I just picked up my first Mosin today. Its a 91/30 that won't win any beauty contests. Not that any of them really are "lookers". No sling included, but the bayonet and cleaning rod was. Bolt operates very nicely. $125 which I thought was a decent price given how much they have gone up lately. Around here, they normally go $175-$195ish The guy said there is probably still some cosmoline in the barrel as it produces a yellow mess when cleaning. Any tips on getting that crap out of the barrel? Now I need to track down a spam can and go bruise my shoulder up a little! Who else has a mosin?
I will when I get home....I'd hate to see the looks of the office folk as I stroll in with a 4' rifle with bayonet on my shoulder
Does your pooch have a name? Very cool looking long arm, the bayonnette makes it look super long. .30 cal?
His name is Bentley. It is very long, even without the bayonet. 3" from not fitting in my gun cabinet kind of long. It's in the 30 cal family. Mdavlee is right, its 7.62x54r. Just a hair bigger than a .308 basically. It's a Russian military surplus rifle aka shoulder punishing, flame throwing, corrosive ammo eating beast. The bore isn't the greatest, but from what I have read, none of them are. The stock was already bubba'd by someone else (refinished terribly) so I am redoing it to make it look somewhat better. The finish would flake off with just the lightest of fingernail scrape. I Just got done with the 60 grit sandpaper actually.
I show up to work in the mornings carrying 3 things- coffee mug, thermos, and "The Love". It's expected of me.
bocefus78- never owned one but always wondered about cutting one down to about 18"BBL. Always thought it'd make a nice carbine.
Other than the stock refinishing (which the old owner did VERY poorly) it'll stay just like it is. I've got no interest in dumping $ into sporterizing mosins (or anything) that won't shoot moa or better. I'll spend my $ on spam cans instead.
I've got a friend that bought one when he turned 18. The gun shop had a wooden barrel full of them and you got the whole kit and bayonet for around $100. He refinished the stock, put a rubber recoil pad on and spent about $200 for a timney trigger and said it still kicks like a mule and still won't group under about 2-3 inches at about 50 yards (could be recoil related). Have fun and it is definitely a conversation piece standing in the corner of the livingroom. Clean it every outing or the primers/ powder residue will corrode the barrel.
Sounds about right....brand new, they were not accurate. No timney, gisselle, or anything will help it. Mass produced...qc didn't exist there and then. Like you said...it's a conversation piece and fun as hell to watch someone shoot it who hasn't shot one before.
get one while you can, you cant go wrong for the price, they are creeping up but 125.00 is good ,thirty years ago swedish mausers were 100.00, in the early 90s i remember sks with all accys for 89.00 ( should have bought 20 ) mosins will go up but likely not a whole lot because there are so many, but some for sure, be sure to shoot it at dusk if you can safely, the fireball is impressive , enjoy there a lot of fun for the price and its good to have a rilfe you dont have to worry about scratching .
I agree, I don't see the sense in it either. I actually have a buddy wanting to turn one into a modern sniper looking rifle. I don't see the point, he'd dump a ton of money into a cheap gun and all he's not gaining a thing in performance.
