Mosin Nagant Snipers - What's the differences?

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cm_machinist

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Hey guys.

I'm looking at buying a Mosin sniper. The retailers that sell them are all good to deal with, but I find the price differences to be a little confusing. Some places sell regular 91/30s that are mounted with a reproduction scope, which is fine. Other's claim they are selling actual sniper rifles with original scopes. When it comes to function and accuracy, is there much difference? At the end of the day I don't want to pay extra for BELIEVING I have an actual sniper, but if it can be proven somehow it's an actual factory sniper rifle then I would gladly pay the price to get one. Thoughts?
 
There is no way to guarantee that you will get authentic sniper online. Unless you call the store and ask the owner to insure that you are getting one.

BTW. Do you want authentic Mosin sniper or accurate Mosin?

There is a finnish M39 on EE for $900, that one will outshoot majority of mosin "snipers".
 
As I understand it there were no special production Mosin Sniper rifles. They simply selected the most accurate ones when testing new production rifles and used them as sniper rifles. The Russians don't really use true snipers. They are really designated marksmen and very widespread in their use. The sniper mosin was really only good out to about 300-500m which was fine for Russian military doctrine. Beyond this it typically wasn't accurate enough and the scopes of those times were pretty crude. Even the Enfield sniper rifles which were actually specially manufactured to higher standards were not really good for much beyond 500m. Similarly for the American Springfields, so that mile crack in Saving Private Ryan is complete BS. Don't expect anything like what you can get out of 6.5 Creedmoor for example. If you want the true history of a genuine WW2 Mosin Sniper good luck they are very rare. Almost all are actually reassembled from old parts but are not truly a matching sniper. If you just want to shoot one in that style then a repro should be fine provided the rifle is decently accurate, a big question with any Mosin. They were typically "used hard and put away wet". Mine is about 6MOA on a good day.
 
cm_machinist said:
If I had to choose I'd say accurate. No point buying a rifle just for looks.
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Then M39 should be the one. They are top-end mosins.

Another one just popped-up on EE for $700, not a collector rifle with minor malfunction.

P.S. And buying milsurp is a gamble. One of my RC 98ks had a cracked stock inside near recoil lug and action screws. Impossible to see wuithout disassembling. It also had minor rust pitting under the cosmoline. So clean the cosmo off them after purchase.
 
91/30 PU barrels were specifically produced for precision and straightness. Rifles were built to a higher standard and fit and finish even in 1942/1943. If the rifle did not shoot MOA or better it was not accepted into service as sniper and was issued as infantry rifle.

Rifles from westrifle and corwinarms are reproductions and not authentic marksmen rifles.
 
bp2626 said:
91/30 PU barrels were specifically produced for precision and straightness. Rifles were built to a higher standard and fit and finish even in 1942/1943. If the rifle did not shoot MOA or better it was not accepted into service as sniper and was issued as infantry rifle.

Rifles from westrifle and corwinarms are reproductions and not authentic marksmen rifles.
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Their prices for mosin snipers scream reproduction.
 
Unless more have arrived that I haven't heard of, the last batch of real ones to be imported was two years ago. It appears not many dealers still have stock of authentic snipers.
 
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bp2626 really knows his Russian/Soviet stuff. I had six Mosin 91/30 sniper rifles. Brian (bp2626) bought the only non-refurbished one I had.

Do some studying first. I suggest starting at 7.62x54r.net http://7.62x54r.net/

U.S. situation is different. In Canada there are lots of refurbished (i.e. arsenal overhauled and put back into military storage for the next war) Mosin 91/30 sniper rifles with original mounts and PU scopes, numbered to each other. There are some as built non-refurbished examples too.

Original scopes are clear and reproduction PU scopes tend to have a blue tint.
 
Latest repro scopes tend to have an aluminum body and flat screw heads on the windage and elevation turrets. Your best bet pricewise is to find a Molot import ( with the right side of the receiver stamped with "made in russia" logo) - those were rebuilt at the factory in Russia with all the correct components in general( scope, scope mt., correct high wall receiver, etc). Those at least will be close to the originals as opposed to the ones put together by "Bubba" :)
 
I did some thinking. I'm looking at some ex-snipers online and maybe purchasing a repro scope to put on it. It's way easier on the pocket book. Would it be difficult to mount a scope on an ex sniper by myself?
 
cm_machinist said:
I did some thinking. I'm looking at some ex-snipers online and maybe purchasing a repro scope to put on it. It's way easier on the pocket book. Would it be difficult to mount a scope on an ex sniper by myself?
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It's not easy to mount the base and center the scope. Seen some screwups done on youtube.
You need a proper jig to drill the holes and tap them square to the receiver. Depends on your level of machining skills.
Not all Ex-Snipers have a good bores so accuracy will be hit and miss.
 
PinkyPlinker said:
Spend the money on a real one. It will hold its value, maybe increase. The repros, and especially a DIY, not so much.
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I don't disagree about the resale value but I view this the same as buying a car: I buy to use it, not to sell it. Having an original would be nice but if I can find a repro that can shoot decently well and has the same style scope and reticle as a WW2 sniper, then I'm ok with that. I'm not buying a gun for resale value. Never have.
 
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