A M38 (Mosin-Nagant) That Has Been Through Hell.

Picked this up at the local show over the weekend. I originally was attracted to it by the wire hangers, but it's absolute ugliness became a selling point.

















Ironically enough, the bore really isn't in bad condition. I think this thing might shoot fairly decently. Mechanically, it looks fully operational. There are no major pits in the bore, and the rifling is well-defined.

This is one rifle I wish could talk. It may well have a hell of a story to tell.

You mean you've never heard of the ultra rare Damascus Mosin?

Good lord.....I like it

Don't you mean a "negotiating point"?

It has some serious character, though. Is the finish completely gone, or has it been redone over the pitting? It's strange that it's pitted so deep, yet almost seems to have been smoothed over, at the same time (at least, from the pictures).

Wow nice find, lots of character on that rifle.

The first four or five photos had a lot of the white hair thing going on.... the last one confirmed my suspicion.

VN or Korea capture? Those wire sling swivels are a Chinese thing...

Looks like they just sand blasted it or something then re-parked right over the old pitted surface... Doesn't surprise me that a Soviet arsenal would do something like that, especially if the rebuild was done during WWII.

It became that, too.

It looks to have had blue applied over the pits, where and when would be the real question, but it does appear to have been done well. The finish is even and there is no trace of active rust. The flash washed it out a lot. It's pretty dark. The fifth picture down illustrates pretty well the color of the entire rifle.

There are no marks/stamps that were added post pitting. None that I can find, anyway. There is nothing to indicate who might have restored it or owned it.

That turd leaves his mark on everything.

He doesn't help much with identification, either.

Maybe. A Balkans or Partisan connection have been suggested on Gunboards, too, but the only real agreement at this time is that no one knows for sure and probably never will.

Certainly not Finn-owned, nor SCW. Everything else is up for grabs.

Has an apeal. Love that rough cast tiger tank look.

Can you get some closer up pics of the barrel shank (both sides and the top)? Also, is it import marked?

As I was looking through the pics I was thinking the same thing as you. That rifle would probably have a very interesting story behind it.

Then I got to this pic:



And the very first thing that came to mind was a spotter laying hidden saying "Fire.......Fire.....Fire.......Fire.......Fire....."


Sorry. Can't help it.

I'll see what I can do, but I'm light limited until I can get some outdoor shots.

No import mark that I can find. No trace that one ever existed.

Somedays.....

As requested, barrel shank photos. Hopefully you will find that they are better than my original photos.









End of the barrel:

$5 says that rifle was lost and then found in Vietnam.

It's a Swiss Army rifle. It's got a fingernail file built into it.

Could be. There was no story to go with it and obviously no capture papers.

It could have come from a LOT of places.

Thanks, but unfortunately i don't see anything that points to where it came from. As sad before it could have come from almost anywhere.

I like it a lot. It's definitely not your average refurb'ed M38.

I had an East German 91/30 with similar hangers.

Yep, not a thing on the rifle that indicates point of origin.

The hangers are the only abnormal feature and they could have come from many sources.

Definitely one of my favorites. You're right, nothing average about it.

Looks like it came from a can of grey Krylon to me.... Maybe Rustoleum...

I agree with the Vietnam bringback idea. That thing just wreaks of hot, steamy, Vietnam jungle conditions. This and the lack of an import stamp make it a good possibility to be a bringback. I would say the refinish was done in the US.

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