I finally got myself a rifle with an optic, albeit a bit of an old one.

Like all Mosin Nagants, this one went through the soviet rearsenal program after WWII and was purpose built and made as a sniper rifle with a bent bolt and smoothed trigger pull. So unlike the more common 91/30 PU clones made by importers like CAI, this rifle is the real deal and can actually hit things. It is a 1943 Izhevsk with a Progress made scope.

Very nice! How much did it cost?

It cost me $549 off of AIM Surplus, beautiful rifles. I got a chance to shoot it this past weekend and it is damned accurate.

http://www.aimsurp...item=F3MOSIN9130PU

Anyway, I ended up taking some better photos.

Nice.
Real nice.
Commie rifles are absurdly robust.
"But the safety ..."
Recently had a very absurd discussion with a gunshop commando about the +/-s of safeties on Soviet arms.

I have owned and fired Mosins, SKSs, and AKs since I was 10 and have never had or seen any sort of mishap.
Saw a nearly fatal mishap on Friday when some megadouche wanna-be operator put 3 rounds into a range divider as he was trying to do some over-exaggerated Costa C-clamp grip with his insanely over-kitted M4.

Posted by DevilC Nice. Real nice. Commie rifles are absurdly robust. "But the safety ..." Recently had a very absurd discussion with a gunshop commando about the +/-s of safeties on Soviet arms. I have owned and fired Mosins, SKSs, and AKs since I was 10 and have never had or seen any sort of mishap. Saw a nearly fatal mishap on Friday when some megadouche wanna-be operator put 3 rounds into a range divider as he was trying to do some over-exaggerated Costa C-clamp grip with his insanely over-kitted M4.

All the kids these days want an AR15 with 15 lbs of bullshit they will never need and cannot use properly with their tac lighted Sig226 Mk25 or whatever. I'm over here like "gimme some wooden shit from WWII".

Soviet arms are safe as long as you follow the very basic principle of gun safety. A manual safety generally stops accidents that only would have happened due to negligent handling.

Posted by Soldat All the kids these days want an AR15 with 15 lbs of bullshit they will never need and cannot use properly with their tac lighted Sig226 Mk25 or whatever. I'm over here like "gimme some wooden shit from WWII". Soviet arms are safe as long as you follow the very basic principle of gun safety. A manual safety generally stops accidents that only would have happened due to negligent handling.

^^^^^^^^
THAT!

and awesome pics man!

True.
A Nagant will reach out and touch someone well beyond the effective engagement range of an M4, 300m.
That is MY effective range because I know how to use my AR and have an ACOG.
Most folks practice on a 25m range, standing up, and don't really know the basics of using a rifle.

Posted by Soldat All the kids these days want an AR15 with 15 lbs of bullshit they will never need and cannot use properly with their tac lighted Sig226 Mk25 or whatever. I'm over here like "gimme some wooden shit from WWII". Soviet arms are safe as long as you follow the very basic principle of gun safety. A manual safety generally stops accidents that only would have happened due to negligent handling.

Nice Mosin! I've always had a thing for them. Powerful and cheap to shoot.

Question on yours, why is the scope serial crossed out on the receiver? I assume it is just because the scope wasn't the original for the rifle?

I got one of the reproduction snipers years ago from my brother-in-law's dad who owns a gun shop down in Texas. It's a decent shooter, but you can tell it wasn't originally a sniper.



Cool thing is though, I found an actual ex sniper, all matching serials (Except the stock) at Gander Mountain one day just sitting in with all the other Mosins for $100. That thing is a tack driver. Some of the snipers were converted back to standard rifles because they lost their accuracy and others just because the optics were expensive to maintain. I got lucky I guess.

Posted by AvsFreak Nice Mosin! I've always had a thing for them. Powerful and cheap to shoot. Question on yours, why is the scope serial crossed out on the receiver? I assume it is just because the scope wasn't the original for the rifle? I got one of the reproduction snipers years ago from my brother-in-law's dad who owns a gun shop down in Texas. It's a decent shooter, but you can tell it wasn't originally a sniper. Cool thing is though, I found an actual ex sniper, all matching serials (Except the stock) at Gander Mountain one day just sitting in with all the other Mosins for $100. That thing is a tack driver. Some of the snipers were converted back to standard rifles because they lost their accuracy and others just because the optics were expensive to maintain. I got lucky I guess.

The russians rebuilt every one of their Mosin Nagant rifles at least one time after WWII. The snipers likely got the same treatment. They took rifles, stripped down the parts, put them in bins, and then reassembled them as rifles. The rifles then had the serial numbers re-stamped to match the barrel shank. The scopes also were taken off, rearsenaled, and put on the refurbished rifles. The original scope number was crossed off and the new one electropenciled on. This was done sometime in the 1950s-1970s. That is why PU scopes are very common to find, the Russian kept them all when they took them off the rifles.

After the war the Russians realized they had a glut of sniper rifles. They standardized the Mosin Platform to the PU scope, so all the PEM snipers were converted back to regular rifles. A great many PU snipers were converted back to regular rifles too, and not just because they were worn out. Many people have ex snipers with better bores than ones the Russians kept as snipers. It could be they did it randomly, or if, say they had 100,000 rifles and only wanted to keep 30k, once they found that quota of rifles that made the standard all others were de-snipered regardless of condition.

But sad to say your ex sniper is not all matching, but almost no Russian Mosin is, they are arsenal restamped. The rifles original bolt would have been bent, not straight. Easy way to tell restamped numbers is the font is different on the barrel shank than the parts. Your rifle had a PU mount.

Good to know. Thanks for the history lesson! ;)

Posted by Soldat So unlike the more common 91/30 PU clones made by importers like CAI, this rifle is the real deal and can actually hit things.

I'm actually looking into buying a 91/30 for target shooting/general buffoonery... it's only $170 from Cabella's.

http://www.cabelas...l-Rifle/710007.uts

Any reason I should invest an extra $200+ for a better model? I've shot a lot of these around Maine, and they've all been incredibly accurate, the only complaints I hear are people wanting to customize them and add rail mounts and such... (get an AR-15 dumbos), and as they have been stored in the Ukraine for several decades, some of them need weeks of cleaning before you can actually fire them (gotta get out the thermocline... is that what it's called?)

PS: I should probably include that other than shotguns, I know very little about guns.

Posted by blitz I'm actually looking into buying a 91/30 for target shooting/general buffoonery... it's only $170 from Cabella's. http://www.cabelas...l-Rifle/710007.uts Any reason I should invest an extra $200+ for a better model? I've shot a lot of these around Maine, and they've all been incredibly accurate, the only complaints I hear are people wanting to customize them and add rail mounts and such... (get an AR-15 dumbos), and as they have been stored in the Ukraine for several decades, some of them need weeks of cleaning before you can actually fire them (gotta get out the thermocline... is that what it's called?) PS: I should probably include that other than shotguns, I know very little about guns.

If all you want is a shooter than there is no reason to pay more than $170 for one. That is the going rate for a regular round receiver 91/30 these days. Hex receivers go for more usually, they are older, but no better.

If you are going to the store there are some things to look for that make the mosin more desirable but sellers don't really differentiate from. One is the stock escutcheons, which tell you if the stock is pre-war, post war, or wartime. The pre-war and wartime are a bit less common and have more history.

http://7.62x54r.ne...osinFeatures06.htm

Also, if you run into one that is double dated, or an ex sniper that brings up the value. If you find a 1941 Tula that is one of the most rare 91/30s in existence.

Posted by Soldat If you are going to the store there are some things to look for that make the mosin more desirable but sellers don't really differentiate from. One is the stock escutcheons, which tell you if the stock is pre-war, post war, or wartime. The pre-war and wartime are a bit less common and have more history.

Yeah I've been told to try and find a guy at a dealer at a gun show with a whole bunch you can pick through, I'll see what my options are at Cabella's.

Thanks for that link as well, very interesting and should prove useful while shopping around. I'm in no rush to purchase so I'll probably take my time and see if I can't find a relatively unique one.