Veiled, Hee! Hee! I'm relatively clueless about guns but I sure can relate to the gift thing you mentioned. My Hubby always gets me a mother's day gift. He asked me what I wanted this year and I told him an outdoor clothsline. He's got it all together today and will be mixing the quick creet tomorrow for the poles. Last year he got me a wonderful set of gardening tools I've been using ever since. I'm with you! I love the useful and practacle gifts.

Hi Veiled,
I hope the weather has calmed down out there. I wish my wife enjoyed some of the same things I do- especially now that I am feeling better and have regained interest in doing things... I plan on going to an outdoor shooting range this weekend and put some rounds through my AK. BTW, another great 'economical' classical arm to consider later on would be a Russian or Chinese "SKS". The ammo for them can be found easily and typically costs about $4 for a box of 20 bullets. I have one with a scope and it shoots great... more than enough accuracy and power to take a deer. Plus there are many economical upgrades that can be made over time if you so choose.
Back onto subject of reply- I read Madjon's reply and he summed it up quite well... beech for practicality, and walnut for (potential) beautiful finish. IMO, If you can get walnut, then get that... it adds more value to the gun and does look nicer- a better long term investment. Before taking it out into a hunting environment, wipe it down with some 'Birchwood-Casey' gun stock wax. Hope this helps.

What you are mentioning sounds familiar, I swear I heard it as a possible before... But it is too close to anniversary for a change as I am limited on the knowledge. I am just not so into it that I can keep all the letters and numbers straight! Personally, I just like to shoot and have a gun built well enough to not kick so hard I miss. My buddy took me out to his property for an extended vacation just to camp and shoot when I had my first major break down. Major stress relief. I mainly played with the hand guns. Shooting is such a release for me. One thing about my old farm I could shoot and now I can't do it in town!

I now have him waffling even though he knew ammo was pricey. But we could get it ordered as he has family who owns a business for police and EMS and is licensed to buy so I would not have huge mark up.

Somehow he had this crazy notion I would let him reload his own ammo... Err don't think so. Practice with the cheaper rounds and for when you sure as hell do not want to miss have a stock of the pricey stuff. Though even the cheap is a bit pricey. He seems to be drooling for these old rifles for so long now.

He is going on as I said weren't you looking at SKS (just now)? So he had to say Oh yeah but the prices were rising and if he wants a bayonet you have to go Chinese (get his jollies) but he was looking at Russian. LOL you may need to hook up with my hubs on here so he can have someone he will actually talk to! He is still pouting I said no to the AK, just too scary looking for me and unfamiliar though my ex got one soon as they legalized them.

If you were to pick an old rifle (military or not, that was good looking, accurate, not insane in price, and could afford ammo what would you say to look at since you seem to have an idea of what my hubs looks at? And has to be good for hunting?

Hi Veiled,
That Sweedish rifle you've considered is an excellent rifle. From what I've read, it's an extremely accurate rifle- looks nice too! As far as the bullets it shoots, I don't know how easy those are to come by, or how expensive they may be.

If I had to pick an old rifle, it would be without a doubt the SKS. It is a great shooter right out of the box. It is very powerful, yet the recoil is light. It is rugged, dependable and will shoot no matter what environmental conditions it's exposed to. It is easy to disassemble and clean. Many people use them for hunting and target/recreational shooting. Large to small-framed people can shoot this gun easily. Parts and stuff are easy to find for this gun... I would pretty much leave it 'as is'- don't be tempted to put a high-capacity magizine as these tend to be problematic (if you need a gun that shoots with a high-capacity magazine, get an AK). The SKS is great the way it is designed. Not only is the gun inexpensive, its ammo is very ECONOMICAL and easy to find at most stores that sell ammo. There are also SKS forums on the web too. If you want a powerful hunting/plinker gun that you will enjoy shooting with the best bang-for-the-buck, the SKS would be the way to go. Hope this helps.

Helps a lot. I am guessing Russian? These are the military surplus if not mistaken?

My SKS happens to be Chinese made, so I know from first-hand experience that they make an excellent version of this gun. I've read that Russian and Yugo are also great too. The Yugo doesn't have a "chrome-lined" barrel... I could be mistaken about this. Crome-lined barrels are good for corrosion resistance, but if you clean your barrel's bore after shooting, it doesn't really matter. My preference for this type of gun though is a "chrome-lined" barrel. Do a search for 'SKS' and its related forums to find out all the info you probably ever wanted to know. Last time I bought ammo (7.62x39), it cost under $4 for a box of 20 rounds ('Wolf' brand); I bought 400 rounds for about $75! They also make hollow-point bullets (hunting) that sell for the same price. BTW, I went to a local indoor rifle range the other day with my SKS and wasn't allowed to shoot... why? -Because my bullets were steel-core 'full metal jacket' and supposedly there rifle-range backstop can't contain them. At first I was a little disappointed, but then I thought, "Yea... this gun is bad-ass!"