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Isn't there something with the screws on the PU as well? Someone told me that flat screws indicate a repro and domed an original.

Yup, flat = repro.

There are a couple on Egun.de at the moment. Finned 1915 M91 and non refurb 1921 Dragoon. Less than a day to go and both around €60. If it wasn't for a drunken bidding spree a couple of weeks ago on anther one I'd have a punt myself. Both look really good.

Rang up on the east barnet gun shop, barrel is supposed to be pitted right through the whole length. Shame I suppose. Have to look at the auction site :)

I'm really fond of the mossin I'm waiting for my ticket to come back so I can buy one are then any gems of wisdom of things to watch out for? Thanks

Rich83 wrote:I'm really fond of the mossin I'm waiting for my ticket to come back so I can buy one are then any gems of wisdom of things to watch out for? Thanks

Have a look on 7.62x54r.net as it will tell you pretty much everything to look out for :)

I've got an M1891/30 and formerly an M38. Things to look out for from personal experience is whether the rifle has been counterbored (ie. Had the last few inches of rifling bored out due to clumsy soldiers cleaning it too harshly), it's preferable to get one that hasn't had this done in my opinion. The differences in the quality of the steel varies greatly too, mainly around wartime production; my M38 (Dated 1942) would get a bit of surface rust going from the cold into the warm. Unbelievable but you could literally watch it form. The M1891/30 however doesn't suffer from this at all (Dated 1921).

Hexagonal receivers are always a plus in many peoples eyes too; takes a bit more craft to make a hex receiver than a round one. Besides these couple of things I think the only other advice is the general observations you'd make for any rifle. Check the bore, the crown, bolt, all of the usual stuff.

If you're looking for a good dealer try Ryton Arms. They don't advertise many Section 1 firearms on their website but give them a call and you'll be surprised just by how much Russian stuff they have in stock.

My M38 is up for sale by the way, if anyone is interested feel free to contact me

Never noticed a difference in the quality of the steel. Quality of the finish is another matter. Something about a round receiver that looks like it was finished off with a claw hammer tells you everything about how desperate the Red Army was for small arms. Some were counter bored due to ham fisted use of the steel cleaning rod which means a nice new crown. Others were counter bored because that's what a particular refurb facility did.

Here are my two, both from Ryton. The M91/30 is a Tula 1939 was picked out by me from the crate then sent for proof. The M44 is 1945 and was cherry picked from the stock by Ryton and live proofed to save it from deact as it was among the best of the bunch. Both shoot really well with milsurp although the long rifle has a bit of a frosty bore, and make for good fun cheap shooting. The M44 draws a crowd wherever it goes, people trying to capture the flash on camera!


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Very nice indeed.

Dammit.....

One day I'll learn how to post pictures!