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Original 91/30 sniper? Thoughts

Srtjeeplover95

Well-known member
Could someone shed some light on this mosin sniper. Non import marked and appears all matching but refinished. Is this maybe a Bringback from world war 2 or Vietnam?? Thanks
 

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That G and I stamped above the serial was done at import to the US because cyrillic letters are not accepted by ATF.

Stock looks like it is probably refinished as well.
 
My gut says that is an import. Very well could gave not got stamped or the stamp was taken off before it was redone. 3 reasons I say this. I don't see the serial number on the side of the reciever or CH marked. General it has at least 1 of these. Not all the time but enough to make me question it.The bolt stamping doesn't look orginal not me and the Gi stamped on the top of the reciever would have been the english letter conversion the importer stamp for the cyrillic letters. With that said I'm not 100% but a good 95% sure.
All the nam bring backs I have seen have either been 02 Hungrian or if they where Soviet the serial numbers modified as well as other marks.

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Need better pictures, specifically of the base, mount and barrel markings.
The scope is an original Yoshkar Ola PU scope. The mount looks to be a post war production mount. As a member above stated the Gi is likely added by the importer(no doubt century, I'd bet the import mark is near the muzzle and may be very faint) for serial number importation purposes.

I don't like the looks of this one so far.. Not seeing any number on the barrel side either which in itself does not give a yes or not but certainly doesn't give me hope.
Check for a "C" around the barrel markings OR(most likely) on the left side receiver wall on top.

Been a while since I've been into these and with my horrible memory.. Well I've forgotten a lot but hope I can help.
 
My gut says that is an import. Very well could gave not got stamped or the stamp was taken off before it was redone. 3 reasons I say this. I don't see the serial number on the side of the reciever or CH marked. General it has at least 1 of these. Not all the time but enough to make me question it.The bolt stamping doesn't look orginal not me and the Gi stamped on the top of the reciever would have been the english letter conversion the importer stamp for the cyrillic letters. With that said I'm not 100% but a good 95% sure.
All the nam bring backs I have seen have either been 02 Hungrian or if they where Soviet the serial numbers modified as well as other marks.

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The CH and CN markings were mostly(From what I've seen) on Tula rifles. Izhevsk snipers would often have a C stamped somewhere. Usually on the left side receiver wall on top. Sometimes it would be a c in a circle from what I remember.
 
Rifle is a piece of junk. It likely had import marks that were removed. The rifle never was a sniper as I see no Circle C sniper proof on the barrel nor a scope serial number on the barrel shank. It was Tula who used a CH marking on the barrel of PU snipers. This rifle is an Izhevsk. The parts shown are not factory original as the font is wrong and there is no letter prefix. I don't like the bent bolt, looks fake. Metal has been refinished as has the stock. Check out my website in my signature line. Here are pictures of a factory original Izhevsk PU and a link to another. Notice the font of the parts and the blueing color. Hope this helps.

http://www.k98kforum.com/showthread.php?5978-M-91-30-PU-Ishevsk-43-Sniper

44 Izhevsk PU 3 (1).jpg44 Izhevsk PU 3 (4).jpg44 Izhevsk PU 3 (5).jpg44 Izhevsk PU 3 (6).jpg44 Izhevsk PU 3 (7).jpg44 Izhevsk PU 3 (8).jpg44 Izhevsk PU 3 (9).jpg44 Izhevsk PU 3 (14).jpg44 Izhevsk PU 3 (2).jpg
 
That is a heck of a rifle Matt. Traditional wisdom was that Tula got the Alloy scopes. Yours shows Izhevsk got at least some. Beautiful example.
 
Too often I see guys post something is a bringback because there is no import Mark. There are multiple reasons for there not to be an import Mark. One of which is it was removed and cold blued over. Unethical but perfectly legal.

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The first rifle I posted has import marks but is 100% matching. This has no import marks but is a scope mismatch. It is most certain a Vet bring back. Either WWII or possibly Korea.

44 Izhevsk PU (1).JPG44 Izhevsk PU (2).jpg44 Izhevsk PU (3).jpg44 Izhevsk PU (4).jpg44 Izhevsk PU (7).jpg44 Izhevsk PU (9).jpg
 
The first rifle I posted has import marks but is 100% matching. This has no import marks but is a scope mismatch. It is most certain a Vet bring back. Either WWII or possibly Korea.

View attachment 209059View attachment 209060View attachment 209061View attachment 209062View attachment 209063View attachment 209064

Many rifles were imported years ago and sold threw shotgun news and various other gun magazines. All prior to the import marks being required. I have several weapons that are not import marked but that does not make them a bring back. I had a friend, who has since past, that ran a hardware store. He ordered these types of surplus weapons and sold them in the store. He remebers M1917 smiths and colts he got by the bucket, also Mosins and K98s. If you have no paperwork to prove it, or know the vet, then its more then likely a pre imoprt marked import.
 
Many rifles were imported years ago and sold threw shotgun news and various other gun magazines. All prior to the import marks being required. I have several weapons that are not import marked but that does not make them a bring back. I had a friend, who has since past, that ran a hardware store. He ordered these types of surplus weapons and sold them in the store. He remebers M1917 smiths and colts he got by the bucket, also Mosins and K98s. If you have no paperwork to prove it, or know the vet, then its more then likely a pre imoprt marked import.
That is not my opinion. Do you know how difficult it is to find a M91/30 sniper without any import marks that is factory matching? Very, very difficult. I have only seen 3 in my collecting. Do you know of an outfit that imported PU snipers before the import laws? I believe that the likelihood that this came back from a war is much stronger. Why is that so hard to believe? How many service members were bring things back between 1945 and 1954? Seems like a higher number of items compared to an importing outfit. It doesn't matter much as I don't think it effects that value either way and it is all speculation on both our parts.

Oh and BTW, this was purchased from a veteran. But I guess since he didn't keep his bring back papers it lost it's status as a "Bring Back."
 
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Regarding imports, I don't think we had a lot of arms trade on the commercial market with the Eastern Block nations prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall and collapse of USSR in the early 90s. Prior to that we got some stuff from China in the 80s but then that dried up in 89 with the Bush ban on military-style semi-auto imports from China.
 
Regarding imports, I don't think we had a lot of arms trade on the commercial market with the Eastern Block nations prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall and collapse of USSR in the early 90s. Prior to that we got some stuff from China in the 80s but then that dried up in 89 with the Bush ban on military-style semi-auto imports from China.

Yes. This plus the fact that this rifle never went through a refurb and is in combat carried condition. If it had been exported from Russia or a satellite country it would have been rebuilt. Statistically speaking a bring back is the highest probability.
 
My opinion was based on your reasoning that no import marks means vet bringback. I had a bunch of old (late 50's 60's) american riflemen magazines that had loads of mausers, mosins, lugers and enfields. None would be import marked. So are they all vet bring backs. I have come across early imports that were all matching unrebuilt so they were out there. Either way the rifle stands on its own. Its a nice rifle, one I would like to have.
 
Yes. This plus the fact that this rifle never went through a refurb and is in combat carried condition. If it had been exported from Russia or a satellite country it would have been rebuilt. Statistically speaking a bring back is the highest probability.

I wasn't referring to your rifles about import marks and bringbacks. I agree yours was likely brought back.


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My opinion was based on your reasoning that no import marks means vet bringback. I had a bunch of old (late 50's 60's) american riflemen magazines that had loads of mausers, mosins, lugers and enfields. None would be import marked. So are they all vet bring backs. I have come across early imports that were all matching unrebuilt so they were out there. Either way the rifle stands on its own. Its a nice rifle, one I would like to have.
O.k. I got you. I didn't mean to imply that this rifle is a bring back merely because it doesn't have import marks. More the likely hood that it is. But as I said, per speculation. Just an educated guess.
 
Could someone shed some light on this mosin sniper. Non import marked and appears all matching but refinished. Is this maybe a Bringback from world war 2 or Vietnam?? Thanks

It has the Ukrainian refurbishment diamond on the top of the receiver if that helps
 

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