| | | quote | Originally posted by Mike Gonzalez:
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Your rifle was manufactured per the Izhevsk arsenal. Model year 1924, number 88788 produced that year.
The little double rectangle mark next to the hammer and sickle stamp means that your rifle was refurbished either just before or the early months of ww2. so anywhere from about 1936 to mid 1940.
Contrary to what many importers and collectors believe, the Tula factory is NOT the rare factory. In fact the Tula factory DID get bombed BUT the damage was minimal and repaired nearly in one month and a days time. The factory was then converted over to a reconditioning unit to bring surplus rifles into Soviet standards for use on the front against the Germans.
The Izhevsk factory was bombed into rubble, taking with it the stamping, presses, and tooling that made yours, and mine rare pieces. There were an estimated, 37 million Mosin Nagant (and variables) produced of which only 1.2 million being produced at the Izhevsk factory
A breif synopsis on the Model we have: (yeah yeah its from Wiki)
Model 1891/30 (винтовка образца 1891/30-го года, винтовка Мосина): The most prolific version of the Mosin–Nagant. It was produced for standard issue to all Soviet infantry from 1930 to 1945. Most Dragoon rifles were also converted to the M1891/30 standard. It was commonly used as a sniper rifle in World War II. Early sniper versions had a 4x PE or PEM scope, a Soviet-made copy of a Zeiss design, while later rifles used smaller, simpler, and easier-to-produce 3.5x PU scopes. Because the scope was mounted above the chamber, the bolt handle was replaced with a longer, bent version on sniper rifles so the shooter could work the bolt without the scope interfering with it. Its design was based on the Dragoon rifle with the following modifications:
* Flat rear sights and r-stamping of sights in meters, instead of arshinii.
* A cylindrical receiver, replacing the octagonal (commonly called "hex") receiver. Early production 91/30s (from 1930 to 1936) and converted Dragoon rifles retained the hex receiver. The hex receiver rifles are regarded as less common and stronger than the rounded receiver versions by collectors and shooters.
* A hooded post front sight, replacing the blade on previous weapons
Now for Zetabird, i would HIGHLY recommend you pull the wood off of your gun ASAP and set it somewhere dry to get all the moisture out! the finish on the weapon is designed to repel water blood, oils, and dirt. Removing it can cause warpage of the stock, weakening, and the parts may not fit together right again. If you like the lighter tones of the wood you can go to Home Depot or Lowe's and buy some Thompson water seal or a light maple stain and stain the parts. I prefer the darker oak- like hues of my rifle and someday i may have it refinished by a professional to retain its value.
Right now in its current state you would be lucky to walk away with 20 bucks from a collector. Fix it, make it look like its the stock finish and don't tell anyone, you might squeak by with a decent profit.
I payed 30 bucks for my Mosin with a bayonet, sling, cleaning kit, pin mount scope sight, 300 rds of surplus ammo, a broken shell extractor and a replacement metal butt plate. How? well, lets just say that im A LOT more knowledgeable than certain people i used to call friends and can whittle a deal when i see it fit.
they have a low target hanger and it cost 10 bucks if you hit it . so i was pulling a little low to save the 10 bucks this is from 25 feet out .not bad for not shooting in over ten years. here is photo of my new gun 
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