Ok back to this rifle. It's a 1943 Tula and the pictures are of it right out of the box, uncleaned. I didn't get the white Molot box that some got. It was packed in the same type of box I usually all of my other rifles in but was packed very well. It's in one of the pictures. The rifle came with basic tools. Muzzle protector, cleaning rod t-handle and adapter, cleaning jag and multi-tool. It also came with an oil bottle. No sling, no bayonet and no ammo pouch.
From first inspection this rifle is refurbed as expected. The bore is dirty with fairly decent rifling but has seen it's share of the cleaning rod. The crown is somewhat worn but is still fairly intact. I ran a few patches through the bore and they came back dirty for a while but after a soak with only Hoppes and a few passes with some different brushes the bore is shiney and has little to no pitting. CLP helped even more. I'm not done cleaning it so it might clean up more. Bottom line is the bore is still in good shape. It's not perfect but I'm happy with it. I'd be happier if it was perfect but it exceeds my expectations. The firing pin protrusion had to be adjusted back half a turn because it was touching the higher notch on the tool. I checked headspace with my new Okie Headspace gauges, http://www.okiegauges.com/sales.html , thank you Todd. It passes both no-go and field with flying colors. The trigger is better than any Mosin Nagant I own from first feel. They've done something different on this rifle. It has no play like a lot of the others I have and is smooth. The bolt is well fit and works very smooth also. When I started cleaning this rifle I found a fairly clean chamber. Very little to no cosmoline. I used a 12ga nylon brush to start with for the outer chamber and finshed up with a 44Mag nylon brush and some cleaning rags. There's no corrosion and the throat is intact.
The scope, tools and oil bottle all came wrapped in oil paper. The scope has the lens covers and they're old and mostly just for show at this point because time has had it's way with the leather. One cap has swelled up to the point where it is a lot bigger than the scope tube. The other side is better but not much. It's bacisally for show at this point. I wouldn't trust them on the rifle to walk around with. The one cap that's swollen also shows signs of some mold. It's white powdery buildup. I'll clean them up and see what I have later. The good thing is the scope is perfect. It appears from intial research to be a Plant NKV, Leningrad, Progress, Omsk 1943. The optics are clear with no apparent internal defects so far. The windage and elevation dails both work. The mount and scope tube are witness marked to eachother. The LOP is a bit long for me and I found I have to lean into the scope to view a correct picture through it. One other thing I noticed is the front site is pushed to the right but has a witness mark and I've heard theres quite a few others like this. I'll shoot it with iron sites to see if it's correct. It's not the only one I have like this.
The stock appears to be a late or post war with push in escutcheons the bullet cut out behind the rear barrel band and has a toe splice. The shellac is thick in places and has a rough feel to it in places. Typical slopped on job done during refurb. All in all I'm happy with it so far. Once I see how it shoots I'll make final judgement but if it's like most of the others I've seen so far it should shoot better then me. It's only rifle I own now with a scope that's right for the rifle. Hopefully it'll be accurate. Most reports I've seen so far for these have them shooting at about 1 to 2 MOA at 100 yards. I'll be real happy with that if this rifle shoots that way. I can't think of anything else at the moment and it's late so I'll finish cleaning it up tomorrow and maybe do some shooting. More to follow.
I've taken a lot of pitures and some might seem to be retakes but as the light changed I was able to get a little different perspective. They aren't the best pictures in some cases because it was getting late and the sun was hampering my efforts. I took so many pictures in the hope I might cover most of the different angles and stamps on it as well as clues to what this rifle actually is. I'm posting this mainly for those that know these rifles to scrutinize and help draw conclusions as to it's authenticity. If there's something someone wants a picture of that's not clear or not in these let me know and I'll be more than happy to take them.
Before cleaning.
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Just a kiddin of course. Sounds like fun to me to do a milsurp hunt. 