Where to begin my search for a Mosin 91/30...

CanuckShooter

CanuckShooter

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One of the many, many gun regrets of mine is not buying a Mosin 91/30 when you could get one for dirt cheap just several years ago. Loved Enemy at the Gates, but I thought they were kind of crude and ugly rifles at the time. Well now that they've tripled in price I think I'm ready and am looking to buy one :rolleyes:, and was wondering if the milsurp enthusiasts here could possibly point me in the right direction. Are there any retailers with a nice selection that aren't overcharging right now?

I'm hoping to find one in very good condition, with the bore also in very good condition if that's realistic. A nice example of a 91/30, but not too nice to shoot as I plan on buying corrosive ammo to feed it.

Out of curiousity, is there such thing as an unissued 91/30 on the market these days, or all they basically all refurbs?

Thanks
 
CanuckShooter said:
One of the many, many gun regrets of mine is not buying a Mosin 91/30 when you could get one for dirt cheap just several years ago. Loved Enemy at the Gates, but I thought they were kind of crude and ugly rifles at the time. Well now that they've tripled in price I think I'm ready and am looking to buy one :rolleyes:, and was wondering if the milsurp enthusiasts here could possibly point me in the right direction. Are there any retailers with a nice selection that aren't overcharging right now?
I'm hoping to find one in very good condition, with the bore also in very good condition if that's realistic. A nice example of a 91/30, but not too nice to shoot as I plan on buying corrosive ammo to feed it.
Out of curiousity, is there such thing as an unissued 91/30 on the market these days, or all they basically all refurbs?
Thanks
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All of them are refurbs and hard to find one in a decent condition. Some more decent ones would cost $600-700. Tenda has some at that price range but I have no idea about their condition. You can also check the EE here. A bit too late to find something really good.
 
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Surf the EE. Unless you have a local gun store, I tend to find more extensive pictures showing quality (or lack thereof) on the equipment exchange than any vendors. I wish I had bought more than one at $149, but alas.
 
Yeah that's about what I figured. I'll keep looking. Might go see some more in person this coming week. Any tips on what to avoid? Are there any Mosin "red flags" that I should look out for? On the flipside, anything I should look for that might indicate a good find?
 
If you can find a Finn mosin they tend to be better shooters but they do cost more money
I think Frontier firearms had a few mosins for sale recently so you might want to check them out too
 
CanuckShooter You're not asking a difficult question and you may even get a few bites to sell if you would mention your price range.

If you want the rifle to shoot well, then I suggest you pick up a crate of the corrosive surplus, pull the bullets, weigh several of the powder charges, throw away the Berdan/Corrosive primed cases, purchase 50-100 Starline or Privi Partisan cases, hopefully find some primers and load up everthing with a consistent load of the powder/bullets you salvaged.

If you're looking for something "cheap" I see them at gun shows but their bores are usually sewer pipes because their previous owners didn't clean them properly or at all after shooting corrosive ammo.

$350 will get you a shootable, not accurately, mixmaster M91/30

There are unissued, unreferbed M91/30 rifles out there but they won't be ''cheap''

An average, refurbed shooter grade M91/30, with a decent bore will cost you at least $600 unless you happen across one on a table the vendor is ignorant of its value.

Most are pretty much up on their values these days, so you're looking for a needle in a haystack.

The rifles from the banner vendors at the top of the page are quite well described. They don't guarantee them for anything, other than that they will function safely. No one selling a milsurp will do that.
 
CanuckShooter said:
Yeah that's about what I figured. I'll keep looking. Might go see some more in person this coming week. Any tips on what to avoid? Are there any Mosin "red flags" that I should look out for? On the flipside, anything I should look for that might indicate a good find?
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If you have the option to pick through a few at a dealer , a Mosin with a hex receiver is always a nice find ; but maybe the hex Mosins have dried up at this point ?
 
Midnight Rider said:
If you have the option to pick through a few at a dealer , a Mosin with a hex receiver is always a nice find ; but maybe the hex Mosins have dried up at this point ?
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They're still around. I handled one at a dealer last week, but it wasn't in the condition I was looking for. It was also a bit more expensive. I think I actually prefer the look of the round receivers anyway.
 
bearhunter said:
CanuckShooter You're not asking a difficult question and you may even get a few bites to sell if you would mention your price range.

If you want the rifle to shoot well, then I suggest you pick up a crate of the corrosive surplus, pull the bullets, weigh several of the powder charges, throw away the Berdan/Corrosive primed cases, purchase 50-100 Starline or Privi Partisan cases, hopefully find some primers and load up everthing with a consistent load of the powder/bullets you salvaged.

If you're looking for something "cheap" I see them at gun shows but their bores are usually sewer pipes because their previous owners didn't clean them properly or at all after shooting corrosive ammo.

$350 will get you a shootable, not accurately, mixmaster M91/30

There are unissued, unreferbed M91/30 rifles out there but they won't be ''cheap''

An average, refurbed shooter grade M91/30, with a decent bore will cost you at least $600 unless you happen across one on a table the vendor is ignorant of its value.

Most are pretty much up on their values these days, so you're looking for a needle in a haystack.

The rifles from the banner vendors at the top of the page are quite well described. They don't guarantee them for anything, other than that they will function safely. No one selling a milsurp will do that.
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Thanks Bearhunter. I'm not necessarily looking for "cheap". Always nice to make a good find or get a deal, but I don't mind paying current market value for one I like. Unfortunately I don't have a reloading setup for rifle calibres just yet, so I'd just be blasting surplus ammo with it for now. Most of the time I'll probably be ringing steel with it versus shooting groups. Just wanted a nice bore to ensure the rifle isn't shot out and has a lot of life left in it.
 
Yup,I'd watch the EE here for mil surplus,..a few dealer prices that I see now are exorbitant for 91/30's..but,the price for everything is up now...good luck...
 
A: great bore.
B: great bore.
C (optional): matching numbers.

Ideally no external pitting. Lots of nice ones in the country, no reason to spend too much on a crappy one.
 
CanuckShooter said:
Thanks Bearhunter. I'm not necessarily looking for "cheap". Always nice to make a good find or get a deal, but I don't mind paying current market value for one I like. Unfortunately I don't have a reloading setup for rifle calibres just yet, so I'd just be blasting surplus ammo with it for now. Most of the time I'll probably be ringing steel with it versus shooting groups. Just wanted a nice bore to ensure the rifle isn't shot out and has a lot of life left in it.
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Mosin bores vary in diameter more than Lee Enfields.

The best rifles, mostly, have been to Finland for a refurb, where there was a strict accuracy requirement established for them with issue ammunition.

The Finns took great pains to make the Mosin platform shoot within their prescribed parameters.

I have a couple of Finns, not for sale. One is a hex receiver M91 converted by Tikka and is all matching in 98% condition inside and out with an on mean spec bore. It shoots better than I can hold but prefers 174 grain bullets.

The other is a Finn captured and refurbed, hex receiver 1930 date with matching numbers, in it's original, single piece fore end stock and as indicated by the date has its original Russian barrel.

Both of these rifles meet the accuracy standards of the Finns.

Then there are two Russian M91/30 rifles, both have lovely, red glue, laminated stocks.

One is force matched but in 95% condition made by Ishevsk and it has a great bore that is a few thou on the large side. It shoots .312 bullets well but doesn't shoot .310 diameter surplus ball well.

The other is matching, made by Tula and is in 95% condition as well. It has a tigher bore and shoots surplus ammunition acceptably, if I do my part. It's better with the reloaded surplus I mentioned above. It also has a ''heavy sidewall'' receiver.

That's something else to look for if you're being picky. Some M91/30 round receivers have ''heavy'' sidewalls and some claim they are more accurate. I haven't noticed that over the few dozen of each type that I've shot.

You may also be interested in one of the carbine variants, M38 and M44 types.

They're pretty but they both kick like mules with heavy ball ammo and the muzzle flash is up there with fireworks status.
 
Jon9021 said:
Ha! That’s exactly what I did after reading this post. To be honest though, if someone is “struggling” to find a decent Mosin, at a reasonable price, you can’t be looking very hard.
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They used to be in every shop or big box store that carried firearms at very reasonable prices. Not any more.

They're out there but it depends on your shooting circle buds.

Most of the shooters I know have no idea what a Mosin Nagant M91 type rifle is or which nations would have used it.
 
bearhunter said:
They used to be in every shop or big box store that carried firearms at very reasonable prices. Not any more.

They're out there but it depends on your shooting circle buds.

Most of the shooters I know have no idea what a Mosin Nagant M91 type rifle is or which nations would have used it.
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That’s very true. This is one of the most widely produced firearms in history, and it still surprises me on how many people who collect/shoot, haven’t even heard of them!
 
Jon9021 said:
That’s very true. This is one of the most widely produced firearms in history, and it still surprises me on how many people who collect/shoot, haven’t even heard of them!
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When I got mine years ago I went shooting with a friend who I *thought* was avid into firearms and a history buff... when I brought it out at the range and the first thing he says is "so it's chambered in 30-06 eh?" I discovered that maybe he didn't know as much as I thought lol
 
DiMP said:
When I got mine years ago I went shooting with a friend who I *thought* was avid into firearms and a history buff... when I brought it out at the range and the first thing he says is "so it's chambered in 30-06 eh?" I discovered that maybe he didn't know as much as I thought lol
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Ummm, there may be a good reason he asked that.

Back in the sixties, there were a few companies the converted a bunch of them by setting back the barrels and rechambering them to 30-06. There were some that were converted to 30-06 by drilling out the chambers and sweating in new billets that were reamed to accept the 30-06.

There were quite a few of these rifles done in this manner and I can remember the hew and cry about how dangerous they were etc.

The receivers are plenty strong enough for this conversion as the pressures generated by the cartridges, at the time the conversions were done, were similar. The oversized bores also helped to keep pressures down.

Your mentor may have read some of those articles and lost all interest in this type of firearm????
 
bearhunter said:
Ummm, there may be a good reason he asked that.
......
Your mentor may have read some of those articles and lost all interest in this type of firearm????
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Hmm, well I stand corrected. I remember seeing SVT's converted to 303 due to lack of available ammunition, but had never heard of or seen Mosins in 30-06. I wonder what the accuracy would have been like for the undersized bullet in that barrel?
 
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