1921 Mosin Nagant questions

[thgreekgamer]

I bought my first rifle a little less than a year ago, as luck would have it, it was a Mosin Nagant. It’s an almost numbers matching 1921 Izhevsk (the bayonet and mag floorplate are different) and it wasn’t until just recently that I realized that I might have something a little special. I confess I don’t know a whole lot about the differences between the different models of Mosins so I was hoping that some people on here would be able to share some info with me, such as; what is the rarity of this rifle, if any? I’ve been informed it was probably converted to a 91/30 at some point, what does this mean, and how can I tell if it was done? Those and any other info would be really appreciated, I’ve attached a few pictures I’ve taken.

[ssg_lord]

Your rifle was originally a M91 Dragoon rifle made in 1921 at Izhevsk. The Soviets rebuilt most Dragoon's into M91/30's and yours is one of these due to it's 1921 date since 91/30 production hadn't begun yet. It's now refered to as a ex-Dragoon by collectors. A 1921 date is somewhat uncommon, Soviet rifle production slowed considerably during the Russian Revolution and was still recovering in 1921 so production numbers were low. Many early 20's ex-Dragoon's are built on earlier, Imperial era receivers. You can check this by removing the action from the stock and checking the date stamped on the underside of the tang.

[Junk Yard Dog]

Most 91/30's dated before 1934 started off life as dragoon rifles, it was a few years before the old sight parts were used up and the new 91/30 sights were in production. Eventually the older rifles were updated as they came back to the arsenals. The Soviets did reuse older receivers as they came available, but most of these rifles will be made on new receivers, they stayed hex until 1935 at Izhevsk and mid year 1936 at Tula. 1921 is a revolution year, the October revolution was still ongoing at that time and would be for three more years before Lenin assumed power over the country.

[Lee-online]

It's a nice old ex dragoon that was refurbished and changed to the current M91/30 configuration. The big giveaway is the rear sight.

Here is my 1923 Dragoon with its original rear sight.

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[djbuck1]

Nice refurbished Civil War era rifle, more deeply struck than either of mine.

[qz2026]

Nice ex Dragoon refurb. Too bad it wasn't a Tula. I've been looking for one of those forever.

[tailgunner67]

Nice rifle. Ex Dragoon’s have maybe a little more value to some than a standard 91/30. All in all yours is a nice example.

[thgreekgamer]

Your rifle was originally a M91 Dragoon rifle made in 1921 at Izhevsk. The Soviets rebuilt most Dragoon's into M91/30's and yours is one of these due to it's 1921 date since 91/30 production hadn't begun yet. It's now refered to as a ex-Dragoon by collectors. A 1921 date is somewhat uncommon, Soviet rifle production slowed considerably during the Russian Revolution and was still recovering in 1921 so production numbers were low. Many early 20's ex-Dragoon's are built on earlier, Imperial era receivers. You can check this by removing the action from the stock and checking the date stamped on the underside of the tang.

So I disassembled the rifle and the date under the tang is also 1921, is this unusual?

[Junk Yard Dog]

No, that is normal and expected. The tang date is only different from the barrel date if they reused an old receiver, or the rifle was built near the end of the year and they had last years date receivers still in the parts pile into the new year.

[zeebill]

Very nice refurbished ex dragoon! The date being the same on barrel and receiver tang shows the entire action was refurbished as one piece. The rest of the stuff that made it an entire unit could have come from a pile of parts the may be serial force matched when the rifle was reassembled at refurb. Should most times be an excellent shooter and if taken care of the bore should even get better for you as you get better with the rifle. Congrats and enjoy shooting it! On todays market these are $250 to maybe $400 rifles at most gun shows and online. Your rifle is in excellent shape by the look of it so try and take good care of it and maybe someday you will get your money out of it if you move on to other rifles or hobbies. Bill