The Russian Mosin Nagant Forum

I picked this up a couple of years ago, and never got around to taking pictures. I was hoping to find something similar before posting, but have come up with nothing. So, let the mystery begin!

The barreled action is a 1909 Sestroryetsk with matching tang. No import marks. No Finnish or obvious Balkan traits. The bolt and buttplate have been stamped to match and are also parkerized. The mag housing (non-matching), barrel bands and stock nose cap are original bluing. The stock is finished with a reddish-brown varnish or lacquer, not shellac.

Now the curious stuff. Of course, the parkerized finish. My gut tells me stateside, but with other oddities, who knows? I've pictured a couple of very small marks under the serial number on the barrel shank which are not typical. Partial Serbian crown and a dot? Naw..... dunno. The top of the rear tang also has been marked. Stamps on either side of the barrel are also pictured. Rear sight has not been altered, other than the refinish.

The bolt parkerizing did not take as well as the rest of the metal, but it is there. It has the same sequence of number in two places, both lined out. And the new matching number is stamped on the top rear flat of the bolt body, in a very small font size. The buttplate number is the same size and font as the bolt. WWI era Unit marks on the rear of the buttplate do point decidedly toward Austria or Germany. The wire hanger holes through the early stock could also be German or Austrian.

Anyway, I've rambled long enough. Here's the non-import stamped gun with the mystery finish and marks. Enjoy, and thanks for looking.

Very odd M91 you have there Matt, I remember so discussion about some 91/30's that where found in crates of refurbs that had been park'ed, but never any M91's.

Looks like it was probably done Stateside. A lot of neat early features on this one...

sure is pretty.......

Could those two round holes in the stock be for Finnish sling swivels?

Interesting rifle for sure.

Here are some pics of mine for comparison.
The marks on top of the tang are the same as my 1917 Sestroryetsk on a 1901 Sestroryetsk receiver.


These marks also look the same.



It Too has Austro-hungarian stock features,



Now it does have an [SA] stamp, but that's the only Finn feature.

Home Parkerizing kit, they were big in the 90's. Knew a guy who did over a real nice WInchester Garand with that kit, the shade of the park looked just like that. Some things you don't forget, I considered just kicking the crap out of him but self control got the better of me. Balkan rifle, SCW, or one of the Finn imports that wasn't done over, at least it was one of the three before Bubba went and bought himself a home park and varnish kit. Other than that nasty park it looks like a regular Balkan import from the 90's, not all of them were scrubbed.

Absolutely stunning.

Where is Jeff Goldblum when you need him?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096378/