[CWMV]

Originally Posted by Sternjaeger II

you're missing my point. I know they will shoot even in the worst conditions, but no maintenance will still do them no good. And yes, the AK ammo is the best in its range, big fat bullets that can knock through a lot more than the flimsy 5.56..

Ive actually got a bet going with the wife on this. I havent cleaned/maintained any of my AK's for the last 2 years, and I bet I can go 5 without having issues. She thinks 3 years.

Obviously not the right thing to do, but hey even after 2, no maint, and thousands of rounds of com-bloc surplus they still run like champs! All Romainian too, except for the Saiga conversions.

IMHO as a semiauto rifle it's probably one of the best designs ever. It can be a bit heavy, but composite stocks and special straps make it still very portable and above all dead accurate. It's only 10cm longer than a SCAR-H, but this means it burns the 30-06 powder all the way and gives it an effective range of 450yds (I've seen folks with M-1D sniper hitting gong targets at 1000yds).
The sleek design means that you have no annoying magazine under, and the 30-06 is far superior to the .308.
Don't know why you're comparing it to bolt action rifles though, they are designed and meant to be used in a different way.
I have a K98 with ZF-41 and that is by far one of the best bolt action rifles ever. Forget about the Russian Mosin-Nagant crap, the Mauser bolt action is one of the smoothest, safest and most perfect things ever.
I have an Enfield No.4 T as well, and despite being considered the best sniper rifle of WW2, I can't come to terms with the action, but it surely is a dead accurate gun.

For certain accurate, but the round is frankly obsolete. .308 can be loaded to duplicate and exceed 30-06 performance and its starting to dry up in a bad way. There is a lot to be said for arming yourself with a current caliber.
My biggest complaint about the garand isn't the weight, Ive been a 240 gunner and a mortarman so this rifle isn't going to drag me down! Its the shape. I mean its just...awkward! To me anyway. I mean I seriously just can not get into a comfortable position with the garand.

And whats this about M.N. crap! I happen to love the platform, for the same reason i appreciate all Russian guns-simplicity and form that follows function.
My 1915 Peter the Great M.N. will shoot just as well as any of my mausers, and after a thorough cleaning (I'm talking DAYS to get the near 100 years of gunk out) the bolt is very smooth.
Only thing that really gets me on the M.N. is feeding it. You go to push the rounds into the mag and before you bottom out there is this ledge on the side of the receiver that can tear your thumb nail off!

Ive never had the opportunity to shoot an Enfield, but it is quite a fetching platform. If I could ever find a reasonably priced Ishapore Enfield in my area Id be on it like a fat kid on cake.

well yeah, it's still Rumanian junk IMHO. If you want a good modern sniper rifle you need to look at Tikka or Remington (the 700 Police is just a perfect platform), they're not cheap, but man what fantastic, simple, precise guns they are!

Well your comparing apples to automobiles here. Neither the PSL or the Drag are sniper rifles by western standards, they are more akin to a designated marksmans rifle, more comparable to a scoped GI M-14. Performance wise they are pretty similar.

I see that your from Canada. That sucks (as far as guns go). Even in California we can own Ar/AK platform rifles.

You know what surprises me though is the seemingly common nature of the SVT-40 up there. Here they are like Hens teeth, and can cost thousands of dollars. Ive spoken to Canadians who bought their 5-round magazine SVT's for $400. Id do terrible things to own an SVT.

EDIT: And if your going to talk actual sniper rifles, dont forget Savage! They consistently win competitions here with out of the box stock rifles, going against custom Rem/Tikka variants.

EDIT 2: Misread-jaws is out of Canada-my mistake!