Some old mil rifles - value?

[Ironbarr]

Reading some threads about Mosin Nagent and SKS I took a look at some in my usual gun store today:

Soviet M1938 Carbine - $180
Russian M91/30 - no tag
Swede M96/38 6.5x55 - $270 (Qty 2)
Yugo SKS - $160
Mosin Nagent 7.72 - $90

Most were heavy on their "experience" (and weight); one Swede had scotch tape around fore grip at the muzzle, most had rough furniture.

Question: How does one know the remaining quality - particularly the action and accuracy potention of these "older" rifles? By guess and bygosh? Or "puts your money down and takes your chances"?

Now, knowing this shop, they were all reasonably examined and (normally) are considered safe/usable, etc.

BTW: What rifle did the Russian use in "Enemy at the Gates"? One of these?

Thanks.

-Andy

 

[Cosmoline]

The M-38's price seems a tad high.

To tell quality on these old rifles, I follow these steps:

Check the crown. If you see crisp lands out to the end with no warping or scratches, that's a good sign

Check the barrel near the crown. The best way is to remove the bolt and stick your eye up to the barrel end, looking through it like a telescope at a ceiling light. Or use a BRIGHT bore light. look for subtle pitting and wear in the lands and grooves in the few inches behind the crown.

Check the chamber with your little finger. Sometimes you can feel odd pits or warps on badly used rifles. Also, look and sniff your finger for any signs of hidden rust. It should smell like nothing or cosmoline. If it comes back covered in dry red scales, pass

Check the bolt's fit. This is subjective, and varies from rifle to rifle. But after a while you can "feel" when there might be certain problems with the bolt. For example, you can sometimes feel indentations in the receiver from the locking lugs. That's an automatic pass for me.

Check headspace (with permission, of course). This only works if you have a field or no-go gauge with you.

Feel for stock fit. SOme of these old rifles will move around in the stock! That's not good. As far as the barrel/stock fit, many have partially floated barrels where the stock comes up and puts pressure at the very end. This confuses people into thinking the stock has warped, but in most cases it was a deliberate method of keeping those long thin barrels stable.

Particular rifles call for other model-specific tests. I always break down the Mauser's bolt before buying, at least as far as exposing the pin and main spring. I don't usually do this with Mosins as they tend to fall to bits when you take them apart. I wouldn't want to lose a piece in the store.

Mostly, just make a point of inspecting all the rifles you can. Then after a while you start to see the spectrum of quality and you can judge the good stuff better.

The rifles in "Enemy at the Gates" were primarily Mosin-Nagant 91/30's and some slightly anachronistic sniper versions with the "PU" side-mounted scope. Most reproduction snipers in the US follow this pattern.

 

[cdbeaver]

Went to two gun shows Saturday and noticed the prices asked for American military weapons:

--.45 1911, Colt and otherwise: ranging from low of $600 up to $1600.

--M1: low of $800, up to a mind-boggling $2340.

--M1 carbine: May have seen one at $450; rest were in the $500-600 range.

--1903 Springfield: Only saw two. Both were 03A3 with stamped trigger guards. One was marked $600; the other at $800 because it had a stock with a straight handgrip.

Saw only one M1A and forgot to check the price on it.