When I was a kid in the 60s I used to pore over the gun magazines. They all had ads for surplus guns at some great prices even adjusted for inflation.
I was attending High School and working part time at a filling station. I managed to order a 7mm Chilean Mauser. A 6.5 Swedish Mauser, an Astra 600 complete with holster and spare mag. Also a Radom, an early model at that.
That Chilean Mauser was beautiful but the Chilean Government had ground off the crest which ruined it’s value to me. It was a great shooter too.
The Radom had a broken hook on the extractor. It still functioned about half the time. I took it to a large gunsmith shop in Pensacola. They thought they could either make a new one or alter one. They never did so I picked it up and later traded it.
Random Poland (Circle 11 factory) made some good stuff
And yeah the Postman would give it to any kid that payed for it
I’m a Milsurplus collector too :)