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russianki wrote:I picked this carbine up in December of 2012 for $195. Before this carbine I've never heard of a 91/59 but glad I went for it. The tang date is 1943 with an Izhevsk mark, the receiver is scrubbed, all other parts are Izhevsk. All parts are matching, in a blonde stock with screw in sling escutcheons in the rear, push in type in the front. Has a arsenal stock repair on the left side by the receiver. Barrel is in beautiful condition. Came with a ppsh type sling. Not much is known about 91/59's, everyone seems to argue about where they came from, all I know is that they are extremely accurate and they have a very good trigger.
I vote yes
You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.
Winston Churchill
The scrubbed ones like this are Czech made - does yours have any of the little Czech proofs (circled T, little stars, things like that) on the receiver or barrel? The wood repair on the one side is also more typical of Central European work than Soviet.
Overall a pretty nice little carbine. These are getting pretty scarce these days and like the other Cold War carbine, the 91/44 AKA 91/38, demand and prices are going up steadily.
Brian the Brit wrote:The Stock looks to me as if it has been Re-done quite recently , You can still see the RED in certain parts
On a different model of mosin you might be correct. This is how the 91/59s look and it is arsenal done to this condition. This is an exceptional one and the scrubbed shank is different for sure.
The commerce which maybe carried on with the people inhabiting the line you will pursue renders a knowledge of these people important ~Thomas Jefferson~ (to- Lewis and Clark)
Your stock looks remarkably like the stock on my '53 Hungarian. Unfortunately Bubba painted the sling escutcheons black?!?!? and coated the stock with Devil's Snot but the metal was new and it shoots great. It is one of my favorite shooters.
Devils snot? You mean poly? You can get that off with paint stripper, the Hungarians used an oil finish on these stocks.
Leave it as it is. The ages have been at work on it and man can only mar it.
Don't hit at all if it is honorably possible to avoid hitting; but never hit soft.
Theodore Roosevelt
Yeah, that poly coating looks like hell IMHO as do the painted escutcheons and barrel bands. Whoever had it before me also installed sling swivels too when they could have just used a Mosin sling. I removed the sling swivels and filled the holes with plastic wood and then colored them to match the stock. They obliterated the collector value but this rifle is pretty accurate for an M44 clone. The metal is like new, the barrel was too. I have lots of other Mosins that are much more collectable, but this one is my favorite to shoot.
Leave it as it is. The ages have been at work on it and man can only mar it.
Don't hit at all if it is honorably possible to avoid hitting; but never hit soft.
Theodore Roosevelt
Maybe a aspiring young gunsmith got ahold of it. These refinish jobs are way more prevailant than I ever realized. I have had my eyes opened by hanging out some on facebook. Outside of this forum, and maybe one more, it is a bubba free for all out there. I was shocked and upset to see just how much chopping, scoping, and refinishing is going on. I know it seems like everyone is collecting and preserving a lot of nice rifles, and it is true, but I bet you that even more are being ruined, and the day will come that the originals will be worth some real good money.
Leave it as it is. The ages have been at work on it and man can only mar it.
Don't hit at all if it is honorably possible to avoid hitting; but never hit soft.
Theodore Roosevelt