Went to the local gun show today with Wizard. We saw folks selling Mosin-Nagant 91/30s for the same price as AR-15s ($375). Wasn’t that long ago that the Mosin would be $100 and a stock AR would be at least $800.
My first firearm purchase was a Mosin m39 (examples of which have recently sold on GunBroker for $700!). I still have it, like it, and will probably never sell it, but… I sure as heck wouldn’t have bought it if I could have bought an AR for the same price.
Heck, a little while ago, I bought a Ruger American Predator *with scope* that shoots rings around that Mosin for less than $700. And it shoot .308, which can be picked up at the local Walmart in multiple loadings.
I will say that there’s still something about the old milsurp rifles, but the days of picking them up for cheap are, sadly, behind us.