If you want a exceptional rifle I would join the Civilian Marksmanship Program
http://www.odcmp.com/
you join an affiliated organization, you send them 500 bucks, and they send you a M1 Garand...
Not to affend anyone here, but the M1 beats the pants off of any of the other WWII rifles... its just no contest.
Its a bit more money, but the cool factor on the M1 is through the roof, theres just something about En Bloc clips that just oozes panache.
oh, and .30-06 ammo (what the Garand fires) is prolly cheaper then the 7.62 x 54 and is certainly cheaper than the 8mm's the mausers hurl at targets...
definately more easily available too...
General George S. Patton called the Garand: "The greatest battle implement ever devised"
something to think about, George was no pushover
