Molot's The Future of Mosin-Nagants?

[Joeinthehills]

Having only 5 of my plus M-N's of 20+ from the Ukraine; those additional 5 from Molot Russia, of which I am pleased with their overall appearance and condition, It begs the question?

If the Ukraine can't match the pricing/quality of the Molot's from Russia what is going to be the future of collectible M-N's?

It begs the question? Ukraine at higher prices or non-availability or Russian Molot's?

As a newbie having only starting collecting this year and have too many to store in the gun safe; it started out as a Finn M27 and evloved...beyond my wife's widest dreams.

It's good that I do other things "Well", or otherwise it'd be downhill!

[Judi and her Mosins]

Semper Fi Joe, I know the feeling. I have yet to run across a Molot Mosin so far, But no I think I should grab one to see what the fuss is. Hope that the varity would open up more. Judi and her Mosin's

[Mohave-Tec]

What's a Molot? What does Molot mean?

[Junk Yard Dog]

What's a Molot? What does Molot mean?

A Russian commercial firearms exporter and maker of sporting rifles. They have exported a number of Mosin rifles in the last couple of years to various parts of the globe including the US. There are questions as to what Molot has done to the milsurps they sell to make them more appealing to buyers who prefer "pretty" antique rifles. These questions go unanswered by the company so we consider them as they claim themselves to be, a seller of hunting rifles until more information comes to light.

[Rongo]

Molot looks to now have their own Importation company in Molot-Orzhie Ltd to possibly bypass IO Inc. as the importer to garner a bigger piece of the pie. Looks like they intend to be the sole importer out of Russia & in a big way.

[emcon5]

Molot looks to now have their own Importation company in Molot-Orzhie Ltd to possibly bypass IO Inc. as the importer to garner a bigger piece of the pie. Looks like they intend to be the sole importer out of Russia & in a big way.

I hope this is true, they did a hell of a lot better marking the rifles than Tula did with the K98s Century was selling a couple years ago.

[Junk Yard Dog]

One thing to make clear about Molot, unlike Gibbs rifle, or Mitchells Mauser's Molot is not bullshitting anybody. Molot will tell you that they sell hunting rifles, they make no claims to selling any unaltered milsurp, or milsurp at all, they sell hunting rifles. They may choose not to tell us exactly what they do to the rifles they sell before selling them, but as a business they have that right. So far as I can see they are not telling lies, not trying to make us believe we are buying any special part of history. The only problem I see with Molot comes from the end user, the buyer, who wants the rifle to be something it might not be, an unaltered piece of history. Molot does not care about that because they sold you a hunting rifle, the rifle shoots, it 's not broken in any way, and all is good as far as they care. Molot is doing a service to the gun buying community by providing useable firearms at reasonable cost, if people want to believe they are coming from a cave were they have been untouched since 1948, or believe they were refinished at Molots factory last month Molot does not care.

[InOmaha]

Molot must be opening up a warehouse or two of them so the prices are going down. I saw that Gander Mountain has 91/30s on sale for $99. Cheap for a retail setting. Maybe since they have their own US presence now they can undercut the current pricing to the larger stores who buy bulk. What's Gander Mountain have 120-130 stores. 15-20 of these rifles a store adds up fast. Plus they sell spam cans of ammo at $130. I noticed the chain stores have almost all 41-43 round recievers with no accessories and some with bayonet extral. Then accessories price at $30-40 extra on famous on-line marketplaces. An interesting way to get more money.

That's a lot of pressure on on-line sellers to get them shipped to you. Without a C&R its a no brainer to search through a stack of them at a store for $99 and handpick the best condition and bore while looking for the markings you want.

The MolotUSA website has a placeholder for KO 91/30 on it but nothing listed yet.

I've seen more listed on Gunbroker and Armslist recently too. People must be buying them to flip them.

[Jlr2267]

People must be buying them to flip them.

. That sounds like a good way to lose money.

[InOmaha]

You would think. But they are listed on some sites at $150-200. So at $99 it's possible.

Or they might part them out. I was looking for a small part and the cheapest I could find it for online was $12. Approximately 10 to 20 percent of the cost of buying another rifle for one barrel band retaining spring. Bands, bolts, springs, screws, plates, stocks. I would hate to buy another just to strip it of parts, but it's definately cheaper.

[Junk Yard Dog]

People must be buying them to flip them.

. That sounds like a good way to lose money.

If they buy them with a C&RFFL with the intention to flip them they will be in violation of the law.

[InOmaha]

When I bought my last MN, I said, "This would make a good Christmas Present" thinking of myself. The guy asked me several if I was buying it for myself to be sure I wasn't buying it for someone else.

I guess it's sort of like cracking bomb jokes to the TSA at the airport. Not the best idea.

[Joeinthehills]

I guess that I may have asked the wrong question?

Are the Molot's going to be the next import biggest import given the conditions in the Ukraine?

The Ukraine may still have vast hoards of M-N's in the salt mines, but will their dealers be willing to match the newer pricing versus the Russian Molot's?

It is NOT a quality issue as the Molot's seem to be of a better quality, as well as pricing?

I love competition in the free market! It makes it better for all of us. Unlike your New "O" insurance plan...

[Rongo]

Molot must be opening up a warehouse or two of them so the prices are going down. I saw that Gander Mountain has 91/30s on sale for $99. Cheap for a retail setting. Maybe since they have their own US presence now they can undercut the current pricing to the larger stores who buy bulk. What's Gander Mountain have 120-130 stores. 15-20 of these rifles a store adds up fast. Plus they sell spam cans of ammo at $130. I noticed the chain stores have almost all 41-43 round recievers with no accessories and some with bayonet extral. Then accessories price at $30-40 extra on famous on-line marketplaces. An interesting way to get more money.

That's a lot of pressure on on-line sellers to get them shipped to you. Without a C&R its a no brainer to search through a stack of them at a store for $99 and handpick the best condition and bore while looking for the markings you want.

The MolotUSA website has a placeholder for KO 91/30 on it but nothing listed yet.

I've seen more listed on Gunbroker and Armslist recently too. People must be buying them to flip them.

There are more 91/30's available as of late through distributors, retailers & so on. With the refurbs from Century & PW Arms & the hunting rifles from Molot a glut is starting to form & a sale or two to move inventory is a logical step. Add the Holiday season to the fray & it can look like deal time to you & me. Gander Mtn was overpriced at $179 if you ask me... Fleet Farm was selling just recently for $99 everday, then to $119 & now at $139. Look for them to have a sale soon too to move inventory.
Realize here that 91/30 inventory is slowing a bit & prices drop accordingly. Anyone gullible to think they can buy a huge batch from Gander & sell tomorrow on the forum or Gunbroker is in for a big shock... In ways they can't even imagine.

[Junk Yard Dog]

I guess that I may have asked the wrong question?

Are the Molot's going to be the next import biggest import given the conditions in the Ukraine?

The Ukraine may still have vast hoards of M-N's in the salt mines, but will their dealers be willing to match the newer pricing versus the Russian Molot's?

It is NOT a quality issue as the Molot's seem to be of a better quality, as well as pricing?

I love competition in the free market! It makes it better for all of us. Unlike your New "O" insurance plan...

The Ukranians need cash as always, sales will go on, likely without even a pause. Molot rifles, rebuilt by Molot or otherwise, are of exactly the same quality as any other 91/30.

[Darryl]

The Ukranians need cash as always, sales will go on, likely without even a pause. Molot rifles, rebuilt by Molot or otherwise, are of exactly the same quality as any other 91/30.

Only thing I would add to that is......the Ukrainian imports don't have that big "fugly" Molot marking under the hand guard. To me, that makes the Ukrainian imports more "desirable".

Dolk

[Junk Yard Dog]

The Ukrainian rifles are of greater interest to me because we know were they come from, we know why they were there, we know who refurbished them, they even come in the Soviet 20 rifle crates to prove it. When I buy one I do not have to wonder about how it came to be in the condition it's in, I know why. The Mosin is a rifle full of unknowns and questions, MO marks, production numbers, inspection marks, all unknowns, but with the Ukrainian rifles at least I know they are Soviet issue rifles in the condition that the Soviets left them in prior to 1991. As a collector of history that sort of thing is very important to me.

[InOmaha]

I'm not going to go out and buy a bunch on sale then try to turn them over. I'd look at the chain store to find one that was different. Aside from it maybe being a stretch of the law, even at a max of $99 in and ~$150 out, I can make much more money working extra hours at my job and with less effort.

If I had a Gander Mountain nearby I'd look through the $99 rack for something different. It does seem that the prices have been going down. From $199 to $129 here locally and now $89 online to $99 retail chain.

Molot may or may not have something to do with that. It may just be holiday sales.

[Jlr2267]

When I bought my last MN, I said, "This would make a good Christmas Present" thinking of myself. The guy asked me several if I was buying it for myself to be sure I wasn't buying it for someone else.

I guess it's sort of like cracking bomb jokes to the TSA at the airport. Not the best idea.

It is perfectly legal to buy a firearm as a gift for someone else. What is illegal is taking someone else's money and buying a firearm for them.

[Gsragtop]

I believe Molot of a year ago and Molot of today are different animals.. Let me explain. When Molot first came in the scene it was with m44's and snipers. Both of which seemed "to clean to be regular referbs" and were marked ko-xx in an obvious place.. Now the rifles while cleaner then the Ukraine referbs (Clean as in less grease on them), and the ko-xx is now under the hand guard where it's not seen.. I think what we have is a company that actually listened to the consumers.

We know Russia proper can't sell surplus military items to the USA, but hunting rifles are just fine (not sure why that is). So I'm sure that's why Molot was originally set up, to get around the road block of military rifles. They thought people would appreciate rifles that were cleaned up and nice, but then the back lash started. It's not what we wanted, we wanted our rifles original.. I think they changed there game at that time ( and probably saved some money as well, explaining the lower prices we are seeing) and while there bill board is probably nessesary to export them, they moved them under the hand guard to make us happy.. I believe these rifles are coming right from a hord in Russia which would explan the increase in DDR's we have been seeing (as these would have been referbed only after east Germany retuned them, which I'm guessing was after the border state hords (such as the Ukraine) were formed and filled).. I'm sure the whole thing is about using a loop hole to sell rifles.

This is just my thought process, and I maybe compleatly wrong. However it seems to fit what we are seeing.