One of my favorite movies of the WWII era was "Enemy at the gates" starring Jude Law as Russian sniper Vasily Grigoryevich Zaitsev. He was an actual character in real life, and he and Ivan Sidorenko were well known as snipers during and after the war. I was intrigued by the weaponry, and in particular the Mosin-Nagant 91/30 sniper rifle used to combat a rival German sniper. I've always thought it would nice to have an example of this gun, which probably was the preeminent sniper weapon of the war.
I found one today, and I believe it to be a good and genuine example of the breed. It was imported into this county wrapped in paper and covered with cosmoline from stores of Russian surplus rifles. It fires the 7.62mmx54R cartridge, roughly equivalent to our .30-06 in power. The condition overall is excellent, with the rifle, scope and bore showing very little use, if any at all.
I took some shots of the rifle today, and I'd like those of you with some knowledge of Russian small arms to give me your opinions on authenticity. Serial numbers do match throughout.
The rifle serial number AB431 is found on the bolt, the top of the barrel, the scope mount (both stamped and electric penciled), the magazine baseplate (overstamped), and the heel of the buttplate.
The scope serial number 86313 is found on the left side of the barrel, and the PU 3.5x scope.
The "arrow in a triangle" mark of the Izhevsk arsenal is found on the barrel, which is also marked 1943, while the scope is marked 1942. I suspect that the scope and rifle were mated in 1943, and the scope's serial number applied to the left side of the barrel.
At any rate, here are some shots of what I found - any comments on authenticity appreciated.
John
I found one today, and I believe it to be a good and genuine example of the breed. It was imported into this county wrapped in paper and covered with cosmoline from stores of Russian surplus rifles. It fires the 7.62mmx54R cartridge, roughly equivalent to our .30-06 in power. The condition overall is excellent, with the rifle, scope and bore showing very little use, if any at all.
I took some shots of the rifle today, and I'd like those of you with some knowledge of Russian small arms to give me your opinions on authenticity. Serial numbers do match throughout.
The rifle serial number AB431 is found on the bolt, the top of the barrel, the scope mount (both stamped and electric penciled), the magazine baseplate (overstamped), and the heel of the buttplate.
The scope serial number 86313 is found on the left side of the barrel, and the PU 3.5x scope.
The "arrow in a triangle" mark of the Izhevsk arsenal is found on the barrel, which is also marked 1943, while the scope is marked 1942. I suspect that the scope and rifle were mated in 1943, and the scope's serial number applied to the left side of the barrel.
At any rate, here are some shots of what I found - any comments on authenticity appreciated.
John
