New Russkie 91/30?

[DOGolden]

No pictures yet because I am still considering if I should purchase the pig or not. The other day I was trolling and came across an oddity of sorts. Maybe one of you can help me out.

I spied a 1936 Russian 91/30. Externally she looked beautiful. She had a shellac type of finnish (typical Russkie I think). She is wearing a one piece stock. This one had the Russian star on top with the 1936 date on her. At first I thought she was a Finn but upon closer examination I could not find the "SA" stamp anywhere. I looked down the bore and was disappointed. :icon_scratch: Naturally she is not a matching beauty queen.

What strikes me as odd is that it appears to have a Finnish handguard. Another oddity is that she is wearing a round reciever as well. I could have taken her apart at the counter (God knows I have cleaned enough rifles for him in the past) and taken a closer look underneath but I was not so sure if this one was going to be a keeper (even though the price was right). :confused:

I thought the round receivers were wartime production. I consulted with "the Oracle" and he said that this is not the case. Anybody care to speculate? :dontknow:

I have no idea about the rounded reciever, but do believe that this rifle is a Finnish capture even though there is no "SA" stamp to be found. I doubt if I will purchase this one but I am curious as to what she is, or what she may be.

[Stan in SC]

A star on the receiver?Produced at the Tula arsenal.If it were Finnish it surely would have the "SA".

[DOGolden]

A star on the receiver?Produced at the Tula arsenal.If it were Finnish it surely would have the "SA".

My understanding is that not all Finn captures were stamped with the "SA" markings. I guess some were captured and put to use without the formaility of an approving authority??? :confused: Do you find it odd with the reciever being round???

[keithreid]

a 1935 with a round receiver would be a hard to find rifle. 1936 was a half and half thing. they are common with either hex or round receivers.
the SA mark is not guaranteed, either. the stamp wasn't used until after the winter war, about in the middle of the continuation war. no real way to tell if it's finn without the stamp though. look for av3 marked shims between the action and stock, might be possible to prove it.
my first mosin ever was a 32 izhevsk 91/30 that didn't have an SA mark, but DID have the D stamp on the chamber.
hth, y'all have a good day! Keith

[Rockman]

My understanding is that all Finns had Hex receivers. Call me wrong, but this is what I have read and saw.

[keithreid]

My understanding is that all Finns had Hex receivers. Call me wrong, but this is what I have read and saw.


not correct. the 43 and 44 tikka made 91/30's can be either hex or round. there are a LOT of captured 91/30's with round receivers. remember, after 1936, the round receiver was the predominant one used. the winter war wasn't till 1939/40.
there are even a few 40's dated tikka and vkt m91's made on round receivers.

i have several 91/30 finn captures with round receivers. the two that stand out are a well used 38 izhevsk and a 39 tula that's factory matching, even got a tula stock cartouche dated 1939.
haven't found an m91 with a round receiver yet, just seen them in pics. have managed to find 44 tikka 91/30's with both hex and round though.



i haven't heard of or seen an m27 or m28/30 with round receivers. there might be a few hiding out there somewhere though.

edit:
after re-reading this post, i realized it might come across as kinda short. wasn't meant to be, i'm short with words sometimes.

the remarks on the m27 and m28/30 might be disputed, too. iirc, both were made until at least 1939. there's a very slim chance that one might have been made on a round receiver. just not a high probability.

y'all have a good day! Keith

[SAC22PPC]

hey what does the sa stamp look like and whats the value of a 90/31 with bubba stock? did the fins use a sling loop or the thingy through the stock like the ruskies did?
at the local gunshop theres a cut stock nagant with an SA in a box on the left where a mausers ser# would be, they want $99 for it. is this rifle worth grabing? by the way its a hex, very smooth compared tot he nagants i have seen before...all of the 3 or 4 of them! hehehehe


0] SAC22PPC 0]

[Stan in SC]

The "SA" is in a box on the left of the receiver.

[DOGolden]

I'm squared away on the hex/round reciever dilemma, thanks for all your input. So, if this were a Finn capture w/o the "SA" stamp on it and it did have the "D" stamp on it that would be a Finnish capture, correct? :dontknow:



SAC-
$99 bucks, for what? From what you say I'd let that one go. You can find Nagants all day long fer $100, even Finn captures (I say this because most pawnshop owners have a hard enough time telling that the rifle is a Nagant, much less a Finn capture). However, $99 would be a good buy if you really want it, depending upon bore condition and the exact type of Nagant in question.

[CoorsLightGuy]

When in doubt..........

http://www.7.62x54r.net/

Ted used to have a "logic tree" on there somewhere that could help you figure out what you had. I'm not sure if you could do it from memory, but if you had the gun in front of you, you could nail it down with 99% certainty.

[keithreid]

the finns used wire hangers that have a screw going through the slot to hold the loop on the rifle. rifles from the balkans, spain, and austria used sling loops, but they were made of bent wire and were one piece.

a 91/30 with cutdown stock for 99 bucks would be a pretty easy project, but not very cost efficient. a refurb stock could be had for 40-50 in several places, but will not match the rifle. the sling loops are going for around 25 bucks when available.

if you guys want finn capture 91/30's badly, call larry's pistol and pawn in huntsville, AL. i haven't made a trip in there in the last 4 years that he hasn't had at least one on the rack. he's priced them up in the 130 range lately though. seems to have upset several local collectors by doing that, too.

for smoothness in a mosin action, there are 3 surfaces on the bolt and 1 on the receiver that can be lightly polished to make operating the bolt much smoother and easier.

the biggest culprit for difficult operation is the spiral slot between the cocking piece and the rear of the bolt handle. this is what caused cocking when the bolt is opened. i have had some that were difficult to open because these surfaces weren't square. took a little time to smooth them, but was well worth it.

y'all have a good day! Keith

[Rockman]

keithreid, I stand corrected. Thank You kindly for the heads up.