Mosin Nagant Sniper experts

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CFMopar

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Anyone have some tips on buying a mosin nagant? Looking to possibly buy a Mosin Nagant sniper. Any tips and common things I should look for?
 
from what I understand there are very few original snipers, most were stripped of their optics when they went back ot arsenal after the war, then were retro-fitted with either original or repro optics to be sold for a hefty premium nowadays. Just the usual stuff I would imagine: strong rifling, tight action etc. But I'll let the experts answer that one *cough* artyman *cough*
*edit* I think westrifle has the lowest price of $630 with what I would geuss would be his repro scope and mount made on the original tooling in Mother Russia, with Love
 
CFMopar said:
Anyone have some tips on buying a mosin nagant? Looking to possibly buy a Mosin Nagant sniper. Any tips and common things I should look for?
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I just ordered 1 today from P&S Militaria. I bough form there before and the service is top notch. Jean from P&S has handpicked the repro he sell so i'm not worry about . Severals dealers offer the repro, i dont know if they are made at the same place. The ones from P&S came from Ukraine Jean told me, they seem in great cond. Trade-ex,Westrifle,Frontiere have them also so just ask for infos and they will be glad to answer. I think somes may have an aluminium repro mount, so check carefully. I should have mine next week, cant wait to get my hands on:D P.s, look here, excelent review by artyman:)
http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=428608
 
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There is only two factories in Ukraine that can produce Mosin mounts and scopes. One in Kiev and on in Kharkov ( actually 45 min ride from Kharkov). One of those makes aluminum mounts. It is cheaper and can be mass produced faster. Do not buy those. Aluminum is soft metal and it won't hold zero.

I have mounts made out of steel. If you need to replace your go here:

http://www.westrifle.com/opticand_4B3-M.html

svt1940 said:
I just ordered 1 today from P&S Militaria. I bough form there before and the service is top notch. Jean from P&S has handpicked the repro he sell so i'm not worry about . Severals dealers offer the repro, i dont know if they are made at the same place. The ones from P&S came from Ukraine Jean told me, they seem in great cond. Trade-ex,Westrifle,Frontiere have them also so just ask for infos and they will be glad to answer. I think somes may have an aluminium repro mount, so check carefully. I should have mine next week, cant wait to get my hands on:D P.s, look here, excelent review by artyman:)
http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=428608
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sergey96 said:
There is only two factories in Ukraine that can produce Mosin mounts and scopes. One in Kiev and on in Kharkov ( actually 45 min ride from Kharkov). One of those makes aluminum mounts. It is cheaper and can be mass produced faster. Do not buy those. Aluminum is soft metal and it won't hold zero.

I have mounts made out of steel. If you need to replace your go here:

http://www.westrifle.com/opticand_4B3-M.html
Click to expand...

Fortunatly, i have the all machined steel mount, seem's to be top notch quality. I really like the PU setup. Cant wait to go shooting:)
 
Here's my 91/30 original 1944 manufactured Izhevsk PU Sniper. Definitely been there and had a hard life, but optics are still phenominal considering age. Got some great groupings the one time I took her out too. Some serial numbers do not match, but she's had a long life. Did not see action in Stalingrad (they used PEs at that point I believe), but maybe Battle of Berlin or the Dukla Pass...who knows? Anyway, love the history. Sorry for the poor pics.

I have handled the reproductions as well, and have been quite impressed, especially for the price.
 
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Real snipers have the scope number stamped on the left side of the barrel parallel to the wood line. Do not buy a sniper if it does not have evidence of this number or you are buying a fake. There are no true reproductions, only manufactured fakes as the rifles are real vintage WWII rifles, not recently produced.
 
CFMopar said:
Anyone have some tips on buying a mosin nagant? Looking to possibly buy a Mosin Nagant sniper. Any tips and common things I should look for?
Click to expand...

If you do come by something purported to be an authentic PU sniper and aren't sure what you're looking at from a point of view of authenticity, check the Russia - Milsurp Knowledge Library (click here)http://www.milsurps.com/content.php?r=126-russia

There's some good articles and extensive photo montages on both an authentic 1944 Mosin-Nagant M91-30 Sniper Rifle (click here)http://www.milsurps.com/showthread.php?p=1177 and also a 1954 Mosin-Nagant M52 Hungarian Sniper Rifle (click here)http://www.milsurps.com/showthread.php?p=1178

Sometimes the latter turns up at gun shows priced as a normal PU sniper, which is about half its actual market value ... ;)

So, learn those markings so you know what to look for when picking one up for inspection. :D

Regards,
Doug
 
skirsons said:
Real snipers have the scope number stamped on the left side of the barrel parallel to the wood line. Do not buy a sniper if it does not have evidence of this number or you are buying a fake. There are no true reproductions, only manufactured fakes as the rifles are real vintage WWII rifles, not recently produced.
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Only true for Izhevsk made rifles, Tula rifles never had this.
 
ArtyMan said:
Only true for Izhevsk made rifles, Tula rifles never had this.
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Thank you AtyMnan I am going to look at some ex snipers that I have, to prove both of your theories. I have to agree with you on this, as i have not seen evidence on Tula snipers having any extra numbers.Maybe I can find one Izhevsk and see if they have marking on side of a barrel.
I am very interested.
Good info +1 for both of you.
 
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desporterizer is also 100% correct. Although Izhevsk made sniper rifles originally had the extra numbers on the left hand side of the barrel just above the stock, Tula made sniper rifles have the "CH" stamp on them above the star - which of course in cyrillic means "SN' or "snayperska". From what I have read Izhevsk only began the numbering on the barrels in '42, so anything prior is anyones guess...

If I am backwards on a point or two please point it out! always looking to learn more :D
 
supernova said:
from what I understand there are very few original snipers, most were stripped of their optics when they went back ot arsenal after the war, then were retro-fitted with either original or repro optics to be sold for a hefty premium nowadays. Just the usual stuff I would imagine: strong rifling, tight action etc. But I'll let the experts answer that one *cough* artyman *cough*
*edit* I think westrifle has the lowest price of $630 with what I would geuss would be his repro scope and mount made on the original tooling in Mother Russia, with Love
Click to expand...

Thanks for the mention :D but I am far from an expert, especially seeing as how I dont own a legit sniper! (yet...:p)

You are correct in that after the war many PU/PE/PEM snipers were "decommissioned" of sorts out of their sniper roles and were converted back to infantry rifles prior to storage after refurb. Many theories exist as to why this was, many speculating the cost prohibitiveness of upkeep on scopes. I have no idea as to how valid this theory is (how much could it cost to keep glass?), however this seems to be the most widely spread theory. Personally I dont see how taking a bunch of scopes off already assembled rifles makes sense but I wasnt there ;). I have also heard that the "ex snipers" are now "ex" due to them being too worn out to achieve sniper standards. From what Ive seen this doesnt hold much weight as I have seen some ex sniper rifles shoot very, very accurately. Much more accurate then the standard of the day. So all in all, a bit of a mystery.

In regards to the repros we see currently being offered by our dealers, there are a bit of variations. Most of the repro PU rifles are not ex snipers, rather standard infantry rifles that have been assembled in PU configuration semi recently. These rifles typically shoot very, very well and are very functionable firearms.

There are also ex snipers that have been "re converted" in a way. It was/is also common for people to buy ex snipers (such as the ones mentioned above) and "re sniper" them. Repro/modern PU scopes and mounts are added aswell as a bent bolt handle. I have heard it is a very painstaking process to do this as the original holes that have been filled in are very tough to re drill. I have heard many stories of people buggering this all up and are now left with a Mosin with holes going every which way :eek:! It can be done however and by some is seen as more authentic.... depends on your views. It still is what it is, a 91/30 with a modern PU and mount. Trying to pass off as a real, legit WWII sniper (which it is) with a correct scope/mount (which it isnt) would be dishonest in my opinion.

I do not have an ex sniper in my collection however they are not rare by any means, and can usually be had for 250-275$ cdn. I can see myself grabbing one eventually. Sorry for the long winded post!
 
Original mosin snipers generally also have better triggers & a different front sight as they where not sighted for use with a bayo. The sight is usually marked SN also.
 
ArtyMan said:
There are also ex snipers that have been "re converted" in a way. It was/is also common for people to buy ex snipers (such as the ones mentioned above) and "re sniper" them. Repro/modern PU scopes and mounts are added aswell as a bent bolt handle. I have heard it is a very painstaking process to do this as the original holes that have been filled in are very tough to re drill. I have heard many stories of people buggering this all up and are now left with a Mosin with holes going every which way :eek:! It can be done however and by some is seen as more authentic....
Click to expand...

I've done it before. I succeeded but yes it was a pain. I broke the tap and went thru about 4 drill bits. The key is patience.
 
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