you could worry about. We will discuss topics from ammunition to firing your gun to basic accessories that you need for a shoot.

• RANGE.  The first aspect to discuss is the range itself. You have Indoor ranges, outdoor ranges, trap ranges, 100 yard ranges, rifle ranges, pistol ranges, long-range ranges….the list goes on. The important part of this is to know what you need. If you are a novice shooter or have a fear of loud noises, then a outdoor rifle/pistol range might be more your style. What they make lack in some amenities (air conditioning, pulley systems, shelter from the rain) they make up for with open space. I am not going to say that recoil will be less and noise will be more quiet, but the open space eliminates some of the reverberation of large caliber guns. In addition to this, it will reduce the amount of pressure you feel exerted when someone in the lane next to you fires. Outdoor ranges provide one more massive benefit, you do not breathe in as much gunpowder residue and fouling as you would in a concrete room that circulates powder and smoke through the ventilation systems. If you plan on shooting a large caliber C&R firearm, you might look to find a range that has the capability to extend to at least 100 yards. To this point, the advantage sways to an indoor range. Most indoor ranges afford you the ability to move seamlessly from 5 to 25 to 50 to 100 yards. This is particularly handy when you are trying to sight in a rifle or scope. If you want to shoot long-range, greater than 100 yards, you are going to have to do a little bit more searching as most ranges only extend to the 100 yard range mark. If you want to practice self-defense and tactical shooting, that is another consideration. Most ranges, at least in my neck of the woods, will not allow you to practice drawing from your holster (for fear that you will shoot yourself, someone else, or create ricochet). Some ranges will have a certain night that they allow you to practice holster shooting on certain nights of the week. Some ranges also offer tactical courses, if you own a gun for self-defense purposes,  the pending zombie apocalypse (sarcasm), or you just want to give it a try; these allow you to sweep areas and pick up targets. One last thing to keep in mind about ranges in general is that you should not settle on the first range you find. Some ranges charge you more money to shoot for no real good reason. If the range has all the amenities that you want, and can find nowhere else, then go ahead and pay the money;  just do not make that decision without looking around first. Moral: call the range you want to try ahead of time, or visit their websites.
• EYES AND EARS. The second of our topics, and the most important. Any range worth it’s salt will require you to wear eyes and ears. If you show up to a range and this rule seems to be omitted, stay away. Not because it is the end-all be-all of shooting, but because it is a good hint that they are not overall concerned with shooter’s safety. Many ranges, not all, will provide eye and ear protection for free with range fees or lane rental. Why do you need to wear these? If you ever run patches through your bore or think about the fouling that exits your barrel, the answer should seem obvious. With every pull of the trigger you are punching a primer, detonating gun powder, in the case of a shotgun burning wad, and then pushing soft lead out of a barrel. That is a lot of steps, and every single one of those creates airborne particulate that will make it’s way into your eyes…especially in an indoor range. This is problematic because it can cause short and long term damage to your eyes. The short term would be causing your eyes to water and perhaps some minor scratching of your lenses. In the longer term, if you were to subject yourself to this regularly, you run the risk of causing irreversible damage to your eyes and degenerate your vision. The easiest solution is to purchase your own pair of glasses, from the inexpensive to the expensive. If you shoot often, go ahead and invest in a nice pair of wrap-around sunglasses. I have a pair of Oakley “gascans” that I use because I have to wear prescription glasses anyways. The important thing to look for in a pair of glasses to wear to a range is twofold: 1) you want a wrap around frame that will protect the entire scope of your eye and 2) that they are quality in reducing light (especially for outdoor ranges) that can distort your target. What about ears, why is ear protection important? This should be obvious, almost every round you shit will be over 130 decibels (the minimum required to do permanent damage to your hearing). The most basic ear protection that you have probably seen are ear plugs. They are serviceable, usually between 22 and 30 NRR, and cheap (~$3 for10 pairs). The drawback to these is that they fit in your ear, making them wildly uncomfortable after prolonged use and not exactly hygienic. The next step up are your standard and bulky ear muffs. These are more comfortable for sure and offer a negligible decrease in NRR. The main drawback most people offer up is that they are either too pricey, too bulky, or interfere with cheek positioning. This problems can easily be solved with a pair of low-profile ear muffs, like the Howard Leight L1s ($9.99), which eliminate these concerns and still provide an NRR of 25 (higher than many plugs). I would suggest for any gunowner who would frequent a range that you own your own pair of muffs and glasses. Primarily because, the equipment for use at ranges is usually heavily worn before it is replaced. You do not want to try and sight in a gun with glasses that are well scratched, you do not want to be in an indoor range with ear muffs that have foam breaking down (leading to a loss of protection). The other concern is hygiene. At most ranges, when you are done, you put muffs on a rack and glasses in a bin. That is a lot of sweat and germs being passed around. I have had Staph at least six times, thanks high school and college sports, so maybe that is why I am more vigilant about the germ thing.
• AMMO. The ammo, and the amount of ammo, you take to a gun range can be a very important thing. The single most important thing to remember about ammo in regards to a gun range: never buy it there. This is a generalization, and I am sure there are some decent gun range proprietors out there to dispute this, but I have never been to a gun range where ammo was cheaper than at your local superstore or gun store. I am all for helping out the little guy, but, when you are charging up to 100% over the retail cost of ammo….it is not happening. Gun ranges can do this for a reason, you are a captive audience. You get to a range, you pay for an hour or however long, you run out of ammo. Do you waste the money you spent for your lane rental? No, you buy more ammo–albeit at a ridiculous cost. Know what guns you are bringing, know the average cost of ammo, and make sure to bring an appropriate amount. In addition to this if you are to bring a 22lr, 30/30, 7.62×39, 17hmr, and a .30-06; develop a plan. Try and dedicate more time, and ergo ammo, to the cheaper rounds. If you shoot more out of the 22lr and the 7.62×39 you still get a lot of bang, but for a lot less buck ($10-13 for 300+rds and $4.99 for 20 respectively). Next consideration, the type of ammo. Some ranges have bans on steel cased ammo, which is ridiculous. These ranges ban steel cased ammo because of the fact that it is non-reloadable, well it should not be reloaded. Watch an indoor range’s range custodian, every so often they go through with a broom and a pan and sweep up all of your non-rimfire brass casings. They then reload these cases and charge premium for “handloaded” ammo. Some indoor ranges will ban the use of steel-jacketed FMJs, I am looking at you Mauser owners with surplus ammo, because of fear it will punch through the backstop. While this is highly unlikely it is at least somewhat more reasonable than the steel case issue. If you have a desire to shoot steel-jacketed rounds or steel-cased just go to an outdoor range, I have never been to one and had any issues in terms of ammo I chose to use.
• GUNS. Choose your guns wisely. It is common for indoor ranges especially to ban the use of larger bore rifles. You do not want to show up to a gun range, ready to shoot, and walk out disappointed. If you have a large bore rifle you are better off playing it safe and calling ahead to make sure. If you live close enough to an outdoor range I suggest just going there, it will be easier for you and your peer shooters. So you make it to an outdoor range that only allows you shoot at 100 yds…now what? In this scenario it is great to have at least one gun with a scope. With good eyes and great sights, you can still shoot iron sights at a 100yds fairly accurately. It becomes a matter of ease and fun, it is more fun to shoot at 100 yards when you can see the actual target and see where you are hitting. Made a drive 40 minutes to there nearest outdoor/long range gun range? Make sure you take your bigger rifles. You probably are not going to drive 40 minutes every time you go to shoot, right? If you have a .338 federal or lapua or maybe a 50BMG, use them when you can and should (instead of wasting the long range with a scoped 10/22 trying to shoot at 300 yds). If you find a range that allows rapid shooting, take your semi autos (or full autos if you legally own them) and have fun. SKSs, AKs, ARs, even 22lr’s can be a lot of fun to shoot fast–but there are not a lot of ranges that allow it. I think I made my point about the guns.
• SAFETY. This includes everything not mentioned in the Eyes and Ears part. When you go to a gun range you are surrounded by people whose skill with a weapon may vary from complete novice to pro-shooter, and this means that you have to try and account for all of it. Step1, make sure that when you enter a range all of your guns are covered. If you do not have a case at least use a gun sock or the box the firearm came in. This eliminates a lot of concern from the patrons of surrounding businesses as well as making it that much easier to transport your equipment. Step 2, make sure from when you enter your range all the way until you start actually firing that your weapon is unloaded with the bolt open. It gives peace of mind to the owner of the range, the patrons, and assures that no one will accidentally discharge your weapon (particularly when introducing someone else to shooting). Step 3, make sure that all weapons, once removed from cases, point down range. Doing this ensures that in the case of an accidental discharge, no one stands a chance of injury. Step 4, clear your area of debris. This means any spent shell casings or other garbage that may be in your area, and hence around your feet, is cleared. This should lower the risk of slipping on anything or rolling our ankle which in turn will reduce the risk of any accidents with a weapon. Step 5, whether loading or unloading, make sure your safety is on. The only appropriate time to have your safety off, is when you are shooting. This should be obvious, but it will make it near impossible to discharge a round. If this seems weird look up Remington 700 and look at safety concerns with the gun. Step 6, stay aware of your surroundings. If someone seems to be disregarding range rules or just acting unsafe, do not be afraid to mention it to an employee. The rules were created to protect your safety, and a juvenile waving a gun around like his favorite video game does not…neither does someone who refuses to put a safety on while turning around and asking why something is happening. So those are some quick check points, and it should go without saying that from the moment you enter the shooting area til the moment you are out, you should have ears and eyes on.
• HAVE FUN. If you go to a range, you should be going to enjoy yourself. After everything else that was written, this may seem unlikely or hard to do but it shouldn’t be. If you like to joke about the Zombie Apocalypse, not my thing, then buy some Zombie targets and go to town. Create a game, like four shots in a row in a certain area at 25 yds then move it out and so on. If you can shoot steel targets, they are a lot of fun and instantly let you know if you hit. If tactical (or should I say tacticool) is your thing, find a range that allows you to have a more tactical based experience. If you make a conscious choice to have fun, instead of a competition, it makes it easier to hit your goals and benchmarks. Pressure rarely makes you a better shooter….at first. Ignore anyone who tells you that you should shoot a bigger gun, they bought theirs just to say they have one.

So, I have gone through some very basic guidelines on how to approach a day at a gun range. This is in no way meant to be an encompassing and exhaustive list, rather a simplistic approach. The main point, is to find a range that is right for you, it may cost more than others but if it has everything you want; it is worth it. I encourage everyone to make it to a range at some point, it gives you an opportunity to meet others like you, to shoot new guns, to try out a new environment and to put your skills on paper. Until next time, enjoy yourself and stay safe.

 

Why Curio and Relic?

It is a common topic of conversation with me, routine almost, that people ask: Why would you buy used guns? The truth is, there is no one reason. The simple fact for me is that I just love history and I love guns, so why not combine the two? Truthfully C&R guns provide an easy way to find high quality, high powered, historical guns with character…at an affordable price. The work you put into making your C&R gun fireable can make it that much more rewarding, after all removing cosmoline from an 80 year old gun is not that bad. So, lets go through some reasons that C&R firearms are a good choice for any type, level, income shooter.

1)Price. I hear lots of people talk about needing and looking for an affordable deer rifle, and them immediately jump to talks about the Remington 770 and 700, the new Ruger American, the Savage Axis, etc. I do not mean to disparage these peoples or these guns, they are all great guns, but how is $300+ on the same level as a $90 Mosin Nagant? Mosins are heavy, I suppose that could be a drawback for hunting, but there are options for synthetic stocks. Disclaimer: I DO NOT advocate throwing away a nice wood stock in favor of a lighter weight polymer stock, fire a Mosin and you might want all the weight you can get. The price of a Mosin ($89.95), Mauser ($299.95), or Enfield ($250-300) make them great entry guns for the younger shooter (12+). They are inexpensive, with relatively inexpensive ammo (roughly $9.99, $15.99 and $17.99) and are made to take a beating. They are great guns to take to the range, plink around with, or just shoot varmint. There is no better genre of gun to practice shooting with, after the .22LR, than surplus. This is due to the fact of large supplies of readily available surplus, steel case, and second tier rounds. Buy an SKS ($299-$399 depending on sales) and you can buy 20 rounds for $5, that is pretty nice for a round as well balanced as the 7.62×39. The point is, through retailers like Cabelas, Gunshows, and websites like aimsurplus.com; these great arms are some of the most affordable guns you can buy.

2)Investment/Collectability. As Americans, we are facing a period where the dollar is at a seemingly unprecedented low. With this people are looking for all sorts of ways to invest their money into something that will only gain value, from comic books to action figures. One of the largest growing areas for investment? Firearms. Guns just simply will not lose their value, unless you help it. This is especially relevant in the field of C&R firearms, because they have a historical tie. As we grow and years pass, we distance ourselves further and further from World Wars. The existing pools of unowned surplus weapons decreases, and those in great shape decrease even more drastically. I am not saying this to encourage everyone to go out and buy all the guns you can afford, that would just drive up prices. I say this because, in 10 years or so some guns just may not be commonly for sale. We have stopped importation of Soviet and Norinco model AKs and SKS’s. What does this mean, for you, the collector? The value of your guns are sure to increase. From a pure collector standpoint, what is better than having an actual piece of history? You could buy a Colt Python or some other hollywood-esque gun, or spend a fraction of the money and get a piece of history used to protect someone’s life in a trench.

3)Quality. Using the word quality in the same sentence as Soviet produced may sound weird, it does to me, but it is applicable when it comes to WWII weapons and even more-so to the Russian imperial era. I will not try to blow smoke and say that a Mosin or SKS is the best weapon on the earth in terms of quality…they are not. What I will say, is that I have had more issues with modern, American made, rimfires and centerfires anywhere near that price range. Even if made by the Soviets, these weapons were created for battle, to be used in the defense of one’s life and the country. Contrary to popular belief, it was not in any side’s best interest to lose more men. If you doubt this, just look at the history of military weaponry: one person makes an advance and within a year the rest of the world follows. How can I say quality when you can break a bolt by shooting it? Simple, you are shooting the wrong ammo. I mean it. Do not, DO NOT, take a modern hi-powered hunting round and stick it in a single lug rifle….that is how you break your gun. There have been huge advancements in the science of gunpowder and ballistics in the last 100 years. Stick to ammo that is not specified for power and hunting IE Prvi Partizan, Wolf, surplus, etc. Your SKS slamfired? Clean it. Treat all guns the same, just because you paid less for it does not mean that you should deem it a “Beater”.

4)Pride. C&R firearms give you something to be proud of. Yes you can be proud of any firearm, but when you buy a gun that is covered in cosmoline to the point the bolt is stuck and you can clean it all off…it is special. You wash away 50 years of neglect, you get to see the gun come to life. The dirty brown washes away and the natural color of the stock pops out, the chrome bolt is shiny, and the barrel is no longer greasy. You will put more time into making a C&R ready to fire than a new gun, sure, but at the same time it makes it more your gun. I have always taken pride in the work I do, a sentiment that was engrained in me at a young age, and it makes it that much more rewarding when you can show someone what a gun looked like before you cleaned it in comparison to how it looks after. This pride in your firearm also revolves around character. The small nicks and dents in a stock make it imperfect, but they also give it character. The patina and bluing on the metal pieces, the often heavy weights. These all give a gun character. A Nagant revolver may not be worth much, but you clean it up, find ammo for it, and take it to the range and I bet that people will look.  The loud Rapport from Mausers and Mosins are sure to attract a look or two. Shoot a solid target with a surplus steel jacketed 8mm Mauser, and I guarantee you that you will grin. Moral: do not pass on a gun because it looks like an ugly duckling, you might find out you are wrong.

5) The Young Hunter. So you want to hunt, but cannot afford the Tikka T3 and a Zeiss scope? Buy surplus. I may be biased because I live in Texas, in the Hill Country, but you do not need all the fancy stuff. If you have alright eyes or glasses, I would wager that you could take most of your shots using Iron sights on a Mosin or Mauser. Even if you decide you need a scope, you can buy Mauser and Mosin barreled actions for pretty cheap and then can scope it. Why do that? The 7.62x54mmR and 7.92x55mm (commonly referred to as 8mm Mauser) incredibly potent cartridges and both have relatively cheap ammo. This means more practice rounds for a young hunter and, even for adults, the capability to bag just about any game in North America. If you insist on a scope, find an action and then look for a synthetic stock on a site such as MidwayUSA or cheaper than dirt. Be Warned, if you are committed to scoping either of these service rifles you are best served looking for an action with a bent bolt (allowing for easier scope mounting).
6)“Used” is such a loose term. Many of the C&R firearms that you can find are just like new. I have a Mosin Nagant 91/30 that has never been fired, a Nagant revolver that was never fired, and an SKS that was never fired. If you go into purchase a surplus gun and know what you are looking for, you can find guns in great shape. If you buy a gun that has pitting all over the barrel, a cracked stock, electrical tape to hold the cleaning rod in, and rust in places…you might regret it (yes this is a gun I saw for sale at Cabelas). Most of these guns sit in cosmoline which makes them dirty looking, but it prevents rust. So if you see a gun with rust and pitting, stay away from it. The rifling could be bad, there could be corrosion throughout, or it could be great. It is a great idea, as a rule of thumb, that if you see pitting (corrosion) on the outside; you will find it elsewhere. If you are buying to shoot, do not be afraid of armory refurbished guns, they will look great, have great barrels, and are still old (likely being touched up right at the end of the Second World War). Side note: if someone tries to sell you a “Sporterized” version of these for more money, unless in rare occasion, laugh at them and do not buy. Also, I will touch on how I look for C&R firearms in a later post.

So, I have laid out some reasons for why getting into C&R guns can be a good idea. This is not to say that this is a comprehensive or exhaustive list, but a list of things that came to me. Except one, which is that it is just fun to own C&R firearms. They  are a blast to shoot, literally, and the biggest factor that makes them fun: inexpensive. It is a lot easier to have fun shooting when you are not spending a couple hundred dollars on ammo for an hour or two at the range. The history behind the guns can make it fun, as well as educational. It is hard to grasp why light-weight weapons rule the military until you feel how heavy a loaded long rifle is, and how different the rate of fire would be. You can see why a Mauser could take out an early tank while an M1a1 or M16 will not dent one. Whatever your reason is, if you have been hedging on buying one of these great arms, take the plunge. There is truly a surplus gun for everyone, from 22LR trainers to 9mm Mausers, from $90 Mosins to $2000 Springfields.

Until next time.

My Yugo Mauser