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Austro-Hungarian captured Russian armored car with Mosin M91 rifle during WW1

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Captured Mosins at Fushun, China after the Russo-Japanese War

Nice example of a late war M39 by VKT

1934: the year of Donald Duck, nights involving long metaphorical knives, and this Mosin! Specifically, this rifle in many ways your standard Soviet M91/30. What’s notable about it however is that it did not stay Soviet forever; this rifle was one of many that fell into the hands of the Finnish Army. Given its age, it’s quite possible that it served on the Soviet side of the Winter War, but the 41 on the side of the barrel denotes that it was one of over 100,000 M91/30s captured during the Continuation War (but not necessarily in 1941). The rifle has clearly seen much use; in addition to several scuffs there is a fairly sizable dent in the stock just above the trigger. The bolt, magazine, cleaning rod, butt plate, and the back barrel band retaining spring are all Izhevsk produced. The bolt appears to be an M91 style as well; I wonder if the Finns intentionally put Imperial bolts in Soviet rifles due to their reputation of being smother? Interestingly the extractor is blued, which makes me think that it may have come from the parts lot the Finnish bought off the Germans. The markings on the stock are almost completely gone, faded and buried under the Finnish finish, but under light I was able to find the faint remains of what I think is a Tula star (you can judge for yourself in the photo). The aluminum escutcheons were also caked over with this finish in parts, which I scrapped off; in my defense, I originally thought it was dried oil because there was a ton of that caked on this rifle as well (it wasn’t cosmoline, we all know cosmoline when we see it lol). The trigger and cleaning rod are in the white, which gives this rifle a very attractive color palette of black, silver, and dark brown. It has the serial number copied onto the receiver as is the Finn way in addition to the SA mark. But perhaps most interesting of all is that this rifle came with the original sling collars still in the stock. I quickly removed them for protection, but it’s a cool thing that I haven’t seen often. The last photo shows the rifle as I received it. Other than that, the rifling is strong and counterbored. I just wish that she could talk. Maybe if the guys at Mosin.fi come across her records, then she just might. Until then, she will just remain a nice example of one of the most common types of Mosin in the Finnish arsenal despite today only being remembered as the rifle used against them.

This M91 is currently the oldest rifle I own, at least in terms of actually knowing when it was made (darn you Turkey for changing the barrel on my Gewehr 88/05/35 in 1941 without letting me see the original date first). It was made at Izhevsk in 1905, meaning that it possibly got to see the tail end of the Russo-Japanese War as well as the 1905 Revolution, though it’s nearly impossible that it saw any direct service in the former. One way or another it then made its way to Finland; given the lack of evidence of being captured by another nation it was probably one of the ones already in Finland when it became an independent nation before immediately joining the “Fought a Civil War Right After WW1” Club. The rifle received a Finnish made (or more specifically, whoever used a Z in a circle with crossed cannons as their mark) two-piece stock with a toe splice sometime before or during the Second World War. Eventually, a large chunk of the stock was taken out under the handguard; we will likely never know if this was due to an incident involving Soviet artillery or too much sahti. What is known is that some of the scuff marks and the white streak on the stock were the result a rough meeting with concrete and the improper use of window cleaner respectively; this is known because these things were my fault. I am considering touching up these parts of the stock with the correct Finnish finish to atone for my younger self’s negligence as a 120th birthday present to this rifle. Other than the stock, a scrubbed floor plate, and the SA mark added after late 1942, the rifle still retains a lot of its Tsarist features. Interestingly, the arshin markings on the rear sight were not crossed out when they were converted to meters. The bore is clean, but predictably counterbored. The cocking piece was made at Sestroryetsk, and the barrel bands are of the retaining pin type but are held in by retaining screws.

I received this rifle for Christmas when I was 13 and it is directly responsible for me catching the milsurp bug. Sadly, the previous owner put it in a Monte Carlo stock which I replaced with this post-war stock soon after getting it. Other than that, the serialized parts are all matching (including the bayonet, which is possibly the coolest part about this rifle), though the cocking piece is from Tula. The bore is not great, partially because I’ve had the most problems with rust on this one, but it is not counterbored. Other than that it’s just a nice phony war M91/30.

This Chinese Type-53 was brought back by an American serviceman from the Vietnam War. This example was manufactured in 1955 at state arsenal 296 also known as “Factory 26”. This example is all numbers matching. Take note of the Chinese writing scratched into the side of the butt stock. Also note the sling which is an early Chinese SKS example and how the rifle was modified with field made D rings to attach it. The last thing to note is the blood staining on the sling as shown in the photos. This rifle was taken in battle and shows blood stains also on the wrist of the stock.

This Chinese Type-53 is a prototype manufactured at state arsenal 296 also know as “Factory 26”. This rifles serial numbers are all matching except the bolt, however all prototype rifle serial numbers begin with the letter A prefix. Despite the bolt not matching it is still a 1953 production bolt. The sling is dated 1970. This rifle was a very early 1980s import directly from the PRC. The bore is perfect. I believe that China deliberately kept the majority of its prototype 1953 production rifles in its inventory and never gave any as aid to foreign nations as I have yet to see one either brought back from Vietnam or imported from Albania.

Possibly what I think is a German capture dragoon. Non matching mechanical components but a matching stock with original, cut hand guard.

Ex-sniper that was resnipered using the original holes and threads.

I think the gun has been refurbished at some point, the stock does not seem to be original because its in really good shape.

Yep. I'm that guy. First firearm, got it for under $100...I was young and dumb. ArchAngel stock, Timney Trigger and Texas Precision Products muzzle brake. Gotta bend the bolt and look into scope mount options. It is surprisingly accurate.

Nice example of a M28/30. Does not appear to have had an eagle ever stamped on it but the tang has been scrubbed so I am unable to verify the original date of the receiver.

Finnish matching bolt with extremely good bluing through out, bore is 8/10 and slightly counter bored.

Found this girl by accident a few weeks ago and once I discovered it being a PEM (my absolute dream sniper) I had to restore her. Bore Is a 9/10 with no counter-boring.

1942 was the last year of production for PEMs, as well as the first and last year that Izhevsk would produce them. I believe they made 31,689 total.

Picked this M27 up from a local gun shop. Receiver is an 1898 Tula, and the rear half of the reused Russian stock is a from 1893 with the stock filled in where the finger rest was before they removed it. It also retains the early M27 stock style without the reinforced nose cap, and no cutouts in the stock for them either. The bolt retains its wings at the rear of the connector bar and the bar is numbered to match the gun. Curiously, the rifle was never updated to the D pattern.

1942 Tula? PU Sniper Tribute Rifle. Purchased on GB With just the receiver mount no scope or rings. Big Sam, told me who made it however i can't find the email and forgot. It is not a real PU sniper. However it is a very nice tribute rifle with a great bore.

I bought this Mosin for $100 bucks in mid 2024 along with a much newer rifle

This is a 1916 Tula Peter The Great Mosin, with Imperial Eagles still intact. At some point the stock was replaced with an earlier version that shows Austro-Hungarian capture marks, rechambering mark, and evidence of their sling hangers. The left side of the stock has a few small pieces of shrapnel imbedded. Not original to this rifle, but an authentic WW1 wire cutter is mounted. The barrel is SA stamped, so this rifle was in Finnish service at least until 1942.

Rifle was imported by PW arms in Redmond Washington, other than that I don't know much about this rifle and it's history.

I assume the stock has been replaced at some point but seems to be in a fairly good condition, very little rust and the rifling looks pretty good.

Was originally a crate 91/30 fitted with a aftermarket PU scope

I belive this is a bring back of some sort as there are no import markings on the rifle

Serial 16442

• Intact stock disc denoting use by the 1st Company-Bicycle Battalion 1 of the Finnish Army.
• All early features intact including stock and disc, barrel bands, and "winged" guide piece.
• Bolt is original Finn matching. All other parts are scrubbed.
• Tikkakoski barrel is mated to an 1896 Izhevsk receiver.

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