Nice. Sold one like it at Enumclaw..Except it was 1944 dated..Nice piece..

Thanks for this Pete (and other contributors).

As a guy considering his first C&R purchase, a couple of questions:

1. As far as "the usual suspects" go for online C&R purchases (J&G, AIM, etc.), are they all about the same? Anyone had good (or bad) experiences with any of them?

2. "Hand Pick" fees...worth it?

3. What are the odds of getting a "numbers matching" gun? Just curious on this one. When they were refurb'd or imported, was it usually just "Oh here's a receiver, and here's a bolt, and here's a barrel, and oh check that out they fit, there you go, in the crate" or were they usually just cleaned and cosmo'd and kept intact?

I realize that it's a $150 gun (give or take, for the run of the mill jobbies), so am not expecting too much beyond it making a loud noise and throwing lead in a particular direction, but something about it being "numbers matching" appeals to me.

Thanks again.

Recommend Hand pick fees..Well worth it for a best of 10...Classic Arms is best in My opinion...Also check out gunbroker. You can find a nice piece there for a better price, and generally with good pics..

As far as "numbers matching", there is a portion on page 2 of this post that talks about that. For the most part, the current imports are force matched, so having a true original numbers matching is pretty much not going to happen. There may be a few that will come through that may be matching, but you'll have to inspect the numbers closely to be able to determine that. Post war production are better candidates for having true numbers matching. And most of the post war production Mosins are M44s (Russian production). I have a 1946 Izhevsk m44 that does not have a refurb mark, or any force matched numbers on it. The original bluing is very nice and and machining is nice and smooth.

Was able to procure something(s) that I have been searching for for quite some time now. First up is the 1908 Tula Nagant. It appears that the barrel and other star marked Tula parts have been updated, but still retains the original Imperial sideplate anyways. I have yet to pull the plate and see the insides. Cylinder is not matching the number on the trigger guard, and frame either. In tact, and hard to see Imperial PK mark as well on right side of frame. Non-import marked. Bore is a little dark, visible lands and grooves. Ought to shoot anyways. Couldn't figure out why I couldn't pull the trigger in double action. Single action only.



















1940 Tula TT33 Tokarev. I have wanted one of these for a very long time now, and was just never in the right place at the right time for it to happen. I was turned on to these by a buddy of mine who knows I had been looking for one for a while now, and was able to pull the trigger. It's got quite a patina on it, and a little light pitting. Not sure if the holster is something that has been with it forever, but the leather holster is a nice additional accoutrement. Barrel, slide and frame serials look to match, font looks the same too. No refurb marks on this I can tell, non import marked as well. Bore is a little dark, visible lands and grooves in the barrel. The trigger assembly on these should lift out of the frame, but it appears someone has welded it in place. 763.R also stamped on the left side of the frame. It has been suggested these could be bringbacks from a different theater than WWII. No papers on either one. I was informed these did come from a vet's family, but I didn't get any more than that.

And most importantly on the TT-33: No ugly add-on safety!

Those are beautiful pistols. Thanks for sharing them with us!

Great additions to the thread! All that stamping is really cool.

Nice man! That -33 is a sexy pistol

Nice pieces MZ...Thanks for bringing them By yesterday..And Dan, They are more "Sexy" in the hand...Both great additions to this thread. Fell in love with both of em..

I love my Mosins, unfortunately neither are not working right now. I have a 1942 M91/30 and a 1946 M44, both are Izhvesk manufacture, both cost me $99 at Big 5

What's the problem?

We've got some Mosin-savants that may be able to help!

The bolts were being sticky, but I figured that out, turned out I didn't clean the insides well enough. The M91/30 even had pieces of string on the firing pin spring

The M44 is missing an upper follower spring, and the M91/30 has a bad trigger/bolt stop spring. It's only a couple $$ in fixes, just getting the time to get it done.

The good news is I've been completely lazy about cleaning them and they are still not corroded away, despite the utterly crap ammo I have. It pays to live on the dry side of the mountains!

It has been quite some time since a post has been made here. It is time for another installation of some interesting Mosins. I will present the Finnish P-Series.

These are some of the most interesting, and most labor intensive "refurb" processes out there. The Finns decided to undertake a barrel relining process in 1925. They marked the barrels with a large P - 25/26/27. As far as I know, there are no known examples of P-25s, but there are P-26s and P-27s. There is also some postulation that "S" stamps on these rifles suggests the process was undertaken in Salerno.

As far as the relining process, I wish I could see it in action for myself. But, I would have to presume the barrel was bored out, and a sleeve reinstalled, and then rifled. Not quite sure how it might be fastened in place, soldered or something of the sort. I have shot both of my P series rifles, and they are quite accurate. From my researches and common reading about P series rifles, it seems the relining improved accuracy. Many times they are in the white, but some are also found blued. Never seen or heard of a P series Dragoon, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was one out there.

Looks to be about a 1916 Izhevsk tang date


Interesting mill on the bottom of the barrel


May be able to see it, but it looks like the seam is near the outer edge of the muzzle


Austrian influenced stock


Austrian sling hanger


Plugged Austrian sling hanger hole


Looks like a plugged hole near the sling slot escutcheon, and another hole drilled


Another Austrian stamp. Not Russian for sure, no "W" in the Cyrillic alphabet


Finn re-stamp to update from Arshini to meters


P-26 with the "S" stamp. AV1 Finn depot


P-27 blued [SA] Finnish property mark


Not sure what the black stripe is, but I'm not worried about it. This particular one is counterbored. Shoots great though

very nice addition!