NC_Rebel
12-16-2001, 12:42 PM
Yesterday at the Winston-Salem gun show I saw a couple interesting things. There was the usual over-priced FAL's and AR15's, $400 SAR's, also quite a few C&R's (many beat up almost beyond recognition). I passed over a table that had a half dozen abused Enfields of various makes, three or four horribly neglected Turks and four Carcanos that were ugly enough to scare the willies out of Freddy Kruger. At the far end of the row I saw the unmistakable shape of several M91/30's so I shuffled on down to check them out. There was the usual selection of Mosins, some looked good, others had long ago seen the best days of their lives. Then I saw something that made my jaw drop. Guys, this dealer had a beautiful M91/30 with original PU sniper scope and mount. There wasn't one blemish on the stock, the crest and date stamp (1944) was still on the scope and all the numbers matched. I just had to talk to the dealer about it. He told me he bought it at an auction. It came from a private collection in eastern Tennessee. I'm not kidding guys, this thing was gorgeous but way out of my price range. :(
On the same table, I saw something else that I knew you guys would find interesting. I make a habit of looking at proof marks just in case I happen to find something unusual. Well, I found something I had seen only on the internet but never in person: a M91 Dragoon Rifle. It was stamped 1928 and I think it was made at Tula (definitely not Izhevsk). The bolt didn't match the other numbers, a hunk of stock was missing from the forearm just behind the front sling swivel and there was no cleaning rod. Upon further inspection, I saw where some MORON had attached and later removed a scope mount. There was a long strip of wood that had been cut out of the stock on the left side just below the receiver. Somebody replaced the missing strip with a piece of wood that didn't even match the stock. Maybe something really bad happened to the MORON who mangled this gem (we can only hope). Dealer wanted $150 but I could probably have talked him down a few bucks. I passed it up due to the bad condition of the stock. At least now I can say I've handled one. :D
On the same table, I saw something else that I knew you guys would find interesting. I make a habit of looking at proof marks just in case I happen to find something unusual. Well, I found something I had seen only on the internet but never in person: a M91 Dragoon Rifle. It was stamped 1928 and I think it was made at Tula (definitely not Izhevsk). The bolt didn't match the other numbers, a hunk of stock was missing from the forearm just behind the front sling swivel and there was no cleaning rod. Upon further inspection, I saw where some MORON had attached and later removed a scope mount. There was a long strip of wood that had been cut out of the stock on the left side just below the receiver. Somebody replaced the missing strip with a piece of wood that didn't even match the stock. Maybe something really bad happened to the MORON who mangled this gem (we can only hope). Dealer wanted $150 but I could probably have talked him down a few bucks. I passed it up due to the bad condition of the stock. At least now I can say I've handled one. :D