mosin nagant sniper

[raskolnik]

Y'all have helped me out in the past, so I'm hoping someone can tell me more about this rifle I picked up yesterday.

It's a Mosin Nagant 91/30 sniper, made at Tula arsenal in 1940. All four serial numbers match, and it has the Tula sniper markings (СП in Cyrillic) above the arsenal stamp. To the left (if looking down the barrel) of the receiver stamp is "SA" (Roman alphabet) inside a square, and then "ZHxxxxx". The Cyrillic letter Ж (usually Romanized ZH) is in the start of the serial number on the rest of the parts. The SA looks like this one, which means maybe it was captured by the Finns?

The stock has the Tula arrow within a star, and a year underneath it, but I can't tell what the year is (the third digit looks like a zero now). It also has an "H" (which could be the Cyrillic N) inside a diamond. There's also what looks like a circle with four hash marks in it.

Finally, the scope. I'm thinking this is probably not original to the rifle. It's a PU, with the Soviet markings (star, then under that the hammer & sickle with a lens underneath). Underneath that, it says "91/30" and then the serial number. Most of the originals I've seen have a year, which is what makes me question it. Also, I can't see any stamps or markings on the scope mount.

Any thoughts y'all may have would be appreciated.

Information

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[Homer2]

Sounds like a Finn captured sniper to me. The scope is almost certainly not original as maybe only two Finn captured scoped snipers have been imported into the US. Scopes were damaged easily and most Finn captured snipers were de-snipered after the war. Many were placed in plain stocks with regular bolts, but some were simply put into storage minus the scope and mount. Sounds like a previous owner put a reproduction scope and mount on it.

Despite the added scope, that is one heck of a desirable rifle. I have been after one just like that for years, but have found just about everything else in the Mosin world. Love to see some pics.

For more info on these Finn captured snipers, Marcus and Vic at Gunboards are the ones to ask. The Sniper Page there is second to none on Mosin sniper knowledge.

[gunner]

It is a Finn ownership mark:


Here´s a good web site to it

Mosin Nagant Rifle Guide to Proofs and Markings

[raskolnik]

That was what I was thinking. I'll ask around on that board as well. Thanks for the information.

One other interesting thing is that as far as I can tell there's no import markings anywhere (unless the ZHxxxxx on the left side is one). I'll try to put up pictures once my wife gets home, as my phone's camera has not been behaving of late.