Mosin import marks/discussion

[SubCaliber]

Ya know, I did actually know that, I had simply forgotten.  I honestly haven't given the Mosin's much love since I got them.  I got them simply as collectors pieces and to be honest their the trigger mechanism employed in this design gives me pause.  It's simple though I will give it that.


Funny you mention Serial #'s because the M44 has cryilic characters in it.  Does that mean it should somewhere else have a new US all alphanumeric number somewhere?  The M44 is in an obvious replacement stock.  No cartouches anywhere, no metal and crude routing on the rear sling cutout etc...  It's a much more reasonable length IMHO though.

[Greasemonkey]

Cyrillic is typical, importers at times translated and marked their translated serial on the receiver, some might even have an assigned serial stamped in to it.
Sling cut outs can be screwed in, pressed in or just a cutout hole, it's just part of the history. Some were made under duress of war to supply Soviet troops while Germany was banging on Moscows front door or Finland was whooping some tail. So they cut out certain steps in finishing, which is why some dont have the pretty sling loops or a great, wonderful metal finish, Russia sacrificed visual pretty looks for basic strength, function and adequate troop supplies. But, rest assured, they will all go bang, ugly, pretty or run of the mill refurb.

Don't under estimate or fear the Mosin....



like the Ak, it's very simple, some are very crudly built and machined, yet they are very, very durable. One reason Finland is still known to use them as sniper rifles, simplistic durability. The trigger while it is very simplistic, it works, find a Finnish and give that trigger a go. I have a M27 Finn that it's trigger is just as nice as any of my Swiss K31s or Swede M96s.  There is little if any size difference in a SKS vs a M44
SKS 8.5/8.75 lbs w/20inch barrel and 40 inch over all length vs M44 8.5-9 pounds w/20.5 inch barrel and 40 inches overall length(with a bigger bang to boot).

If the M91/30 is long, try the M91 with it's 31 1/2 barrel and 52 inch length, then add a bayonet for a little extra measure..

And remember, not all Mosins......are created equal, especially when Finland gets involved....

[Phosphorus32]

All of my Russian SKSs have the transliteration of the Cyrillic letters stamped above the letters on the receiver. My Mosins that are earlier imports (pre-2002) do not. My more recent import M91/30s (with the billboard style import mark) have the importers unique serial number, which bears no relation to the original Russian applied SN on the barrel. 

The ATF really doesn't like the non-Roman alphabet or non-Arabic numbers.  My Siamese M45/66 really takes the cake with Siamese numbers 

Love that M28/76 GM!       As far as collectible and shootable Mosins go, I like my M39s a lot...



...and that beater Izhevsk M38 has a nice finely worn in trigger with a consistent 3.75 lb trigger pull that's pretty sweet

[Greasemonkey]

Or Turkish, Persian and Egyptian serial numbers

Yup P32.....I like my M39 too..

[Loose}{Cannon]

Those are the strangest looking yugo SKSs I have ever seen.     

[SubCaliber]

It's not trigger pull that leaves me unsettled about the Mosin it's the sear and how loose the bolt can be in the receiver.  Seems like there's a lot of possibility for it popping off a sear especially if the rifle were dropped.  I just make extra sure it's pointed down range when I close the bolt on these.

Yes we did get a bit off track there didn't we...  Sorry about that...  Back to the Yugo...

The Yugo's trigger I don't find to be all that bad at all for a military rifle.  Maybe mine is better than others I don't know.  I hear people complain about them but I don't mind it.  I know it can be improved I have considered trying that but every time I do I remember that I don't mind it now and I leave it be.

I know a lot of people don't like Yugo SKS's and I myself would love a good milled one from another country, preferably Russia, but they seem hard to come by.  Right now for me the money is harder to come by so it wouldn't matter.  But that's not to say I don't love my Yugo.  I had an AK style rifle and I know many won't agree with me but I could just never really like it.  I wanted too, I really did but to be honest between the AR and the AK I prefer the AR by far.  I had a Saiga 308 once and I had a normal AK (Serbian) and I also have AR-15's and I had an AR-10.  I wouldn't say the AR-10 could compete in reliability but all of my AR-15's actually can.  It's been my personal observation that a poorly put together rifle, regardless of it being an AR or AK is just that, poorly made and will function thusly.  A well made one will also function accordingly.  The thing is there is a TON of competition in the US for AR parts right now and most of the stuff out there, even lower priced, has been forced to step up and therefore is pretty decent.  I however have come across a ton of AK's not well modified to take the larger mags and other things that just don't feed right, rivets aren't done well etc.  I traded my AK for a STAG AR upper for the first lower I built.  Later I built another top to bottom.  Building the upper and lower completely myself. 

So there I go off track again.... but I had a point when I began... in my opinion as a semi-auto rifle, the SKS is a better rifle to me and for me than the AK.  I love my SKS, I didn't really care for the AK.

[Greasemonkey]

Easy test for a Mosin, cock it and slam the butt on the floor several times, if it dry fires you got an issue, if it don't, it aint got a problem 

I know a lot of people don't like Yugo SKS's and I myself would love a good milled one from another country

All of them are milled, every nation used milled receivers, with the exception of a few Chinese stamped and cast ones, and both receiver types are high dollar collectables. Only other common thing other than the butt plate and box mags that is stamped is the trigger assy, again, only found on later Chinese models.

And think about it.. Aks are meant to be full auto, making them semi auto kinda flubs up their works, how many full auto Aks are in use world wide that have the issues these semi auto legal to own wannabe clunkers exhibit, wobbly mags, canted sights and all the other little nit picky things. Which is why a SKS can in some instances be better, it's semi auto from the word go, no mods needed to make it legal. And usually it''s mods that make them go stupid.

ARs.. well I had one, it went far away for something more fun, and I'll just leave that alone.

[rwhite135]

I've never owned an AR type rifle.  The only ones I've used were handed to me by some guy wearing a US Army uniform.  The first couple times was at JROTC summer camp in the late '80s and early '90s.  The next time was at the firing range at Ft. Benning, GA.  In none of those situations did I like the rifle, even with the fun switch being included on them.  I've been contemplating getting one now just for the sake of completeness but it would probably hardly get used, unless one of the kids or the wife liked it.