Just to cause trouble...

[trubluedog]

I need your opinions, gentle persons.
I am trying to decide on a new rifle. I have narrowed it down to two. The Mosin,(Of course I still have to decide which model) or an Enfield. Please share your thoughts. Price is not an issue, and I have shot both and still can't decide. Getting both is not an option, right away.
1, caliber versatillity 7.62x54 vs. .303
2, durability, ruggedness
3, Ammo availibility in the future

I am not thinking shtf, I have and am happy with my sks for that. I am mainly thinking plinking and hunting, maybe defense as a last resort.
Help me out guys. Please, no flames, just honest opinions.

[preokc]

good 303 surplus ammo is hard to come bye and more expensive then 762x54 ammo.

[16r40]

ammo is the biggest drawback......like preokc stated it's pretty pricey, for old "mil-surplus"

M-N are pretty nice rifles, and the ammo as well the rifle is real cheap, you can get a whole shitload of 54r for about the same price you would be buying a handful of 303.......my sugguestion would be to get the 91/30....the carbine 44s have a hell of a recoil to them, more then a 1903.

as for future availibility of ammo, wheather it's 303, 54r, 308 etc...can't be said with any ceratinity.....just remember there is a limit of surplus stuff out there.......how long will it last, or be available, no one can say. unless you have a time machine and can go one year to the next into the future, until you find that year that it can't be found.

as for ruggedness....nothing beats a M-N, there really isn't anything on those that can break easily.......remember these are the exact same rifles that vietnamese peasants, soviet soldiers and their surrogates used and abused in about every war and conflict......you can call these rifles the model T of the firearms age.

I'm not too up on the enfields, but judging by the wide spread use of them among the former british colonies, by third world people, and during the afagan/soviet and later war with the US.....I would say they are just as rugged and reliable as the M-N

there isn't much that can go wrong with a bolt action military rifle.......there is only one moving part on them, the guy working the bolt.