I average 5" groups with my SKSs at 100yds on a bench with no wind. And thats a good day. The rifles are great, the ammo is sub-par, but I am not gonna make reloads or buy Finnish ammo for a plinker.
I was still a teen when the $100 M-1s, $40 Chinese SKSs, $70 03's and $400 G-43s were common. Had I gotten a C&R then and had cash, I could be sitting on a lot of money right now.
What today is cheap and commonplace, ALWAYS becomes rare in the gun market. My $89 SKS investments, I think I bought about 20 59/66s, are up to $300 each after 8 years. That is a lot better than any S&P500 investments I have made. And unlike my stocks, they are guaranteed to go up in value, exponentially, depending on how liberal the political mood is.
Other rifles I bought had tripled in value, and when O got elected, I sold them off quickly and made huge cash, to which, I bought more stuff
I can't afford to collect WW2 German mausers or modern West Euro firearms. And since Red Dawn I've been fascinated with the Soviet weaponry and history. ARs are a dime a dozen, but AK variants from the 50's on in various countries, a bit harder to come by, and thus, neat. The AR in the gun store has no history. Most of my combloc guns have been used in some sort of duty and have real history to them.
You can still walk into a gunshow, and walk out with a 1940s WW2 Russian Mosin and a pocket full of ammo for under $100. What better way to start a hobby