Howard County Fairgrounds Mil-surp Review

MilsurpDan · Feb 25, 2012

Went to the Silverado show at the Howard County Fairgrounds this morning when it opened at 9:00 and stayed until about 10:30. Overall the show wasn't horrible but prices weren't as good and there weren't as many Military surplus firearms as I usually see. James River had the usual crate of Mosin Nagants but seemed to have jacked their prices up to $150 a piece, they also had a lot of M24-47 and M48 yugo mausers, and a few Type 53 carbines they must have received from SOG or Century that were in sad looking condition for around $230 I think. Quite a few black rifles and sporting guns

There was one vender there who had a couple Mausers and Arisakas and I managed to pick up this Japanese Type I rifle for $250. Japanese arms are another of my interests so I needed to add a Type I to my collection. The condition was a little rough with some minor pitting here and there but when I got home it cleaned up pretty nicely. The bore has some crud in it and I have yet to clean it out but it looks fine. I'm not an expert on the Type I but I believe this one was manufactured sometime in 1939 based on the serial number. I haven't shot it yet due to the windy weather today but I might take it up to the Cresap range tomorrow. Thanks for looking

P.S. I was the younger looking guy in the green jacket walking around with the rifle and a bag of ammo if anybody else saw me there

-Z/28- · Feb 25, 2012

I went to both shows today, and I agree Howard's milsurp prices were high. At York, Garands were averaging $850, Mosins $110, Carbines $800.

MilsurpDan · Feb 25, 2012

-Z/28- said:
I went to both shows today, and I agree Howard's milsurp prices were high. At York, Garands were averaging $850, Mosins $110, Carbines $800.

I was thinking about going up to the York show but I didn't feel like driving all the way up there, from what I've been reading on other posts it seems like I missed out a bit but I'm happy enough with what I got today

lee2 · Feb 25, 2012

looks like you got a keeper,
nice find.

mawkie · Feb 25, 2012

Agree that pickings were slim compared to recent HC shows. The two items that caught my eye were a Ross MkII that Battlefield Bargains had priced in the mid $500 range and the Webley MKIN .455 auto that the Gun Shack had tagged w.o. a price.
I ended up going home with a nice tan WWII marked Enfield sling but that was it. Not upset as I've spent more than I should at recent auctions (reports to follow in the weeks to come).
BTW, nice Type I!!

yellowsled · Feb 26, 2012

$230 for a ugly type-53, they must be on Crack!

psoyring · Feb 26, 2012

Even some months back James River was trying to get $175 for Mosin laminated stock round receiver 91/30s, ouch.

MilsurpDan · Feb 26, 2012

Yeah, i'm not such a big fan of James River's sales techniques or what they do to some of their surplus rifles. They have some good stuff don't get me wrong but I feel like they'll say anything to get a sale. I think they prey on the folks that are less educated which is how they get people to pay their crazy prices sometimes. I guess you can't really blame them for running a business but it just presents poorly in my opinion

tsmith1499 · Feb 26, 2012

I bought a 1925 91/30 hex reciever from them at the Frederick show for $139.00. I thought that was a fair price since they had already cleaned it and it was ready to shoot. It even had a number matching bayonet! Said it was from his personal collection. I went to HoCo today, sunday, and didn't notice them there. They must have done a good job hiding. Didin't see the usual "crate" of mosins.

yellowsled · Feb 26, 2012

tsmith1499 said:
It even had a number matching bayonet! Said it was from his personal collection.

They are a force matched at the Arsenal. not a biggie.

and I hope you don't believe that it came from his "personal collection" line he gave you? :lol2:

tsmith1499 · Feb 26, 2012

No, I didn't believe that line. Especially since he comes off like a used car salesman. But considering the price I didn't think it was a bad deal. As soon as my 03 FFL comes through I will be ordering one from another dealer out of state.

MilsurpDan · Feb 27, 2012

Funny that you mentioned the "personal collection" thing. He told me the same exact thing when I was at the Frederick show. I about died when I heard him tell some other guy that the double dated MO marked rifles were extremely rare and regularly sell for over $300 but he was selling his for only half the price. I wish I had bought that 1943 tula hex receiver or one of those Yugo M59 sks' he had though...

stu929 · Feb 27, 2012

MilsurpDan said:
Yeah, i'm not such a big fan of James River's sales techniques or what they do to some of their surplus rifles. They have some good stuff don't get me wrong but I feel like they'll say anything to get a sale. I think they prey on the folks that are less educated which is how they get people to pay their crazy prices sometimes. I guess you can't really blame them for running a business but it just presents poorly in my opinion

Not a James river person but I have seen people at shows selling James river rifles at a large markup. Last show I went to recently they had the same rifle you can get from James river for 200 more than list at James. They also had a handful of mosins. I called to ask them and they weren't actually at the show but someone who sells their stuff. They actually told me that due to work load they would be skipping most of the shows for a while to built rifles.

Like I said not a JR person but I wouldnt sling mud at them because someone is there peddling their stuff.

Darkemp · Feb 27, 2012

JR claims their rifles are original, which they are not. They also price gouge to the extreme when possible. They don't seem to have much interest in the collector community.

Lou45 · Feb 27, 2012

MilsurpDan said:
Funny that you mentioned the "personal collection" thing. He told me the same exact thing when I was at the Frederick show. I about died when I heard him tell some other guy that the double dated MO marked rifles were extremely rare and regularly sell for over $300 but he was selling his for only half the price. I wish I had bought that 1943 tula hex receiver or one of those Yugo M59 sks' he had though...

A 1943 Tula HEX receiver??? Or do you mean a 1934 Tula Hex receiver???

psoyring · Feb 27, 2012

Not sure, I have seem some wartime dated rifles built on recycled hex receivers, so could be possible to find a hex 1943 although they are uncommon. Also the double dated MOs are actually more hard to find in a round receiver than a hex.

MilsurpDan · Feb 27, 2012

Lou45 said:
A 1943 Tula HEX receiver??? Or do you mean a 1934 Tula Hex receiver???

It was a 1943 Tula Hex receiver. It seems like Tula recycled quite a few hex receivers during WW2 like psoyring said, even though they are uncommon. There is even some Tula hex receiver M44s that can be found from time to time

KMK1862 · Feb 28, 2012

Mark392001 said:
JR claims their rifles are original, which they are not. They also price gouge to the extreme when possible. They don't seem to have much interest in the collector community.

That's a pretty broad statement. Some of their rifles are definately all original, unless you consider an arsenal refurb to be "non-original".

There are deals to be found on their tables, but you need to know what you're looking at.

Lou45 · Feb 28, 2012

MilsurpDan said:
It was a 1943 Tula Hex receiver. It seems like Tula recycled quite a few hex receivers during WW2 like psoyring said, even though they are uncommon. There is even some Tula hex receiver M44s that can be found from time to time

Thanks for the info. Now that you mention it, IIRC, I saw an M44 Tula with a hex receiver back in the day; it might be in my collection, don't know.

psoyring · Feb 28, 2012

Have also seen wartime Izhevsk rifles with hex receivers, the Soviets wasted very little and it enabled them to produce working rifles faster, which was the all important goal.

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