Value of Non Refurbished 91/30 Mosin Nagant

[Rue]

My friend just bought a non refurb Mosin, dated 1942, Izhevsk. It is his first mosin and he doesn't fuly understand how special it is to have a non refurb. He is talking about modding it to put a PU scope and mount on it, but I am trying to convince him otherwise. I would appreciate it if someone could give me insight into how rare it is to have a non refurb mosin, and also some ways to convince him to keep it as is. I am hoping I can convince him to get a 91/30 refurb to do his modding with.

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[Patrick Chadwick]

Simple argument:

1) Find out the going price for a new PU
2) Find out the going price for a PU mount for a Mosin-Nagant 91/30
3) Find out the going price for a sniper bolt - one with a long, turned-down bolt handle. Bending a standard bolt handle is no good.
4) Find out the going price for a 91-30 with propery mounted PU.

5) Deduct 1), 2) and 3) from 4) and discover that the rifle is nearly free
5) Show friend the results, so that he realizes that it does not make much sense.

There are enough retrofitted 91/30 "snipers" around to equip a couple of divisions. Why bother to make another?

[jmoore]

Good grief, a matching (not "force matched") older import 91/30 is fairly scarce. Doesn't make any kind of sense to ruin it now!

[barbarossa]

Tell your buddy a non-refurbed 91/30 is a scarce bird and he can likely make a good enough profit selling it to knock a nice bit of change off a repro sniper rig. It is a crying shame to modify such a rifle when you know how uncommon they truly are. But in the long run, it's his rifle and he can also do as he damn well pleases. After all the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

[fn111557]

Better idea! You buy a repro for him and trade with him, then forget about it as an investment. He gets his fixed up 91/30, you get a collectors piece, the mosin community dosen't morn the lose of another relic.

[chuckusaret]

My son has a non refurb'd 91/30 that he bought about 10 or 12 years ago for $60 and has been offered $500 for it. I would rather have the very rare non refurb'd than a common refurb'd sniper that's readily available for less than $500.