M95 Thoughts

[ADR]

Looking ahead towards the new year I'm beginning to consider my next C&R purchase to keep the Mosin company. (I'm fairly new to C&R hence Mosin not Mosins.)

Anyway, my collecting budget is limited compared to some so I search for firearms that are affordable yet effective and enjoyable.

What are your thoughts, opinions, experiences, etc... with the M95's?

 

[h2u]

What's your budget? Are you a collector or shooter? I don't own an M95, but I understand the ammo is a little hard to come by. If your a shooter-there are plenty of different models of Mosins available with the cheap ammo. You can find the carbines from $150-$250 all the time on Gunbroker-and in pawn shops.

$250-$350 gets you into the K31's, RC Mausers, SKS's, and others. All of these have lots of ammo available.
Hope this helps!

Looking ahead towards the new year I'm beginning to consider my next C&R purchase to keep the Mosin company. (I'm fairly new to C&R hence Mosin not Mosins.)

Anyway, my collecting budget is limited compared to some so I search for firearms that are affordable yet effective and enjoyable.

What are your thoughts, opinions, experiences, etc... with the M95's?

 

[bean93x]

i have a hungarian m95/34 thats a nice little carbine. love the sound and muzzle blast from the 8x56r. aimsurplus has prvi 8x56r for about $20 a box and i reload so i bought the lee die set, a little bit of some hornady soft point and prvi fmj ammo, and components to reload. i bought misc stuff from buymilsurp, wideners, and egun parts. i'd like to get another all matching numbers excellent condition one to match though.

oh and if you want to shoot real deal nazi marked 8x56r, expect to pay around $2+ per round.

 

[ADR]

What's your budget? Are you a collector or shooter? I don't own an M95, but I understand the ammo is a little hard to come by. If your a shooter-there are plenty of different models of Mosins available with the cheap ammo. You can find the carbines from $150-$250 all the time on Gunbroker-and in pawn shops.

$250-$350 gets you into the K31's, RC Mausers, SKS's, and others. All of these have lots of ammo available.
Hope this helps!

I would consider myself a little of both within the limits of my budget. I'm not a guy who would likely purchase (or be able to afford) something so rare/valuable that I'd never shoot it but I'm also not a guy who's able to shoot every week either.

I like to stay below the $250 mark when possible but will save for the right purchase.

A K31 is on my list and I've almost pulled the trigger a few times (No pun intended) on purchasing an SKS.

 

[BeltBuckle]

K31 gets my vote. Lots of fun Enfields out there, too, but easy to get lost amongst the variants.

 

[mawkie]

M95 carbines fall easily within a $250 budget but are a bear to shoot. If you like recoil and flame they're for you!
The M95 rifles are a different matter, much easier on the shoulder but would probably run slightly outside your budget. They're averaging about $300-350 these days. Much harder to find compared to the carbines. Probably more of a collector's item these days.
As to ammo, I've never had a problem but that's only because I bought a case decades ago and don't shoot my M95s that much.

 

[bbrown]

You might also consider the older sibling of the K31, i.e., the K11. Those are more uncommon than the K31. Copes distributing has them in stock, for example.

Bryan

 

[ADR]

M95 carbines fall easily within a $250 budget but are a bear to shoot. If you like recoil and flame they're for you!
The M95 rifles are a different matter, much easier on the shoulder but would probably run slightly outside your budget. They're averaging about $300-350 these days. Much harder to find compared to the carbines. Probably more of a collector's item these days.
As to ammo, I've never had a problem but that's only because I bought a case decades ago and don't shoot my M95s that much.

That's exactly what I was looking at, I should have specified that I meant a carbine.

I guess a little recoil can be a good thing if you want to keep the ammo consumption/cost down.

 

[Nachtjager]

Go for the M95, I picked up an austrian one with bayonet from J&G for $179 and for $9 they added 20 rounds of surplus ammo but no clips. Seems a few vendors got some in the past few months and they are pretty cheap. Never know when they will run out and the prices will start going up. I've picked up some of the nazi stuff at gunshows for $15 not too bad considering it's loaded on clips and i've seen places selling the clips by themself for $10.

 

[mawkie]

There is a Yugo version, designation M95M ,that's chambered to handle the same 8 x 57mm ammo as their Mausers. It has a permanent clip installed and is loaded via stripper. Bad news is that they have a tendency to break extractors and have also become popular in certain collectors circles, driving prices for an intact shooter up above $300.

 

[wilcam47]

they are fun to shoot but kick like a mule!

 

[j8064]

M95's are very fun shooters and do kick like a mule. I was fortunate enough to pick up a very nice one a few years ago along with a set of Redding dies and ~ 100 rounds of ammo (mix of Nazi and reloaded) all for less than $200 delivered. But you don't often find deals like that.

As has been said, 8x56r ammo is not cheap. For a reloader it's an economical round to shoot occasionally. You'll also need enbloc clips. They're reusable, but that adds to cost of acquisition and shooting.

For an early C&R acquisition as a range rifle an M95 would not be first on my list. Others have teed up some very good suggestions. K31's and SMLE's can be accurate shooters although ammo is not as cheap as it used to be. Beyond another Mosin and early in collecting, I'd consider a Mauser of some make. Yugo 24/47's are good shooters and there are plenty of economical Turk M38's around. 8x57 surplus ammo is not as cheap as 7.62x54, but can be found if you keep your eyes open.

Good luck.