The History of the M91 Dragoon Rifle According to Classic

[qz2026]

I don't think they are after the serious collector with these Mosin ads. So, they spin a tale that they think will attract a new buyer of these guns.

[SA1911a1]

It's still up at this link. https://www.classicfirearms.com/m91-30- ... refinished

This is a cleaned up version, no doubt put together by whomever told them their first "edition" was a nonsensical piece of schmick.

I'm surprised they changed it, especially if it was because it was inaccurate. Never stopped them before.

They changed it only because every collector on the web was making fun of their arrogance and ignorance.

[djbuck1]

For those of you who missed it (and with thanks to Captsupercow who preserved a copy), here is a transcription of the original piece of creative writing that was offered as history. I have cleaned it up a bit with respect to punctuation, but not completely.

So what is a Dragoon Era Rifle? Well, even though the name itself is misleading because they are not truly Dragoons, the rifles are a really nice find and considered the most desirable of all the M91/30s. Here’s the story. The earliest variation of these rifles back before the advent of modern, centerfire ammunition were all black powder (hence the term Dragoon). Those rifles gradually evolved into the modern hex receiver rifles (the hex receivers being vital for additional strength) that fired the early and quite potent black powder propellant variation of a centerfire cartridge. When the smokeless cartridge that we use today were developed, the Modern Day M91/30 rifle was born. However, up until 1930, many of these rifles, depending on the arsenal they were built at, maintained not only the workmanship and hand crafted quality that the early transitional Mosins were known for. They also retained the highly desirable (and just really cool) Dragoon Era markings on the receiver which featured prominent emblems representing the Soviet Empire, as well as other Cyrillic writing and dating that represents a different and very historical period of time.

After 1930, both Tula and Izhevsk began phasing out hex receivers in favor of less expensive and more easily mass produced round receivers that were far more common to the later guns. They also discontinued the elaborate receiver stampings that were characteristic of the Dragoon era rifles. All Dragoon era rifles will be hex receiver, but not all hex receivers will be Dragoon era. To be considered a Dragoon era rifle, the weapon will be dated prior to 1930 and will have the more prominent markings reminiscent of either the Tula or Izhevsk factory on the receiver. An example of each is represented in the images above.

As an aside, although we are not selecting these or offering them as an option at this time our boys in the back have noted several of the Tula dragoons that were also MO marked with a re-issue date in the 1950s to the Soviet Ministry of Defense or Home Guard. Who knows, you may even get one of these.

As many of you know good surplus has been drying up very fast and nice M91/30 rifles in particular. As such we consider this nice lot of arsenal refinished Hex Receiver rifles to be a unique and rare find. I could go on and on about this rifle but our buyer base knows what these are and whether I get wordy or not they will not last long. Limited quantities available. Hurry

[Junk Yard Dog]

Written after the third or forth boilermaker, some lines of blow, and topped with a hit of ice. 10 minutes of research would have produced the information they needed.

[Darryl]

Should I "cut and paste" this into the M91 information pages here at app.php/page/99 as an "alternative version"??? Or, just paste it over ours?

[zeebill]

The part that says Classic Arms has done it again is Oh so true. It just seems that the ownership of these rifles from Burns to Classic is like a cursed subject or something just fraught with lies and inaccuracies. The bad part is we the collectors have to deal with the problems and prices caused by the owners and sellers of these rifles. We also have the knowledge of the rifles to realize they are really great rifles and such fun to shoot and own. Maybe it is becoming "The M39 Curse" or something? Very upsetting situation I do know that and doubtlessly will set Mosin collecting back a bit for sure. bill

[Junk Yard Dog]

I think Classic cooked up that pile of bullshit all on their own, someone there should be writing fiction novels. Burns just gave a basic description, never any entertainment with it. I bought a pile of rifles from Burns, I always got exactly what I was told I was going to get, never had any issues there. Bullshit in advertising milsurps is nothing new, Bannerman did it, some of the crap, including things written about Mosins in their catalogs is pure fantasy they cooked up because it was easier than admitting they had no clue. What is new is doing it in the modern internet era and by a company that uses the internet as a major sales tool. Bannerman had no access to information so they went with inaccuracy's and made shit up, Classic need only punch some keys on the net and everything they needed to know about that particular rifle would be right in front of them. Five minutes work? Ten at most? Todays collector is much more educated on the history of what they collect than collectors of 1900, or 1950 were, or even 1990. Try and pass off tall tales and you will get called out on it, plain embarrassing.

[shoto2758]

I guess there are still plenty of people that "buy the story" .