I got my Bride to snap a few pics, so that I could tardily fulfill my promise of posting a pic of my recently acquired M91/30 Mosin Nagant. This one is a 1938 Izhevsk Arsenal. (The other major arsenal at this time was in Tula.) My version has been refurbished in Ukraine. (Recall that arms shipments from Russia are not allowed at this time.) In the refurbishing process, this rifle has a post WW2 stock and the barrel has been recrowned. All the iron has been reblued and, interestingly, it has an old M1891 model cocking piece with the large knob. One wonders about the history of this rifle!
(I have posted these pictures in portrait format, so I can get a bigger picture in the posting. Please rotate to see it in landscape.)
I figured that I would include two other Mosin Nagant rifles in this post. (Besides these three, I have three barreled actions.) This picture is of my Finnish M39. The M39 is the only bolt action rifle in military bolt action competition that can shoot with the Swiss K31 and the Swedish M1896 rifles. (It is only fair to remind you that in these competitions, one must shoot surplus or commercial ammunition, and that Swiss 7.5 mm ammo is ALL match grade -- and priced accordingly!) When the Finns took their independence upon the fall of the Tsarist Muscovite Empire, they had no arsenal to manufacture rifles for their army. But, they had a considerable number of M1891 Mosin Nagant rifles that were in storage for Tsarist garrisons. The Finns used these and then began to collect M1891s from former WW1 combatants, such as Germany, Austria, and Poland. Regarding Poland, the Poles adopted the M1898 Mauser, and since the Finns most likely enemy was the Soviet Union and the Poles, Germany, each nation adopted the likely enemy's arm for obvious reasons, and traded their stocks.
The Finns began by repairing the M1891 with new stocks and other fittings, and then began modifying the M1891 to fit their needs. Recall that the Mosin Nagant was designed to equip a conscript army of nearly medieval peasants, so it needed to be simple and reliable. Also, Russian and later Soviet army tactics were largely comprised of mass infantry charges and attacks, and the bayonet was emphasized. In fact, where other armies numbered their size in "rifles", the Russians did so in "bayonets". Even well into the Soviet era, rifles came with bayonets that were never intended to be removed and were very nearly permanently attached.
The Finns, on the other hand, had a small population and, like the Swiss, emphasized well-trained troops who specialized in excellent marksmanship, rather than suicidal mass charges. Indeed, the world record holding sniper of all time was Simo Häyhä (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simo_Häyhä) The beauty of the Mosin Nagant rifle is that it was amenable to both uses -- it was and is highly accurate. After a number of modifications, the Finns developed the M39 rifle which retained only the receiver, bolt, and buttplate of the original M1891. One of the key points in its accuracy potential is the careful bedding each M39 stock provided.
My M39 is made on an Izhevsk Arsenal receiver that I believe was made in the 1800s, although the tang stamp is not clear on this. The Finnish heavy barrel is stamped 1944 and the rifle shoots much better than I can.
This last rifle is a long-running project of mine, and I'm glad to say that I just found a stock for it. Stocks for M1891s in the USA are pretty much made of unobtainium nowadays! This rifle is an 1896 Tula version, and as you can see, I have a way to go as far as restoring it. The stock is interesting, as it is a WW2 refit stock. These were made to get old M1891 versions shooting again. I presume that these older versions were then issued to internal gendarme type forces or maybe shipped to partisans behind the German lines.
) and tell her to put it in her side of safe. Then I move the ( getting old ones ) to my side of the safe and every one seems to be happy 
. Nice hats though - Haji
