Help me pick a Mosin

[Alby]

Help me pick out a Mosin Nagant for my husband for his early Christmas present. He already knows about it but I want to make the right choice. I have seen him looking at the ads and drooling but I don't want to come out and just ask which one.. I am looking at the Finnish 1939 ones and can choose between a Sako, B-AV1, VKT Vakmet or a "B" Barrel. I know he will want to shoot it and not just have one to keep in the safe. He has another Mosin but it is not the Finnish model.
Thanks
Mrs Alby

[RugerFan]

Personally I would get either the B barrel model (Excellent quality barrels made in Belgium and great shooters) or the Sako. www.gunsnammo.com is a good place to get M39s as well.

[NuJudge]

What a nice wife.

I don't think it will make a difference which maker you choose, at least as to shooting qualities. The were all made to meet a very strict accuracy standard, and so long as they have not been monkeyed with, they will shoot well. I have a M39 built by Sako on a receiver made in 1897 that I have been delighted with.

Pay attention to barrel condition first. It is nice if the outside looks nice also. There is a rating system for outsides promulgated by NRA that is somewhat subjective, and pays no attention to barrel condition. "NRA Excellent" is a good looking rifle (at least on the outside. "NRA Very Good" is somewhat ratty looking. "NRA Good" is ratty. There is another rating system for the outsides that describes the percentage of blue finish remaining on the outside of the rifle.

There are other qualities that are critical to some men. If your husband drinks his coffee in the morning from a Bone China cup and saucer, holding the cup with his pinkey in the air, perhaps he is going to want one done by Sako or Valmet. You will be paying more for the name. The "B" barrels are just ones where the barrel was made in Belgium and shipped to the Finns, for the Finns to install.

I bought mine from a dealer that shut down, but had a large stock of them on hand and is gradually selling them off. They have M39s with receivers made both pre-1899 and 1899-and-later: the M39's with pre-1899 receivers are (for Federal Firearms law purposes) "Antiques", and can be shipped directly to your door, so long as Illinois law does not prevent this. The M39s with receivers made 1899-and-later have to be shipped to a Federally licensed dealer, and they charge $25-50 for their paperwork costs.

That dealer's website is here:
http://www.gunsnammo.com/

If you buy one from a Classifieds section of one of the firearms websites, you have a substantially greater chance of getting one monkeyed with by "Bubba."

I hope this helps.

[rhbrink]

I bought one from www.gunsnammo.com a little while back, bought one that had the maker marked as unknown but had like new barrel worked perfect for me. I'm not a collector and wanted a shooter worked out perfect for me. And it is a shooter I might add.

[Three44s]

Mrs. Alby,

We should all tip our collective hat to you! I think that what ever you chose ...... your husband will be most pleased!!!

Anything Finn should do the trick but I am NO expert on Mosins ...... I own five but they are just Russians! And they all shoot well!

It's an inherently accurate rifle ..... and an inherrently accurate cartridge ....... it takes a pretty pitiful barrel to shoot lousy with all choices of ammo.

Sako and Valmet have extrordinary reputations ......... though I have a slight bias towards Sako with contemporary rifles.

Best of luck and have a Happy and Merry Holidays!!

Three 44s

[Larry Gibson]

Mrs Alby

I would suggest the Sako M39. I've checked most of them and the Sako's seem to have the better and more cast bullet friendly barrels. I looked ant a bunch and settled on the Sako version myself, I've not regretted the choice as mine is a shooter par excellence.

Lucky man your husband....;-)

Merry Christmas and God bless to you and yours.

Larry Gibson

[Dark Helmet]

+1 on www.gunsnammo.com, mine came with a mirror bore as described.( 80% blue antique)

[Alby]

Thanks for the info so far! :smile: Alby is not one to drink out of bone china cup, I have to fight him for the nasty old mug he uses every day. I don't even want to think of him with his pinkey in the air, I would never stop laughing. What is the difference between the B-AV1 and the "B" Barrel? He has been really good this year and I just want him to know I appreciate it. He does shot lead a lot in his pistols and he probably would do the same with this one but I won't let him cast. Why would a Sako be better with lead bullets than the others? I am now getting really confused.

Mrs Alby

[Combat Diver]

Alby,

I'm a not much of a MN collector as I only have two. This is where I'll go for more info.

http://7.62x54r.net/
http://7.62x54r.net/MosinID/MosinRarity.htm

[MtGun44]

Smoothest bore should be a major factor for shooting lead. Will make less difference
with jacketed. If it were me I'd make sure it was a "mirror bright" bore before anything
else.

Bill

[rhbrink]

Alby,

Why do you not let him cast if you feel that it is unsafe I have been casting boolits and fishing lures for 50 years more or less had my lead levels checked a couple of weeks ago my lead was 8 anything under 10 is considered good. Especially for a rifle if he wants to shoot well it will be very difficult to find a suitable boolit for a milsurp.

[NuJudge]

If I remember correctly, the "B AV-1" is a rifle marked with the "B" indicating the barrel was made in Belgium, and a stylized "AV-1" identifier for 'Arms Depot Number 1'.

See the markings in rows 4 and 13 here:
http://7.62x54r.net/MosinID/MosinMarks02.htm

For cast bullets, a smooth barrel would probably, but not definitely, be best because Lead bullets usually can't take as much barrel roughness as Copper jacketed bullets do: the Lead will smear off. The person saying he thinks Sako is better probably feels it would be smoother. He probably also feels the Sako barrel coming from the famous name firm would have better dimensional control: very minor variation in the dimensions of the rifling almost always destroy accuracy.

[Alby]

Well I did it, I ordered the Mosin with a "B" barrel for him, I hope he likes it. Thank you for all your help!

Mrs Alby

[390ish]

hello alby
i have a few m-39 rifles and few finnish model 91 rifles. the model 91 rifles have very long barrels. all of the B barrels were not installed on rifles until after ww2. they are generally in outstanding shape. B barrels have a purple tint to them, maybe because of the high nickle content in the barrels. from what i understand, AV-1 really had its act together when putting together rifles. i have 2 AV-1 B barrels and one plain old B barrel.

your husband will really like the rifle you purchased. i have taken a few deer with my rifle. good job. i have bought my m-39 rifles from southern ohio gun. below is a target from my AV-1 B barrel at 300 yards shooting 182 grain russian ammunition.

http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff206/390ish/utf-8BdGFyZ2V0IDMwMCAwNC4yMi4xMC5qc.jpg

[buck1]

Awsome lady!!

[Ivantherussian03]

Hey Nice lady........do you have an unmarried sister........ lol .........just playing. M39's are nice rifles. Enjoy it!!

[IridiumRed]

Has to be one of the best wives ever, and hell, she has GREAT tastes in firearms too!!

Lucky man he is :)