Its one of those times when every dollar could help you to either pay bills or feed other hobbies... well im a little of both. I got 2 rifles, ruger M77 mark 2 and a swedish mauser made in 1902. I fell in love with swedish mausers and 6.5x55 cause it kicks so little yet can still kill deers and stuff. On one hand 308 is cheap, can get lots of surplus ammo and brass and lets face it, you're most likely to find ammo in a SHTF time. On the other hand my swedish mauser which I paid little (175) for it but as far as I know it shoots good, kicks very little, the 308 beats the crap out of me compared to 6.5x55. Then again swedish mauser is one of those mauser that is harder to find.. and yet the fit and finish is almost as good if not better than most modern rifles. So which one should I sell, the swedish mauser or the ruger?

Keep in mind I am not going to be reloading so brass availibility is moot point, I dont know where you can find surplus 6.5x55 that is still safe to shoot with the weaker small ring action (but people have shot 308s with small ring mauser action and reported that it was fine with even commercial 308, so it may be a moot point) and ammoman doesnt sell them... Im not looking for a completely match rifle and my 1911 fills the self defense niche already (who wants to defend himself in an apartment with a boltgun?) and if I want completely match those "sniper" rifles costs a fortune and I dont even shoot that much... I have heard of people winning 1000 yard matches with a stock swedish mauser, is this true?

Let me be the first to recommend that you run, don't walk, to the nearest gun shop and buy an AR.

5.56 doesn't kick either, and it works well on human sized game. Keep both your rifles and fire up a new AR on plastic. You'll be glad you did.

Sell the Ruger. Keep the Mauser. I paid $60 for mine back in 1989 & I've been offered $200 for it. Ammo can be found cheaply, usually at gun shows & occasionally in Gun List newspaper. Also Cole Distributing has buys on it from time to time.

My Mauser was made in 1922 & it looks almost brand new.