New Mosin Owner, How Valuable Is It

[Noah_Killebrew]

Hello everyone, I am new to this forum and I just purchased my first mosin nagant. I have yet to clean all the cosmoline off of it, and some of the methods I've read about for doing that involve a solvent that would hurt the finish. I would not be opposed to doing this and refinishing it because to be honest the finish on the front upper hand guard is starting to look like it needs a bit of work, but I am concerned that this rifle is fairly collectible. The stock is supposedly the original, and it comes with the original bayonet with matching serial numbers, and the date stamped is 1942/48/51, the serial number is two symbols followed by 9908, and I know that if the rifle was still used after the way that it is a bit more valuable. I would just like to know what they best way of doing a first cleaning is and how collectible this rifle is. Thanks.

[BuckeyeSgt]

Sounds like you have a triple dated MO marked rifle. No one knows what MO stands for. But a triple date is not all that common. I would not refinish a wartime rifle. All history would be lost. And the value would actually decrease. Show us some pics.

[mberoose]

A triple-date MO is a pretty rare bird indeed. Leave it be! What a coincidence, I just picked up a double-date MO yesterday.

MO is allegedly short for Ministerstvo Oborony, or Russian Ministry of Defense.

I saw a number of double-date marked MO's on GunBroker for $150-$180...triple-date, more. How much is anyone's guess.

[target]

50-60 bucks if you refinish it and its value won't increase. Keep it original and its value will increase. This is a preservation forum. Refinishing, altering, sporterizing, etc. is not condoned.

[Three_Dogs]

Don't Bubba that rifle by refinishing it. Go to You Tube and search for IraqiVet8888 or chrome freak they have videos on cleaning the cosmoline off the rifle. please post up some pictures of your rifle. That is an interesting find to find 3 dates stamped on it.

[desdem12]

Welcome to the forum ...AND STEP AWAY FROM THE SAND PAPER. Like the guys said it would drop the value wayyyyy down. These are supposed to look like a war rifle. I try to searchout the ones that have no finish left or look more used then the others. Love that girl and if you feel like refinishing it just buy another and that feeling will pass (thanks Jumper i think )

[BuckeyeSgt]

I don't have very good manners. I didn't notice you just joined. I only saw rifle info.
Welcome to the Forum.

[jeremyb]

Welcome... Lets some come photos of your new rifle.

JB

[Junk Yard Dog]

The man didn't say anything about refinishing his rifle, only cleaning it , he said he was considering a refinish but seems to have learned better. You can clean off the cosmoline with a special product called Kotton Klenser, it's available online just google it, it will not harm the finish. Or you can wrap the stock tightly in newspaper, stick it into a dark trash bag and leave it on the dash of your car parked in the sun for a day. Check it, replace the newspaper, and leave it another day. This should get most of the oils out of the wood. Welcome to the forum, and that's quite a Mosin you have found. Before you ask, nobody knows for sure what the MO was, being that it was Stalinist Russia it was likely some dark and sinister organization, possibly the NKVD. There is no documentation, only suspicions, and the Russians don't seem inclined to enlighten us.

[bunkysdad]

Welcome to the forum. We would like to see pictures. In the past 4 years, I have only seen a small handfull of triple dated MO rifles.

[BuckeyeSgt]

Welcome to the forum. We would like to see pictures. In the past 4 years, I have only seen a small handfull of triple dated MO rifles.

I've got two of them and a double dated ex-sniper. Just something different about them that makes them cool in my book.

[Noah_Killebrew]

Hey guys thanks for the welcome. I probably wasn't very clear in my first post. I definitely DO NOT want to refinish it, I'm just wondering if there is some sort of restorative thing you can do or if it even needs any to begin with. Here are some pics.

[bb91]

Looks great! Keep it the way it is, care for it and shoot it, not neccesarily in that order!

[Noah_Killebrew]

Thanks man. Any ideas on how valuable it is? I'm not considering selling, this one is staying with me forever, I'm just curious as to what the value is.

[bunkysdad]

There really isn't anything to be done with the areas of shellac loss, but keeping it ckeaned and shioting it. If you get another few rifles in the future you'll appreciate this one just the way it is, and it will differ in some ways from all the rest. I rub a little lemon oil on the wood. It treats it but doesn't harm it.

[desertgunner]

Welcome to the forum!

And, as it seems, you have already been bitten by the Mosinitis Madness bug. You buy a Mosin, the bug bites you and you WILL want anotherone.

As to the cosmoline, the advice with the black plasic bag and newspaper is the easiest and cheapest way, you may want to use some printer paper as first layer to avoid transfering the printer ink on the newspaper onto your open wood spots.

There is no better smell than a perfume of cosmoline with some drops of No 9 gun oil, you will find out! These ladies can smell soooooo good.

As to the MO, my first source from DL (ex NVA officer and Military Historian) expects it to mean Modernisirovanij Oskolochnij with a meaning of Partly Modernized; standing for an In - Arsenal- Rework. Indicating this part may be true are the three (one big, 2 small Arsenal Marks next to each other.I guess they were done at the same time the years were stamped. Stampings from the arsenal show "hopefully" a better standard than the Ukrainian work.
I do not think during the Stalin Aera or afterwards their Ministery Troups-which existed for some Ministeries (like the Interior including the NKWD and Red Center)- had marked weapons, as that would have been counterproductive on their departamentalization thinking , as spy-frightened as they were. Just my on the MO, when I get more info, it will be posted.

Now, here is my question to you: What does the bore look like, after you cleaned it thoroughly , is it counterbored = no rifling at the crown for 1 inch or so?
Do the fonts of the numbers match or not?

You were asking about the value: At this moment, without more info, that is pretty hard to say, it is a refurb, but there might be something special to it above the MO with 3 years, which makes it rarer anyways. There may be collectors just looking for this....

Other than that, enjoy the Mosinitis ride

[racerguy00]

I've seen three date rifles like yours go on gun broker in the $180+ range. Triple dates are pretty uncommon and collectible. The shellac wear that you are worried about is normal for a refurb mosin. If you touch it up or anything it will bring the collectibility down a ton. To collectors that wear isn't an issue, and actually shows that the rifle hasn't been messed with.

[Junk Yard Dog]

You need do nothing to the rifle is you are only going to hang it up on a wall, just wipe the excess grease off it. If you are going to shoot it then go to the forum information page and read up under cleaning and disassembly. You will need to strip the barreled receiver out of the stock, clean off all the grease inside and out, wipe down the stock with a soft rag to remove what grease is on it, and oil up the bore once you are done. This oil must be removed with a couple of patches before firing, and put back in after you flush the corrosive salts out of the bore that come from shooting surplus ammo. What's it worth? Around a couple of hundred at the most.

[Noah_Killebrew]

The parts are all original, original stock, bayonet with matching serial number, and it is NOT counterbored.

[desertgunner]

The serial number so near the 10000 is interesting, numbered pig-stick, too?

If you compare the font (type) of numbers and letters on all numbered parts, do they match?

Some kind of special care was given to this one, I assume. We might find out more later on, you want to keep it as is, anyway. GOOD!