My First Mosin/Nagant 92/31 ... How Did I Do?

[Burdette]

I traded a guy 880 rounds of TULA 7.62 x 39 Ammo, that I paid .17 cents a round for, for this Mosin/Nagant 91/30. It is a 1943 Izhevsk. I do not know much about Mosins, but this seemed to me to be a pretty nice one with what appears to be matching numbers and a very nice looking bore.

I'd welcome any comment/observations folks may have about it.

Here are pics:

[TnBuckeye]

Looks like a laminate stock! Very nicely done!


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[redspoon]

150 bucks you did good. Nice laminate stocked 91/30
to the forum.

[Burdette]

Thanks anyone/everyone. What is a "laminate" stock?

[Junk Yard Dog]

Welcome to the board, do you know what plywood is? It's a bit of a simplification but a laminated stock is made along the same lines as plywood. Thin layers of wood compressed together with glue to form one solid stock blank that is then cut for the action. Hardwood stock blanks are expensive and require time to cure before you can use them, plywood takes advantage of smaller wood that would otherwise be unusable for the purpose, and it can be churned out much quicker. The Germans and Soviets made extensive use of this technology during the war, so did we, but instead of stock blanks we made Higgins boats out of it, and of course, the Spruce Goose.

[qz2026]

Nice rifle.

I noticed a bit of a corrosion circle at the muzzle but this shouldn't impact accuracy too much. Interesting that who ever stamped the butt plate used the wrong second character of the s/n. The "B" stamped should be a "Б" which are two different Russian characters. Never seen this before.

[Rongo]

Nice rifle.

I noticed a bit of a corrosion circle at the muzzle but this shouldn't impact accuracy too much. Interesting that who ever stamped the butt plate used the wrong second character of the s/n. The "B" stamped should be a "Б" which are two different Russian characters. Never seen this before.

Noticed that too. Funny how most of the laminate stocked 91/30's had elecro-penciled numbers on the bolt, magplate & buttplate; This one does not.

Pretty Nice!!! You did well.

[BuckeyeSgt]

Nice rifle.

I noticed a bit of a corrosion circle at the muzzle but this shouldn't impact accuracy too much. Interesting that who ever stamped the butt plate used the wrong second character of the s/n. The "B" stamped should be a "Б" which are two different Russian characters. Never seen this before.

Noticed that too. Funny how most of the laminate stocked 91/30's had elecro-penciled numbers on the bolt, magplate & buttplate; This one does not.

Pretty Nice!!! You did well.

The letters would have stood out big time to a Russian. The two letters are totally different sounds.

[B24]

A very nice wartime example, you did well! I'm sure by now you have contracted Mosinitis, no known
cure but an occasional purchase of another Mosin and frequent visits to this forum provide temporary
relief. Welcome to the forum.

[Longcolt44]

You did very well. It is rare to see a '43 with metal that nice, most are a little raged due the rush to get rifles to the field.

[awalker1829]

Welcome to the board, do you know what plywood is? It's a bit of a simplification but a laminated stock is made along the same lines as plywood. Thin layers of wood compressed together with glue to form one solid stock blank that is then cut for the action. Hardwood stock blanks are expensive and require time to cure before you can use them, plywood takes advantage of smaller wood that would otherwise be unusable for the purpose, and it can be churned out much quicker. The Germans and Soviets made extensive use of this technology during the war, so did we, but instead of stock blanks we made Higgins boats out of it, and of course, the Spruce Goose.

Don't forget that the Brits made the de Havilland Mosquito out of plywood. A true wooden wonder by all means. Fast, accurate and deadly. With its wooden body and twin Merlins, it had a phenomenal thrust to weight ratio and lots of power.

[Burdette]

Welcome to the board, do you know what plywood is? It's a bit of a simplification but a laminated stock is made along the same lines as plywood. Thin layers of wood compressed together with glue to form one solid stock blank that is then cut for the action. Hardwood stock blanks are expensive and require time to cure before you can use them, plywood takes advantage of smaller wood that would otherwise be unusable for the purpose, and it can be churned out much quicker. The Germans and Soviets made extensive use of this technology during the war, so did we, but instead of stock blanks we made Higgins boats out of it, and of course, the Spruce Goose.

Thank you for the very helpful post and not bashing me over the head for such a "newbie" question, but I've never quite understood what "laminated" meant. I even have read that laminated wood like this in firearms is stronger than solid wood. Not sure if that is true or not.

But again, thank you!

[Burdette]

The "B" stamped should be a "Б" which are two different Russian characters. Never seen this before.

That had me puzzled too...I wondered if somebody in haste just picked up the wrong letter, since they are right next to each other in the Russian (Cyrillic) alphabet.

[Junk Yard Dog]

No problem, it is stronger than solid wood, but is prone top splitting along the layers, this is why they put a reinforcing bolt in it.

[Burdette]

OK, so now I'm really mystified by the serial number on the butt plate. Any idea how it happened? Or is my theory that it was a simply mistake made by a person reaching for one letter and grabbing another?

[bunkysdad]

You'll only be able to guess as to the reason of the stamped letter, and many Mosins you pick up will have some feature to make you ask similar questions. Think of laminated wood as layers of wood. You can easily see it in the grains when you look at it. I like them very much. Quite colorful too. You got yourself a good deal, unless of course you are now out of SKS ammo and have to replace it at a higher price. Congrats on a nice deal

[zeebill]

Welcome to the board, do you know what plywood is? It's a bit of a simplification but a laminated stock is made along the same lines as plywood. Thin layers of wood compressed together with glue to form one solid stock blank that is then cut for the action. Hardwood stock blanks are expensive and require time to cure before you can use them, plywood takes advantage of smaller wood that would otherwise be unusable for the purpose, and it can be churned out much quicker. The Germans and Soviets made extensive use of this technology during the war, so did we, but instead of stock blanks we made Higgins boats out of it, and of course, the Spruce Goose.

Don't forget that the Brits made the de Havilland Mosquito out of plywood. A true wooden wonder by all means. Fast, accurate and deadly. With its wooden body and twin Merlins, it had a phenomenal thrust to weight ratio and lots of power.

Yeah and there are only 2 left flying in the world. Saw a Spitfire flying with the Mosquito at Reading in June. Joe and I were just wooed to death by their low level passes. What a sound! Bill

[Junk Yard Dog]

Low level pass would scare me also, these things are ancient, sometimes they fly right into the ground, maybe the ground I am standing on. I like to look at them close up in museums, stick my head inside to see all the dials and switches. Not going to try and squeeze my ass in one, not again anyway, pilots are tiny.

[joe7170]

Low level pass would scare me also, these things are ancient, sometimes they fly right into the ground, maybe the ground I am standing on. I like to look at them close up in museums, stick my head inside to see all the dials and switches. Not going to try and squeeze my ass in one, not again anyway, pilots are tiny.

It was the coolest thing I have seen yet

[Burdette]

Unless of course you are now out of SKS ammo and have to replace it at a higher price. Congrats on a nice deal

nah....I have 12,000 rounds of better ammo squirreled away.