Mosin info help, please

[Jet Setter]

congrats man. nicely done.

Thanks. Just need to find that pesky Vepr. One day...

[Jet Setter]

So, would it be bad for me to strip and refinish the stock?

I wanted to remove the hard, flaky, lacquer? coating on it and just use wax to preserve the wood and color. I would also steam out the bumps just to clean it up some more.

[Enfield47]

You will lower the value by stripping it, but some of the ones I have seen that have been refinished look really nice. Cadre posted a pic of one that was a laminated stock that looks much better now that it has been refinished. Another option is to get another stock and refinish it and save the one that came with your rifle. That way if you you want to go back to an original condition it's just a matter of swapping stocks.

[Marcus von W.]

The cocensus is that MO stands for Ministry of Defence in Russian and these weapons were issued to their units.

No, the "Ministry of Defense" story is allegedly based on some (wrong) information that someone (identity unknown) in one of the former Soviet republics WHO WASN'T EVEN ALIVE IN THE 1940'S OR 1950'S gave to someone at some other site.

Since the Soviet Ministry of Defense wasn't even created until some time after Stalin's death in 1953 and most MO marked guns date from 1943 to 1950, it is clear that this "Ministry of Defense" fairy tale is just more of the bad and false information floating around out there in Mosinland that goes unresearched and unchallenged because of the site where it first appeared. Unfortunately this bad information somehow also made it's way to Ted's excellent 7.62X54r.net site, although as I recall there is mention of the problems with the "Ministry of Defense" story.

Among former Soviet citizens who are actually aware of the history of the Soviet Union, the prevailing belief is that this marking denotes some political or geographical subdivision of the former Soviet Union, with the M possibly standing for Moscow or Minsk, or something like that

The "MO" marking, like the "KO", "XO", and other such markings also sometimes found on Soviet firearms, is interesting and mysterious, but until - if ever - their true meaning can be determined, they add minimal value and collectability to a firearm although some folks do like them.

[Marcus von W.]

So, would it be bad for me to strip and refinish the stock?

I wanted to remove the hard, flaky, lacquer? coating on it and just use wax to preserve the wood and color. I would also steam out the bumps just to clean it up some more.

I would leave the stock alone. As has been suggested, get another stock to refinish if that is what you want to do - one of the post-war ones with the dovetailed-in toe piece and pressed in oval sling slot escutcheons would be best for this, as they are generally very nice looking and in excellent condition, and have the least collector value.

What do the sling slot liners on your existing stock look like? The original stock for your rifle would have the sling slot escutcheons that are held on with 2 little screws.

Also, the correct original handguard for a rifle from this time period would be one with the brass endcaps that have visible (sometimes you have to kind of look for them) brass or copper rivets

[Jet Setter]

You will lower the value by stripping it, but some of the ones I have seen that have been refinished look really nice. Cadre posted a pic of one that was a laminated stock that looks much better now that it has been refinished. Another option is to get another stock and refinish it and save the one that came with your rifle. That way if you you want to go back to an original condition it's just a matter of swapping stocks.

I may just do that. I was looking at cheap stocks to refinish as I wanted a "clean" look to it. I will preserve the original stock and make sure it does not get broken while being stored.

I would leave the stock alone. As has been suggested, get another stock to refinish if that is what you want to do - one of the post-war ones with the dovetailed-in toe piece and pressed in oval sling slot escutcheons would be best for this, as they are generally very nice looking and in excellent condition, and have the least collector value.

What do the sling slot liners on your existing stock look like? The original stock for your rifle would have the sling slot escutcheons that are held on with 2 little screws.

Also, the correct original handguard for a rifle from this time period would be one with the brass endcaps that have visible (sometimes you have to kind of look for them) brass or copper rivets

Here it what they look like. Does not appear I have the original handguard.

[Marcus von W.]

You have the correct style stock with the 2 screws in the sling slot escutcheons. I see what you mean about the flaking shellac, but it's still better to leave it alone and get another stock set if you want to make it look better.

This rifle would also have originally had milled band springs instead of the later stamped steel ones, and a milled forend tip cap that is flat on the end instead of the later one with the more rounded end. These parts aren't that hard to find. The original handguard barrel bands would have been the solid milled ones instead of the ones with the split at the bottom, but original dragoon-early 91/30 solid milled bands are quite difficult to find.

Carefully remove the handguard bands so you don't scrape off the flaking shellac - something to spread the bands at the bottom like a small screwdriver and pair of needle nose pliers helps - and check out the receiver tang date to see if this is an earlier receiver that was re-used to build a new rifle in 1926....there was a lot of use of recycled receiver going on in this time period.

[Jet Setter]

^^ thank you for the great advice. Truly appreciated.