1918 Izhevsk Dragoon

[djbuck1]

Being a shooter then collector I wonder... but why put the old girl through it.

Congrats on taking the right path forward and getting a nice rifle for what I hope was a decent price! Bill

Bill, I picked this up for (quite a bit) less than what is being asked for most refurbed ex-Dragoons on GB. I hope that people aren't paying those prices. Dennis

[steelbuttplate]

Being a shooter then collector I wonder... but why put the old girl through it.

Congrats on taking the right path forward and getting a nice rifle for what I hope was a decent price! Bill

Bill, I picked this up for (quite a bit) less than what is being asked for most refurbed ex-Dragoons on GB. I hope that people aren't paying those prices. Dennis

We know they are

[racerguy00]

I agree on the showcase suggestion

[locomotiveguy]

If all rifles are made to shoot or just M N then I guess there is no time that's wrong. I have seen steel crystallize and who knows about electrolysis. They do proof new guns, just in case. (wonder what the failure rate is). At my age I heal slow. I have a 7mm Rem Rolling Block with a nice bore crusty pitting on the action I have not been bored enough to shoot yet. Probably no prob there either.

[Homer2]

Yep. Mine is in 91/30 configuration and is a finn. It has a 1917 barrel and a 1918 receiver. I'm in greece right now so can't post much. This one is a rare one for sure.

[racerguy00]

Yep. Mine is in 91/30 configuration and is a finn. It has a 1917 barrel and a 1918 receiver. I'm in greece right now so can't post much. This one is a rare one for sure.

How often do 1918 dated receivers show up? I have a 23 dated exdragoon with one.

[Homer2]

Finding Izhevsk rifles from the civil war era is a hard feat due to inconsistent production and high attrition. I also have a 1919 Izhevsk M91, which seem much more rare than 1919 Tula M91 rifles. I passed on a 1918 Tula M91 years ago for a beautiful 1926 Tula M91, and now wish I'd grabbed both. The civil war era rifles are my favorite time period and are hard to find. Imagine what was going on at the factory and the nation.

Sent from my SM-T530NU using Tapatalk

[djbuck1]

My understanding is that 1918 Izhevsks are quite rare. It seems there are only a few "complete" rifles, and I have no idea how many 1918 Izhevsk receivers are out there, but I suspect that there are very few.

Historians date the Civil War differently, some starting as early as the November Revolution, but the period from late 1917 to 1922 was one of bitter internal warfare, the breakdown of the economy, shortages and sporadic production. Weapons produced from 1918 to 1920, generally, are hard to find. I'm not sure if accurate production numbers are even available for the period. None of my other Mosins have a 1918 receiver. I do have a 1919 and a 1920 M91, both Tula and both (coincidentally) are Bulgarian pine cone marked.

Clarification: I have no hesitation about firing my milsurps unless there is serious damage to the metal. My initial concern with this 1918 was that given the obvious corrosion that I might find deep pitting under the wood. Remarkably, there is no pitting at all.

[Junk Yard Dog]

None of that rust will prevent it from firing as safe as any other Mosin. It is all on the outer surface.

[qz2026]

Very cool gun. I like it.

Even with all of that cancer, the bore looks incredible.

[NLMosin]

There is such a scarcity of any Mosin Nagant rifles from 1918 that any condition will do, even in battlefield relic state!

Being a shooter then collector I wonder... but why put the old girl through it.

+1 I wouldn't risk damaging the rifle. Its not worth it to risk it IMHO. I have dozens I could shoot....

....I didn't say it couldn't be shot...Lots of posts above explain why it could. Just saying if I had a 1918 in my hand I wouldn't take the risk. That being said I would drink out of the Holy Grail if I found it.

[qz2026]

Closest I can come is a 1917 Balkan 91/30 which was a converted Dragoon and then reissued. Receiver is undated but has the appropriate imperial Izhevsk stamping, so I am assuming it is original. It came wrapped in a very nice Albanian stock. Non matching, but I don't care. Be nice to have a 1918 though.

[oldarmyguy65]

On board with shooting your collectibles, unless it is a million dollar "shutzen" target rifle, not shooting means they are just a piece of iron in a closet. By the way, my Mosin (M91/30 made in 1934) shoots much better that my K98k Mauser (1941, in excellent condition), in my opinion, the Mosin is a far better rifle.
My real question is the dates of manufacturing Mosins. Did Russian arsenals continue production of rifles after the 1917 revolution so that there was continuous production? or did the arsenals stop for a period of time? If they stopped, when did they resume production?

[Junk Yard Dog]

Yes, production did continue at both Tula and Izhevsk when they took a break from killing each other long enough to get any work done. Spotty production, sometimes reduced to assembling from parts on hand. Sestroryetsk did not survive the revolution.