Also Today

Cinco de Mosin!

You Don't See One Of These For Sale Very Often

Finnish M27/rv.

That link will expire before long, so if it doesn't work, it's because you're looking at this post a long time from now! 

Starting bid was $3,295.  I'll update the final price when (if?) it sells.

This is the rarest of rare Finnish Mosin-Nagants.  Something like 300 left in the entire world!

Gun Jeebus did a vid:

What Tha...

 

Mosin clip in a Krag.

Now I have to try.

Update: It does not work very well.  I wonder how many takes it took to get that one smooth load.

Finnish Mosin Rear Sights

McThag's video premier!

Even though I say yards, I mean meters.

Sorry about the wandering focus, I'm learning this video stuff even slower than I am learning stills.

My Crystal Ball Is Defective

The post about my 5.56 history got me looking at other guns that I'd sold and what their values are today.

I've owned some rare ass collectables that I'd bought new when they weren't collectable!  Or had not found a collector following when I was buying them.

Gen 1 Glock 17.

Mini-14.

Klackamas imported Daewoo DR200.

Anaconda.

USGI M1911A1.

Far too often I've let go of a gun far too cheaply because I didn't plan for an emergency or my planning was insufficient to the scale of the problem.

But most of the time when I unassed a gun, its replacement had just been purchased.

I really did sell the gen 1 Glock and the M1911A1 to get the Glock 21 I still have.

Why would I need two Glocks and two pistols in .45 anyway?

For a long time my "collection" was A gun in each category.  A pistol.  A modern rifle.  A shotgun.

I didn't accumulate more than one per role.

Well, I also just checked prices on Mosins, particularly Finnish Mosins.

Why did y'all waste your money in real estate?

Shadow And Bone

I've been watching Netflix's "Shadow and Bone".

If this is wildly popular, you think prices on Mosins will skyrocket?

I remember what TNT's "The Rough Riders" did to Krag carbines, and it was pretty obscure.

The Mosins in the show are mostly 91/30's, but there's a few long 91's in there too.

Deferred Maintenance

Finally got around to putting a good scrub on the Kiv.39's chamber.

It had the typical "need a cheater pipe" hard to open after firing that's too stereotypical of the Mosin action.

Getting a good look at the chamber is not easy on a Mosin, but once I had the angle you could see a ring of black where the throat of the case was.

It was decades of lacquer accumulation.

Not horribly difficult to remove, but not something that would get much touched by the normal cleaning regimen.

The action cycles dummy rounds much easier now!  I even tried before and after cleaning to see if would have any effect.

Now I have yet another gun to drag to the range to see if it's running better after getting something changed.

Measuring Social Distance

Stay one Mosin-Nagant kiv/91 with bayonet away from others at all times.

Ultra Rich

The "cheap" Mosins in the gun safe appear to have appreciated a bit...

AIM Surplus is selling Izhevsk M1891/30 with a high-wall round receiver for $339.99 and with a "hex" receiver for $359.99.

Complete with bayonet, sling and sundries!

By way of comparison, Palmetto State Armory sells a Savage Axis in .308 with a scope already on it for $324.96.

The days of modding a Mosin into a hunting or "sniper" rifle are done.

HAKKA PÄÄLLE!

80 years ago, today, The Winter War began as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics invaded the former Russian territory of Finland.

Akavit as soon as the sun is above the yard-arm.

Busy C&R Day

Ditched the worst of the Mosins.  Going to a youth instructor who's going to go Bubba on it.

Mailed in my renewal.

Mailed my letter to the CLEO telling them about my renewal.

Fun times!

I Admit It's Creative

Too creative.

I Only Need One More Bayonet

Two, actually, but one will suffice.

Of my rifles which will accept a prisoner prod, only the Finnish Kiv/28-30 and Kiv/39 need a bayonet.

Possibly bad link to Ebay.

All of my other Mosins now have their proper tent-stakes.  No matching numbers, but they at least all fit properly.

If you have a Finn model 27, 28 or 39 bayonet you want to just give away, let me know!

Translated Markings

Just for fun...

It is Romanian!

7.62LPSGJ means 7.62mm with the LPS bullet and copper washed steel case.  The 149gr LPS bullet should be silver tipped, which you can tell from the silver stripe.  This round can also be called 57-N-323S.

It's Lot # V25 made in 1978 at factory 22.

It uses VT powder from lot 19 of 1978 from factory U.

There are 440 rounds per can and they don't have stripper clips.  They're probably packed in 20-round paper bundles.

Decypher

Reader Dan gave me a crate of 7.62x54mmR!  THANKS DAN!

I looked at the markings on the crate...

... and I realized that this wooden box is not marked for 7.62x54mmR.  That's a 7.62x39mm box!

You can also see where the steel band was removed, meaning that despite the wire seal on one buckle, it's been opened.

So I opened it too!

That is 7.62x54mmR markings!  149gr silver tip light ball packed in 1978.  I think that "FARA LAME" means loose rounds rather than on strippers.

Someone also liberated the can-opener!  An angle grinder works better anyways and leaves you with a nice decorative plate!

What the box markings should have looked like:

Bigger Chore

Dusting all the AR's is a small chore compared to dusting all the Mosins...

I swear they breed.

I hear them in there.

Grumbling in Finnish, Russian and Chinese.

It Has A Purpose

To kill one Nazi, and set three on fire.

Targets 6, 3 and 4 were a Mosin Mad Minute.

We hate to admit it, but the M-38's sights were much easier to acquire and use than the Ljungman's.

All Relative

While I state that the Savage 110E is not as smooth as the Winchester 54, it needs to be said that it's still light-years ahead of a Mosin for smooth.

Come to think on it, at $175 including a cheap, but serviceable, scope; it's also a better deal than a Mosin.

Mosins are no longer the cheap route to get shooting.

But we knew this day would come, did we not?

In a couple of years I predict there's going to be a bit of scrambling while people try to remember where they stowed the take-off parts from their sporterized 91/30's as the prices get ever higher.

Two Things

Go here.

First someone made that.

Second someone else bought it for $1,035.

Mosin Price Update

High-wall, round receiver, 1944 Izhevsk 91/30, refurb markings, billboard import mark:  $259 at a local pawn shop.

No accessories, no bayonet, no sling.

Firm price.