Moisin Nagant Advice / Questions

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mark_

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I'm interested in buying a Moisin Nagant...mostly to hang on the wall but it would be fun to take it to the range occasionally.
Am I right in the fact that most of the rifles for sale on line have been crated and were never in the war?
I see on some websites that there are Finnish captured Moisins....this interests me more from a history point of view that the rifle was actually used in the war. I only see a few of these...are there other sites where I would be able to find others that haven't been crated since new?
I don't even care if there are marks on the stock...in fact I would actually prefer that as it adds authenticity in my opinion.

Any input appreciated.
Thanks guys.
Mark.

Edit : sorry, posted in the wrong forum. Mods feel free to delete.
 
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The ones that are being pulled from the crates 'could' have been in the war (well depending on the date it was around for the war, if it saw any action is debatable). What happened is after WWII the USSR started a massive firearm refurbishment program that repaired firearms that were deemed to be suitable for future use. These firearms were then placed in crates after being coated in cosmoline. Some had stocks changed out etc. but they are for the most part in pretty good shape when they get taken out of the cosmoline.
The Finnish ones weren't necessarily in a war either, they could have been but just because they have dings in the stocks doesn't mean it is from combat (could have been from training or what happened to them after being sold on the civilian market etc.). Personally I would go find a nice 91/30, your local gun stores should have some. The Pre-war ones generally have a nicer finish and were more likely to have been used in combat (once again no garentees). They also tend to be fairly cheap ranging around 160$-200$ and usually come with the accessories (i.e. bayonet, cleaning kit, sling). They tend to be fairly accurate too so good for the range days as well as hanging up (just be prepared for a good amount of work to clean them up as there generally is a lot of cosmoline EVERYWHERE).

Hope this helps
 
Most were not, in fact, crated since new.

If it was made in 1944 or earlier, it most likely saw service, but exactly what that service was is anyone's guess. The Soviets were desperate for bang-sticks throughout the course of the war. They scoured their arsenals, and had all their factories going full tilt. Remember, there was somewhere around 10 million Soviet military casualties during the war.

But whether it saw action? Who knows. Rear echelon troops were also armed (the majority of any military is in the rear), and there were large deployments in holding positions that never saw any action.

After the war, as Eaglelord17 mentioned, there was a huge refurbishment program. They gathered up every rifle they could (including captured German k98's), gave them varying degrees of refurbishment, dipped them in cosmo, and put them in storage. Parts ended up mix-and-match, and, mostly, they didn't see any further service.

The 91/30, m38, and early production m44 Mosins, as a rule, rolled out of the factory and went straight to the troops.

Thanks to the refurb program, they were all given a thorough going over after the war before being put away. The condition it's in, whether rough or near pristine, is in no way indicative of its service history.
 
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