good first bolt-action gun

something new is better if you give zero shits about history and want optics
ammo for most bolt action milsurp is on the highside

>>29708995
Ruger American and savage axis are now much better bets if you don't plan on using the gun as a hammer, aside from having better triggers and bolts, the price and availability of 54r is getting closer to the point where it's not even worth it to put up with corrosive bullshit

>>29709018
>history
Not many people are interested in the history of guns that sat in a storage crate for 70 years

It's passable if you're poor, but a Savage Axis or Ruger American is way better.

If you just want to plink casually with something that gives a mighty boom, go for it, but if you want something more practical, look at something modern.

Know that when you buy a 91/30, it's been clumsily refurbished by an inbred conscript and has been sitting in a warehouse for several decades, it's cheap but it's also a project, you'll likely have to scrub out the old cosmoline (a lot of people fail to do a thourough job at this), and a common issue with the refurbished guns is that the cocking spring is slightlty too long, making the action stiff to handle, if this occurs, consider clipping off a coil or two of this spring.
Accuracy is mediocre, it'll do, but it's no target rifle.

Also don't eat hotdogs off the bayonet before cleaning it, the cosmoline will make you sick.

File: Lithgow SMLE.jpg (324KB, 1870x934px) Image search: [Google]

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>>29708995
If you want a MilSurp rifle get a No.1 MKIII* or a Yugo M48. But if you dont try and get a Ruger or Savage. Maybe an older used Remington 700

>>29709046
>It's passable if you're poor
OP here. I'm not poor, I just don't want to spend too much money on a first rifle in case I do something retarded. That's good to know about the Mosins - I hadn't realized they required that much effort to keep working.

>>29709058
I know there was a shit ton of 7.62x54r available up until recently. What's the ammo situation like for .303 British and 8mm Mauser?

>>29709088
15$ for 20rds of 303 last I checked.

File: Yugo M48.jpg (115KB, 1280x960px) Image search: [Google]

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>>29709088
Its not as cheap 54r, speaking of which I cant find any. But 8mm Mau Mau and Tree oh Tree is still cheap, around 13-14 bucks a box. 8mm Mauser also comes in spam cans on strippers for like 170-190. You could also try going for a MAS-36 but for some reason they have jumped in price. If you can try and find one for 200-350

>>29709088
I know .303 is ~80 cpr unless you can find surplus greek HXP or bimetal wolf, which are both ~50cpr.

I'd get modern production in a more common caliber, ruger, savage, cz, or if you can find it a tikka on sale should be ~500 bucks.

>>29709102
Yeah I was looking at Tikkas. They seem really, really nice, especially for having composite+stainless builds that aren't just cheapshit versions of their "real" rifles. This is an advantage for me since I'll be living in the PNW soon and would like a gun that won't get wrecked by a few days in a rainforest.

>>29709088
It's not that a Mosin has inherent troubles really, it's that the 91/30 rifles from the WW2 era are known to have been clumsily refurbished at times, the cocking spring being too long is semi-common.
The cosmoline is a thick goo that protects the steel from moisture and rust over the decades, if you buy a Nugger and it looks like it's caked in earwax, that means it's likely in "mint" condition.
Once you've cleared out the cosmo, and made sure the spring is to spec, then it oughta run like a dream. They're cheap for a reason, you'll do some work on it by yourself.

If you want a boltgun that's cheap to shoot, the Ruger American can be had in .223, which exists in numerous cheap brands, if you don't like the plastic, I believe some places make stocks for them out of laminate wood.