Mosin sniper, Gary Cole reproduction?

Swiend

Swiend

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Hey all, this weekend I attended the gun show near Montreal in Longueuil. There was a vendor who has a terrific selection of Lee Enfields in their full military configuration. Within the rows of rifles was this Mosin Nagant with a PU scope mount but no scope. I checked it over, the bore is like new and many parts are matching, bolt excluded unfortunately. The price was right after a little haggling and I went for it.
Among the many stamps and markings on the receiver and stock, I noticed a "C" in a circle. After some searching online I found out that this rifle is most likely a reproduction from Cole Distributing. Anyone have any info on these? Being a reproduction Mosin sniper, what are my options for finding a scope for it? I've found some WW2 original scopes but the prices are higher than what I'd like to pay, unless an original would really boost the value of the rifle.
Any thoughts, ideas and comments would be appreciated.
Thanks for looking!



 
It's hard to tell with the photos provided but the scope base could be Russian made.

Looks like this reproduction came out of the USA.

You need a mount and a scope, Martin has it listed (http://www.corwin-arms.com/product/mosin-nagant-sniper-pu-scope-mount-assembly-and-scope-s-0) It may be cheaper to get just the mount and scope, I'm not sure, I suggest you call them, good people to deal with.

You can also get them directly from Russia (Kalinka) or get Chinese reproductions from Red Star (rsmscope.com) and Accumounts (accumounts.com). Corwin Arms is the way to do it in Canada.
 
I have separated the action from the stock, it's absolutely caked in cosmoline. I also ran a patch through the bore, it almost looks unfired.
Almost forgot to mention that the stock is much beefier than a standard Mosin.
 
It looks real. The scope number doesn't look to have been ground off and it's an Izhevsk.

That's the good news.

The bad news is, Mosin sniper people are not big $ people. And, we've been awash in so many of the various Mosin snipers over the last few years that I can't see it being wildly valuable. They seem to go in a range from $500-$900. (asking $900- do they actually get it?)

The mismatched bolt and the scope you'll put on it will also not enhance the value.

But still, nice grab.
 
$500-$900 is for full completed refurbished MN sniper. I would say $650-700 is fair price. This rifle not complete, not matched, but she is in original condition. Some ppl really value this. You can buy refurb snipers all day long, but try to find the one like this. This rifle deserves original non-refurbished optics and original mount. Mismatched original rifle has more value to me than force matched refurbs.
 
Horilka said:
$500-$900 is for full completed refurbished MN sniper. I would say $650-700 is fair price. This rifle not complete, not matched, but she is in original condition. Some ppl really value this. You can buy refurb snipers all day long, but try to find the one like this. This rifle deserves original non-refurbished optics and original mount. Mismatched original rifle has more value to me than force matched refurbs.
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Ah yes, I thought so too. But when I had such for sale, nobody was interested.
 
cantom said:
Ah yes, I thought so too. But when I had such for sale, nobody was interested.
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I think the market for mismatched original Russian firearms is quite small in Canada, most of the serious collectors would prefer matching examples, or close to it. Keep in mind also that the average collector doesn't understand that an "all matching" refurbished 91/30 is not all matching.

I always pay a premium for all matching, non-refurbished examples but to me, a mismatched original is no different than a refurbished example, they're both just mismatched.
 
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bp2626 said:
I think the market for mismatched original Russian firearms is quite small in Canada, most of the serious collectors would prefer matching examples, or close to it. Keep in mind also that the average collector doesn't understand that an "all matching" refurbished 91/30 is not all matching.

I always pay a premium for all matching, non-refurbished examples but to me, a mismatched original is no different than a refurbished example, they're both just mismatched.
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I too love matched items. However, for some reason, virtually every Mosin sniper that I've seen that I decided was actually original, seemed to be mismatched. Who knows what happened on the battlefield etc. Desperate times.

They certainly weren't thinking about how to please us!
 
You guys made my day! I was sure that it was a reproduction. Now all I have to do is find an affordable original scope, lol. I did find an unnumbered scope mount at a reasonable price online.
Thanks so much for all of the input. I hope to get this babe together soon so I can see how she shoots!
 
Retail prices for genuine (but usually not "matching") sniper rifles have risen from $600 to $750 in the last 3 years. The fist batches moved off the shelves quickly but the current offerings are hanging around quite a long time.

Lots and lots of Mosins and SVTs sold but I don't see much evidence of too many people actually firing them at the range I shoot at every week. I have yet to meet anyone firing a Mosin sniper although I'm sure there were a few dozen sold in the area.
 
+2 cents to previous posts. Rifle is legit and scope # on barrel shank is original. Congrats and enjoy your rifle. I managed to find an original all matching sniper from 2012 import, with its original scope. These are around for sure.

 
I shoot the heck out of mine

marc_j said:
Retail prices for genuine (but usually not "matching") sniper rifles have risen from $600 to $750 in the last 3 years. The fist batches moved off the shelves quickly but the current offerings are hanging around quite a long time.

Lots and lots of Mosins and SVTs sold but I don't see much evidence of too many people actually firing them at the range I shoot at every week. I have yet to meet anyone firing a Mosin sniper although I'm sure there were a few dozen sold in the area.
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Some of us do shoot ours. I have 2 PU's. One was not as smoothly cycling, so I shot it, loved the little groups and take it to the range almost every time, mostly for the fun of getting better groups than guys with $$$ rifles with fancy scopes.I originally bought a PU because I wanted a scoped Mosin to enjoy shooting all that cheap surplus ammo.:50cal:
 
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