1891 Mosin Nagant Infantry Rifle, Soviet Production

Hi all,

Well I thought I would show you all my most recently acquired rifle. It is a 1891 Infantry Rifle manufactured in 1926 at Tula Arsenal (the receiver is a 1898 from Tula I believe but can't verify as I believe it has a hammer above the date but it is so faint). I honestly don't know much about where this rifle has been, maybe Spanish Civil War but unfortunately there are no markings to prove that. The handguard is Finnish but that was added after it was sold off (it was missing one when the person I bought it off of bought it). There is no Finnish markings so it is not a Finnish capture. Another interesting point is it has a Tula manufactured trigger but it is the Star not the hammer (so it would have been replaced post 1928 which also means the odds of it being a Spanish Civil War rifle goes down). It is not matching but the action is the smoothest I have ever felt on a Mosin Nagant. The Hexagonal receiver still has the Imperial crest intact as well which is also odd. The writing on the receiver says Foremost Ordnance Factory (of the) USSR at Tula. There is also no importation marks on the rifle which is always a nice bonus. The only thing I am unhappy about is someone scratched FM into the stock. Tomorrow I will let you all know how well she shoots. Well without further ado here are some pics.

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Very nice and awesome that it has antique status.

Welcome to the 26 club. I have a three digit Tula 1926 M91 that is Finn captured. I believe yours is as well, since the rear sight leaf is a flat plate with two screws, Finn style. No other counties did that. Check the rear sight base for Meter markings in place of the Arshins. The FM on the stock may also indicate Finn ownership a they frequently scratched initials into the stocks. Not every Finn rifle was stamped with a [SA], so you need to look for other indicators. Finns usually stamped the serial number on the bolt, but not other parts. Sometimes they only stamped the last 4 on the bolt handle.

Mine is also on an earlier receiver, as are others out there. There are only a hand full known. Congratulations on the rare find.

Your right about the rear sight having the flat plate (looked it up in the Mosin Nagant Rifle by Terence Lapin and online and it is a good indication of a Finnish Rifle as they were the only ones to make that style of rear sight). However there is no SA marks, no sling plugs and the Rear sight was not redone in Meters (or double stamped). I was looking at the bolt and it has a 'R' in a circle on it which apparently according to the Mosin Nagant Rifle, indicates it is from a Remington manufactured rifle. Also Magazine also has the 'R' in a circle stamp as well (they are faint due to the pitting) which would also make it a Remington magazine. No parts of the rifle have any force matching which I find weird as most countries liked to force match. So this is a lightly Finned rifle? I would have thought they would have made more changes/markings on it.

Also the cleaning rod that came with it is likely not a Mosin Nagant cleaning rod, it is 28 inches long with a smooth head (not Knarled or with lines cut in it).

Unfortunately here in Canada this rifle is not a antique even though the receiver is dated 1898 (which sucks but what can you do).

It isn't an antique, but you can buy cheap SVT 40s.

If it isn't a Finn (someone replaced the rear sight leaf with a Finn part) I'd suggest it may be Spanish. The Tula star would be fine as the SCW time frame for Soviet support was '36 to '38. I'm still betting on Finn ownership, but more pictures would help. Front sight blade?

Heres some photos of the rifle front sight and rear sight as well as the imperial crest, the bore after my TLC is done (it was described as dark and heavily pitted when I bought it) and the two groups I shot today with it.

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That rear sight plate alignment seems to be pulling your shots to the right. It looks a little more crude than a normal Finn plate rear sight as well. The Finn versions were originally for the M28, but it seems they were occasionally used as replacements for M91s as well. I'd call this one an unknown origin, leaning toward Finn owned. Just in case, I'd leave the initials on the stock alone as they may have been put there while in service. Kind of a personal touch to the history of the rifle.

Here is a link to a not-so-recent discussion on my 1926.
The Russian Mosin Nagant Forum View topic - Finn 1926 Tula M91

I am leaving it all original (at least how I got it). Thanks for the input, it has been greatly appreciated. Also nice 1926 M91

Something I'm noticing is that there are no refurb markings (at least none I see jumping out). With the hodge podge of parts, that may indicate the Finns had it at some point, as well.

Regardless, it's a nice one!

Well looking at it I am leaning towards a Finnish Capture as well. The Rear sight is really decisive (as they were the only ones to do that). Other than that the lack of refurbishment, initials scrawled into it, and lack of import marks also leans towards a Finnish Capture (as they surplused there rifles in the 1950's before the stupid import mark requirements).

Either way, this rifle has certainly got that been there and done that feel, I mean it could have potentially been through a lot and it is definitely a keeper (with my poor shooting abilities it shoots pretty good and it almosts completes my Soviet Collection).

Love it....would have snatched that up in a second.

I felt I would do a update on this rifle. After doing more research I am now leaning towards a Spanish Civil War rifle. The reason being the cleaning rod that came with it. Originally I put it off too the side as it doesn't screw into the cleaning rod holder in the stock so it would fall out well shooting. Today I took a good look at it and took out a Mauser cleaning kit I have kicking around and it fit the attachment on most the way (kit was for a M98 Mauser so I don't know if the M93s had a different style kit, also the screw in portion is a bit bent as well so that could have prevented it from going all the way on).

I also now feel that this rifle was never involved with the Finnish as the cleaning rod wouldn't be something they would put there (they had large quantity's of Mosin ones as well as the fact they didn't use Mausers) as well as the modified rear sight is most likely a later date modification.

The cleaning rod is the last thing I would use to determine where something came from. Easily lost, not as easily replaced, especially by someone picking one up by "looking right". Most signs point to Finn. May simply have missed the SA stamp. Finns are known to carve their initials into the stocks and they also don't rebuild everything. I have one very similar with the exception that is does have the SA stamp.

Either way, it is a neat piece of history, which has definitely seen action somewhere. Now to begin the search for the elusive Soviet produced 1891 Dragoon (which haven't been converted to 91/30 standards).

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