Model 1891 Mosin Nagant Soviet Infantry Rifle

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Eaglelord17

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Hi all,

Well I thought I would show you all my most recently acquired rifle. It is a 1891 Infantry Rifle manufactured in 1926 at Tula Arsenal (the receiver is a 1898 from Tula I believe but can't verify as I believe it has a hammer above the date but it is so faint). I honestly don't know much about where this rifle has been, maybe Spanish Civil War but unfortunately there are no markings to prove that. The handguard is Finnish but that was added after it was sold off (it was missing one when the person I bought it off of bought it). There is no Finnish markings so it is not a Finnish capture. Another interesting point is it has a Tula manufactured trigger but it is the Star not the hammer (so it would have been replaced post 1928 which also means the odds of it being a Spanish Civil War rifle goes down). It is not matching but the action is the smoothest I have ever felt on a Mosin Nagant. The Hexagonal receiver still has the Imperial crest intact as well which is also odd. The writing on the receiver says Foremost Ordnance Factory (of the) USSR at Tula. There is also no importation marks on the rifle which is always a nice bonus. The only thing I am unhappy about is someone scratched FM into the stock. Tomorrow I will let you all know how well she shoots. Well without further ado here are some pics.











 
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FM carving is nothing to be disappointed about.

Judging by picture it has been made long time ago by one of its users.Think of it as "hello" from say 70 years ago.

If you gently clean rest of the stock you might find more markings from the past but please-take it easy and don't refinish it.

Its value will drop like a rock after sanding etc.

Nice rifle.A neglected one but complete.I have one with 1940 VKT counterbored barrel.
 
This is after I removed a good portion of rust and grease from it (action was so stiff to work it was ridiculous, now after going at it with Hobbes No. 9 and a 12 gauge bore brush on the action it has smoothed right out). How would you recommend cleaning it, I don't have very much experience with cleaning wood and don't want to sand or do anything of that nature to it. Would soap and water work?
 
No counter boring though the bore is pretty rough. We will see how well she shoots tomorrow, hopefully some rounds down range will help remove some of the crud that is built up in there (spent 30 min today cleaning the bore just to get the patches coming out only partially dirty).

How would you use the alcohol just place it on a cloth and rub?
 
Yup,just put it on a cloth and rub.Personally I prefer Murphys Oil Soap.It's made for cleaning wood floors.

For old,rusty bores can I suggest any light oil (diesel,WD-40,etc)and a brass brush?alternate it with pot of boiling water and all crud will fall right out.
 
I would just wipe the stock down with linseed oil.

It will take off some of the dirt and crud and leave that great been there done that look it has.

For the metal dry very fine steel wool for the most part, and a small brass brush to get at the nooks and crannies.
 
Super nice rifle!!

If the stock is really bad I'd use some brake clean to clean all of the crud off. Second way I've done it is with mineral spirits and a rag.

As for the bore give it a good scrubbing and then shoot it. I find that shooting a bore out seems to be a good way to clean them out. The only time that I won't shoot a rifle is if I feel that the fouling is too thick and may cause a slight narrowing of the bore which could raise pressures. In those cases I scrub or will use a product like Wipe out.

I have a very similar rifle here, receiver dated 1895, barrel was screwed on in 1907. It is counterbored and has a dark frosted bore, that looks like crap.

But it shoots very well, 1 moa on most days. I mostly feed it cast bullets these days, it also shoots those with accuracy and minimal fouling.

Nice find, please let know how it shoots.
 
Haven't cleaned the stock yet but I will get to work on in it in a little bit (going out to get the stuff needed). When I bought the rifle the bore was described as 'dark and heavily pitted'. The bore has cleaned up extremely well, only took some loving and a hour or two of effort (shooting some rounds down range also helped it a bit). I have another thread on the Milsurps forum and this rifle actually might have been a Finnish capture due to the rear sight (it would also explain the lack of importation marks as the Fins exported them in the 50's which was before all the import mark nonsense started). Here is some photos of the Imperial crest on the receiver, the rear sight (which is why I now think it was a Finnish capture), the front sight and the bore after all my TLC is done. Here is also the groups I shot (the three in the black were the first time shooting it, and the 6 grouped were the last. Both were fired from 10rd groups but since I am not the best shot I am pretty happy.)









 
EL34/6L6 said:
Looks like my 1926 Tula , except in much worse condition.

http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/1113331-1926-Mosin?p=10372347#post10372347
Click to expand...

To be fair yours is a ex-Dragoon (maybe ex-Infantry rifle no way to tell for sure) that was refurbished. My Ex-Dragoon looks similar to that too as it was completely redone before being put into long-term storage. It still a nice rifle but it doesn't have the been there, done that type feel.

My M91 Infantry Rifle was never refurbished at any point, if it had been it would look similar to that (stock would have been trashed for a new one, they would have gotten a new handguard as the current one is a recent replacement, parts would have been reblued and forced matched).

This rifle (at least the Receiver) was at least around for the Boxer Rebellion, Russo-Japanese War, WWI, the Russian Civil War (which includes all those little succession movements at the same time like Latvia and Estonia). If Canada was like most countries it would be considered a antique (1898 rule). Then after things stabilized the Rifle was rebuilt with left over parts or completely new parts (despite having decided to issue the M91 Dragoon to there troops in 1922) in 1926. It then proceeded to serve in either the Winter War, and or the Continuation War (possibly on both sides).

I just love the amount of history that is shown on this rifle, it truly excites me trying to figure out more about it as the more I learn the more I wish to know. I have a variety of Soviet firearms (almost have the complete collection just missing two Mosin variants (a Early M91/30 with blade sight and panshin bayonet, and a M91 Dragoon), a SVT-38 and a Nagant Revolver) and none of my refurbished rifles are half as interesting as this (any evidence of what they have been through has been erased).

Shooting wise this rifle is my favourite to shoot as it has the smoothest action, and the sights seem to work well for me (I am not a very good shot) it also seems easier to shoot comfortably (my 91/30s all don't seem to like to line up properly with my body).
 
Eaglelord17 said:
No counter boring though the bore is pretty rough. We will see how well she shoots tomorrow, hopefully some rounds down range will help remove some of the crud that is built up in there (spent 30 min today cleaning the bore just to get the patches coming out only partially dirty).
Click to expand...


A bit of bore solvent would be appropriate in this instance. Slug the bore when done. Sometimes things are much better than they appear.
 
The bolt body appears to be from a Remington M91, as is the Magazine Housing (sorry no photos as it is hard to see with the human eye as corrosion has mostly destroyed the markings on the rifle, a photo isn't going to capture it at least not with my skills).
 
I felt I would do a update on this rifle. After doing more research I am now leaning towards a Spanish Civil War rifle. The reason being the cleaning rod that came with it. Originally I put it off too the side as it doesn't screw into the cleaning rod holder in the stock so it would fall out well shooting. Today I took a good look at it and took out a Mauser cleaning kit I have kicking around and it fit the attachment on most the way (kit was for a M98 Mauser so I don't know if the M93s had a different style kit, also the screw in portion is a bit bent as well so that could have prevented it from going all the way on).

I also now feel that this rifle was never involved with the Finnish as the cleaning rod wouldn't be something they would put there as well as the modified rear sight is most likely a later date modification. Here are some photos I have shared else were which you all might enjoy (it shows the rear sight modification, the reason I think it was done later is because it is too crude to be Finnish).



 
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