Quote Originally Posted by dangles View Post
I have read that there are A LOT of reproductions floating around - even coming from Russiaicon. So this scope is not a repro then? AIM said it wasn't but I want to hear it from somebody who isn't selling me the rifle! How can you tell? Are the stamped serial numbers original? Or were those also "force matched"? The AIM ad for this batch said they were "arsenal refurbished" post-WW2 so I'm guessing at least some of the parts were replaced. I have yet to figure out which ones. What should I look for? Which parts were most commonly swapped out during a refurb?

Thanks again for any help!
the scope is war time and not a current repro. one way to tell, IMO, at least is by the manufacturers' logo. the current production ones only ever seem to have Progress factory's stamp, not the polygon Yoshkar Ola. plus they use cryllic letter prefixes that were never used by the Soviets in WWII. those characters look like "NY". also, the screws in the scope turrets are rounded. current production ones use flat head screws. it's rather easy to tell new ones from originals, they just don't look right.

the "43" that starts the serial number on the scope is the year it was made.

nothing on there appears to be force matched. that's typically done by grinding off or lining out the original serial number (like the scope number on your rifles' barrel shank). refurbishment meant cleaning and repairing any damage, it's possible that no major parts were replaced on your rifle. although, oddly, i believe the bolt (or at least the bolt head) on my 91/30 PU was replaced post war. the bolt face has not a single mark on it. doesn't look like it ever fired a round but i can't be sure.