270Win
Member
The gun show this weekend down at the Show Place Arena in PG County went well... picked up some miscellania, and an excellent condition Mosin-Nagant M38 for $120. Beautiful birch stock, bore and crown are near-perfect. It's an Ishevsk '44, with some markings I can't decipher, even with the help I find on the net.
The show had two competing dealers who had Mosins. One had only laminate M44s imported by CAI, in generally good shape. The other had a mix of M91/30s, M38s and M44s - all birch stocks, of various import. My father already has a laminate 91/30, and I knew I wanted a carbine from the start; the prices at the dealer with the mixed selection were $20 higher across the board, but the rifles were worth it.
The bores were all mirrors, crowns were pristine and showed almost no wear whatsoever, stocks were all in great shape with interesting, attractive grain patterns, and the metal was little worn. The dealer with the laminates also had two purportedly real 91/30 Snipers, but I am ever skeptical of those (both were $375) and it seemed everyone else was, too.
Ended up with the M38 - it was a little lighter than the M44, didn't need the bayonet, had the best condition bore and crown, and had the most attractive wood of the group. The action was crisp but smooth - unlike a few of the others - and it just felt right and handled well. Here are a couple pics - one of the general rifle (how do you remove the glare on the stock?) and a closeup of the grain:
The show had two competing dealers who had Mosins. One had only laminate M44s imported by CAI, in generally good shape. The other had a mix of M91/30s, M38s and M44s - all birch stocks, of various import. My father already has a laminate 91/30, and I knew I wanted a carbine from the start; the prices at the dealer with the mixed selection were $20 higher across the board, but the rifles were worth it.
The bores were all mirrors, crowns were pristine and showed almost no wear whatsoever, stocks were all in great shape with interesting, attractive grain patterns, and the metal was little worn. The dealer with the laminates also had two purportedly real 91/30 Snipers, but I am ever skeptical of those (both were $375) and it seemed everyone else was, too.
Ended up with the M38 - it was a little lighter than the M44, didn't need the bayonet, had the best condition bore and crown, and had the most attractive wood of the group. The action was crisp but smooth - unlike a few of the others - and it just felt right and handled well. Here are a couple pics - one of the general rifle (how do you remove the glare on the stock?) and a closeup of the grain:
