Yesterday's Weapons Forums

Very nice. i do like them Mosin's

Looking good from here Pete.
Congrats.
Must be some sort of gift you have.
You always seem to find the beauties.

Bought myself an all matching Mosin Nagant Model 91/59 build on a 1933 Izhevsk hex receiver about 3 years ago.
Here's a bit of info on these weapons.



IMHO this is one of the most mystic Mosin Nagants there is.
Of course all Mosin Nagants have their own story, but for this carbine no proof can be found on where they were produced.
Some say they were produced in the USSR, others state that Bulgaria cut back the 91/30 rifles.

Fact is that these weapons are 91/30 rifles cut back to the specifications of a Mosin Nagant M38.
They are called model 91/59 because of the marking that can be found on the receiver.





The easiest way to recognize an M91/59 is the rear sight which is the longer M91/30 type with all graduations above 10 milled off the leaf. The M91/59 was not issued with a bayonet and will not accept the M91/30 bayonet due to it's heavier front sight base.



Most models 91/59 are build on a round receiver.
Fewer are build on the hex receiver.
It is possible the USSR cut back obsolete 91/30 rifles to sell or donate them to one of their satellite countries, for example Bulgaria.
The US importer (Century Arms) stated they bought these carbines in Bulgaria, so the selling to a satellite country theory could be true.



However, I have never seen, heard nor read of any evidence that the USSR or Bulgaria cut back these rifles.
The fact that Century Arms bought these carbines in Bulgaria is no proof they were produced there.

Another possibility is that the USSR cut back the obsolete 91/30 rifles to support rebel organisations at the end of the 1950s and this way weaken the strength of western countries.
An example for this support is the donation of weapons to Algerian rebels to support their fight against the French.



Then again, nothing is certain with this carbine and for me it stays the most mystic Mosin Nagant there is.

Met vriendelijke groet,

Martin

Pete, this one is well worth waiting for.
About "being done with the Mosin Nagants".......I don't think you are, before you know it you find another one you don't have.

Met vriendelijke groet,

Martin

Hey Pete, He can always send it here for the time being........
I'll pay the shipping & arrange the pick up by UPS !!!!

Lo & behold the local gun shoppe has a 1891/59. A 1945 Izhevsk in very good condition with a 300 round tin of Bulgarian ammo. $200

Is that an excessive price? I've never paid over 125 for any Mosin-Nagant. SW

Figure the ammo is worth a least 50-55........and the 91/59's are pretty much gone, no distributors have any left............may not be such a bad price

That looks like exactly the sort of Mosin Nagant I need.

I've worked on a MN action for a friend years ago. His had the stiffest action I've ever seen on any bolt rifle.

I used valve grinding compound to slick up the camming surfaces at the rear of the bolt and it was then nearly as slick to operate as a Enfield.

His rifle was a Hex Tula, loosy bore but suprizingly accurate. He used popcycle sticks as targets out to 25 yards and never missed.
This was with a light load of winchester 760 under a Hornady 150 bullet. About the power range of the 30-30.

We used salvaged Soviet and Chinese steel cases with primer still intact for the loads. We'd pulled the bullets and powder for experimenting with .303 loads earlier on.
That ammo had looked old and nasty but the cases held up to the light loads and we never had a misfire, so the berdan primers hadn't degraded noticably.
Not sure if those cases would have held up to a full power load though, some had split long ways when fired and some were discarded due to corrosion and other damage.

The Bullets worked great in the .303 loads with either 4320 or an equivalent load using the Soviet powder. So the powder was still stable.

SW

I would have jumped on that one! They almost always are in great shape and shoot very well. Even when you scope them!





100 yards tree rest with the PE scope!

Martin, how did you get a Century import over there in the netherlands??

That's a good question!

It's not his only century import

Ahh Century import here and then underground exported out!!

Gottcha

I bought the 91/59 a couple of years ago in Germany at a store called "Frankonia".
They have stores throughout the country (Germany I mean).
Being a company, they import weapons more easy then a private person.
This particular rifle was first exported to the US and then returned to Germany.
It has found a good home now.

That's right Bruce.
The 91/59 is not my only Century import.
Still very grateful for this one.







Met vriendelijke groet,

Martin

I see Classic Arms got some 91/59's at $130 per.