Well, I finally gave into temptation and brought home my first Russian firearm: a Mosin Nagant M91/30. After a thorough cleaning/refinishing (removed red shellac, cleaned and oiled all parts, and refinished the stock with linseed oil and a couple costs of shellac) she's looking nice! I'm a Mauser guy, but you can't beat a $99 rifle which shoots cheap ammo!

I'll keep y'all informed of how she shoots late this week...

http://s877.photobucket.com/albums/ab339/admiller1987/Mosin%2091-30/?albumview=slideshow

Looks nice man, good job. If I'm not mistaken the Nagants throw a huge flame out the end lol have fun be safe.

For sure let us know. I've been super curious lately and been wanting to get one. Aim Surplus is selling one for $79.95 and I'm highly considering getting one.

I got mine from Champion's Firearms in College Station. I was in town and I figured it was worth the $20 to handpick mine. I would have spent that $20 for shipping anyway.

The barrel looks sharp, yet dark. I cleaned the bore for an hour straight and patches were still coming out dirty.

I sold one that I sure wish I'd kept now. The guy at the pawn shop thought the Tula star was a Chinese symbol. It looked to be almost new. Best bore I've ever seen; shined like chrome. The serial number had a hyphen in it (XXX-XX). Never have seen that before. Nobody on gunboards had ever seen that before. But, I'd been through the M44 phase, had a couple of 91/30s, and decided to sell them all and concentrate on the M91s. I think I sold it for $130. Why do I do stuff like that?

All of mine shot the Winchester ammo best (but I think it's made in Serbia or something) and Wolf Gold second best. I never shot any MILSURP ammo in them.

Added: Don't worry too much about the dirty bore. My 1894 Chat is pitted like the surface of the Moon but it shoots good. You might try cleaning it electrically. You can Google the method. I think you can buy everything you need for $10.

I bought a 91/30 for under a-hundred locally - guy didn't want it anymore. Nothing special; dark dirty bore, not hex, and not laminated. Cleaned it up a bit, and blasted a box of rounds thru it; was fun, and didn't kick too bad (full length gun is nice and heavy).

At the range, was quickly able to hit 'minute of pie-plate' at 100yrds with the open sights. Started to mess with putting a scope on it; cheap 'pin-in' bracket didn't work to well - couldn't hit anything, and I ain't drilling any holes.

Put open-sight back on. Easy to hit pie-plates again at 100. Happy now - gun does what it's supposed to do, and fun.

She's a shooter! I only got three rounds downrange before it got too dark, but that was enough:

Great group and clean looking rifle. I've been thinking about doing a Mosin restoration myself, can you tell me more about what you did with regards to the stock?

Its a long, drawn-out process, but it works and with little to no damage to the condition of the stock.

Here are all my steps:
Cleaning
1. Strip the stock using denatured alcohol (it has to be this to remove shellac) and fine steel wool. You know you got it all when your rags are mostly clean.
2. After the shellac is off, I place the stock in a large trash bag and place it in my truck with the windows rolled up. The heat of the summer will sweat the cosmoline/oil/grease out of the stock. I do this 2-4 times as needed. After each "bake" I wipe the stock clean and place it in a new bag.
3. Next, I use a product called "industrial purple" which can be bought at a automotive parts store. I mix it half with water and apply this with a spray bottle. Let it sit for 10 mins, wipe it off, and the spray with Windex (make sure its the kind with ammonia) and then wipe clean. Do this again after the stock has dried. Repeat until the stock is bare wood with no finish.
Finishing
1. For you finish it depends on your desired results. For the finish I got, I used boiled linseed oil.
2. Apply two coats of linseed oil with a clean cloth. Let dry between coats.
3. After final coat has dried completely (usually 24 hrs), apply two coats of shellac. I use Bullseye clear shallac. It can be found at Lowes.
4. Lightly go over complete stock with fine steel wool.

It took about 4-5 days total, but its worth it to do it right.