US Marked Mosin Nagant

[tkendrick]

A buddy has a Remington Mfd Mosin Rifle. The gun is marked 1917 on the receiver. The barrel is marked U.S. Mod 917. That's not a misprint, not 1917 but 917. The gun is in pretty decent shape, I would say at least 50% and probably better.

I have a couple of questions. Is this an misstamped gun and does any one have any idea as to the value?

Thanks

 

[9teenEleven]

No idea about value, but the gun is legit. The US made a few of these, and made some ammo too.

 

[seanie!]

A good place to look up Mosin info is at 7.62x54r.net

 

[kansas coyote]

they rate a 9 on the rareity scale from the mosin sight . And should bring $500 and up .

 

[Cosmoline]

Are you sure it's a Mosin and not a 1917 Enfield?

Assuming it's a Mosin, value depends greatly on whether someone has hacked it. Most of these never left the nation and were the first Mosins surplussed to the civilian market. As a result a great many of them were hacked. Some commercially by Bannerman and others, many more by private citizens. 100% intact models are scarce.

Here's a good article on them:

http://mosinnagant.net/USSR/US-Mosin-Nagants.asp

 

[Jim K]

Both Remington and Westinghouse made Model 1891 rifles for Russia prior to U.S. entry into WWI. After the Russian revolution, the Bolsheviks cancelled the contracts, leaving the American companies with huge quantities of rifles that had not been paid for. The U.S. government bought the rifles and issued many for training purposes. They also issued them to the American expedition to Russia in support of the "White" Russians, a rather ridiculous exercise that the Russians blew out of proportion in Soviet propaganda as an "American capitalist invasion" of the sacred Motherland.

Jim

 

[tkendrick]

A little more info since I last posted on this rifle. Most of what I gave was based on a phone conversation with the guy that has the rifle. Since then, I have actually hed it in my hands.

This is one of those times when one wishes these old guns could talk.

The rifle has import marks on it from what I think is the early to mid 60's, so it was definately at one time not in the US.

Now here is the strange. All the references I have seen about the US Mosins say they were stocked in American walnut, and had the dog collars on them. This rifle has a light colored stock (Birch, I think) and has the Finland style of wire sling loops on it.

This leads me to beleive that it spent at least some time in Finland, and was re-stocked while it was there.

 

[Sunray]

"...spent at least some time in Finland..." Quite possibly captured during the Winter War of 1939.