This rifle is probably the "best bang for your buck" when it comes to a cheap, reliable rifle. You can usually pick one up, fully loaded with stripper clips, ammo pouch, sling, bayonet and all the fixings for around $125. It shoots a really hot round of 7.62x54 and is proven combat effective. This is the very rifle that led to the Russian army holding off the Germans. The ammo is also really cheap at around 50 rounds for $10 or so.
If you see the movie "Enemy at the Gates", this is the rifle of Vasily Zaitsev and the other Russian snipers.