Ten Military Surplus Rifles Worth Buying Before Prices Climb

Surplus rifles are still one of the best deals in shooting, and a new rundown from Survival Gear rounds up ten CMP and import-market guns worth hunting down before prices climb any further. The list mixes cheap, simple rifles with genuine oddities that most collectors never get a chance to handle.

Key points

• SKS Type 56: Survival Gear flags it as the budget pick, now harder to find under $150 but still cheap, simple, and chambered in the AK's 7.62x39mm.
• AS Val and VSS Vintorez: integrally suppressed Soviet rifles firing 9x39mm, described as near-silent with subsonic ammo but tough to find on the surplus market.
• M1 Garand via CMP: buying direct from the Civilian Marksmanship Program can save $250 to $1,500 over resale prices, with rack-grade Garands currently under $500.
• Egyptian Hakim and Rashid: the video calls the Rashid "massively undervalued" at $700-$1,100 given how few made it into the US, while Hakims run around $550 and up.
• Arisaka and Springfield caveats: Arisaka values have climbed to $450-$1,000, but ammo scarcity is a real barrier, and the 1903 Springfield is called out as the priciest rifle on the list.

Quick take

This isn't a buy-everything list — Survival Gear is upfront about tradeoffs like scarce Arisaka ammo and rising Rashid prices. For readers building out a milsurp collection, it's a useful snapshot of where the real bargains and traps are right now.

Watch the full video: Survival Gear