i'm expecting my C&R ffl any day now, and i spend my evenings flipping thru SGN with a highliter, marking the Curios and Relics and drooling. what should i get first?

on second thought, maybe that IS a religious question?

A lot BIGGER BANK ACCOUNT your gonna need it

Well, you could get a religous curio / relic, like an old church pew or something.  [:D]

Seriously, my first choice would ALWAYS be an M1. Does that qualify as C&R???

Give us your choices. Then we'll tell you what to get, and you MUST obey us.  [:D]

I'd say M1 Garand too, except there arent any. At least no REAL ones. Best deal for a M1 Garand is the CMP. The genuine M1 Garands left in SGN are all at "collector" prices.

I always gor for the WW2 vintage first personally. See if you can still hound up a REAL GERMAN K98 Mauser. They were good deals last year. This year there seems to be some collectible P38s on the market. Just make sure you are getting a WW2 production one and not a postwar P1.

Most C&Rs try and get the issue rifle from every principle country involved in WW2 to for a collection of mostly bolt actions.

already have the garand. so far the collection has been us military long arms(got 4, need '03, trapdoor, m14/m1a).
a good intersecting line would be ww2 longarms(mauser,nagant,carcano,smle,arisaka), or german auto pistols (c96,p08,p38) maybe? 1911 clones?

Ok, how do I tell if it's a REAL GERMAN K98 Mauser?  Dad brought two home... I think ...

The one I got has BNZ stamped on it, and 44 below it.

Lurker -

I'd go for the full complement of US martial arms  - M1, M1 Carbine, 1911, 03 Springfield, trapdoor, etc.

Then go after some Brit enfields. Lots of variants.

then the Mausers.

Jap jobs would be last.

My Mosin-Nagant 91/30 should be here today!  I think my next C&R will be the French Mas 49/56 with all the accessories.  I know, it's French, but such a good deal for "like new"!  And, its a semi-auto assult rifle!  All though, I don't think I will be wasting 7.5X54 rounds quite like 5.56 rounds.

BNZ is Chech, made for the Germans. The 44 would be the date of production.

Second the Enfields suggestion. A No.4 is a sweet bolt gun.