Mosin Nagant 91/30 Snipers - Original or rebuilds?

Hmmm, the saga continues.....

I did some further reading online about the repro snipers and found some mixed reviews. Two issues that came up were the matter of utilizing rifles with "high wall" vs "low wall" receivers (the originals used the former) and the quality of the repro scopes and mounts. Apparently the better repros are good, but there have been some floating around the US with cheap aluminum mounts.

Can anyone fill me in about the "high wall" receiver, which I've never heard of before and would not know how to identify? Similarly, if anyone can fill me in about the quality of the repro mounts and their composition, that would be greatly appreciated. I know that the dealers associated with CGN are first rate, but I at least want to know what I'm talking about when I talk to them.

Regards,

Frank
 
Beadwindow said:
Hmmm, the saga continues.....

I did some further reading online about the repro snipers and found some mixed reviews. Two issues that came up were the matter of utilizing rifles with "high wall" vs "low wall" receivers (the originals used the former) and the quality of the repro scopes and mounts. Apparently the better repros are good, but there have been some floating around the US with cheap aluminum mounts.

Can anyone fill me in about the "high wall" receiver, which I've never heard of before and would not know how to identify? Similarly, if anyone can fill me in about the quality of the repro mounts and their composition, that would be greatly appreciated. I know that the dealers associated with CGN are first rate, but I at least want to know what I'm talking about when I talk to them.

Regards,

Frank
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The current crop of new scopes and mounts on the repros coming in are excellent. I stuck a magnet to the mount and base, they are steel and very nicely made. The scope is supposedly made in the same plant the original ones were.
I also read the same thing about aluminum mounts, but haven't seen one yet.

The only real issue- these are not real snipers, they are well put together reproductions, so don't expect appreciation or collector value.
 
cantom said:
The current crop of new scopes and mounts on the repros coming in are excellent. I stuck a magnet to the mount and base, they are steel and very nicely made. The scope is supposedly made in the same plant the original ones were.
I also read the same thing about aluminum mounts, but haven't seen one yet.

The only real issue- these are not real snipers, they are well put together reproductions, so don't expect appreciation or collector value.
Click to expand...

Cantom is bang on - buy them as shooters and you won't be dissapointed! He is also correct about the optics being manufactured in the original plant that made them during the war.

From the few I have handled I have not seen an aluminum mount, only steel. I have also read a lot of varying reviews on the repros, and found that the aluminum mounts and cheap construction to be found only on US reviews, did they get a different batch of rifles?
 
Some of the links and reviews that I found about the repro snipers mention Century as one of the bigger US importers, and IIRC, they weren't the greatest versions out there. It seems as though there was quite a variation on what's been made available in the US, so it's really a case of buyer beware. It sounds like the specimens in Canada are fine, but I read just enough about these poor quality rifles to feel the need to pose the question here.

I can appreciate and live with the fact that these rifles won't appreciate like an original, but I'm really more interested in a correct (read non-bubba) example of the originals to shoot. I'll probably make a point of asking though to make sure I get a high wall reciever should I get one.
 
Fair enough - as a heads up Jean at P&S militaria has these rifles with war time stocks and the proper highwall recievers. They are of course all WWII vintage 91/30 rifles.
 
Nabs said:
From what I understand, the Soviets took M91/30 Snipers and removed the scopes after the war and refurbished the rifles to normal infantry specifications. The ones floating around for $600-800 are either ex snipers that have reproduction scopes and scope mounts put on them or regular infantry rifles that have been drilled and tapped.

I personally think $700 is way too much for a reproduction sniper but some people are willing to pay for it.
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You are complitely right
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лучше старенький ТТ чем дзюдо и карате
 
TGC said:
If you check web sites for the sniper protrayed in enemy at the Gates you will see him with a sniper rifle that does not have the PU scope as in the movie.
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older image at the museum in Volgograd
Zajcev_rifle.jpg

newer image from the museum in Volgograd
DSC02482.jpg


some pictures of vasily with his PU 91/30 sometime after the battle of stalingrad
nagant11-1.jpg

nagant12-2-3.jpg


His Mosin Nagant PEM sniper rifle is exhibited in the Moscow Armed Forces Museum. The PU sniper you see in the pics is the rifle that he used after Stalingrad from 1943-1945. According to the Russians the PU sniper rifle was specially ordered for Vasily when he was recovering from his eye injurys in Moscow during early 1943.
 
I bought one of those repro snipers, filed the base tabs until the scope was zereod for wind, adjusted the trigger for a crisper let off and then shot it in the Vintage Rifle shoot. It was great. I used handlaods. 45 gr of 4895 and a 150 gr FMJ surplus military bullet. Thrown charges, not weighed. Groups were just over 2 minutes.

Next step is to bed the action, float the barrel, most of the way, and do some load development with weighed powder charges.

This is a fun rifle to shoot. i take back all the nasty things I thought about them, over the years.
 
Sniper version or not, these old rifles are fun to shoot and do well in many hunting conditions. They feel good and aim good. I don't really fancy myself as a "collector" but I do have a collection. I like old rifles, but I like to also shoot them and use them for hunting. I had my SVT40 out the other weekend and the next trip out I'm going to bring my 91/30. A rifle is just not seasoned until its taken some game.

I think that there are a gazillion of them to be had, prices will vary as always. I don't buy them as an investment to appreciate. I buy them because they are a cool piece of history and I enjoy the vintage shooting.


I fired a few rounds out of a sniper version with repro scope earlier on in the summer. It shoots really well and dollar for dollar, its cheaper then a modern day bolt action rifle w/scope and it has equivalent performance as a hunting rifle.
 
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