Availability of Mosin rifles

K

Ky_Collector

New member
Has anyone seen the Mosin rifle supply starting to dwindle lately? My local gun shop says that he has 3 Mosin 91/30s left and is not sure if he will be able to get any more in. I thought these were in abundant supply? The Mausers have definitely seemed to dry up in the past year. I was wondering if this was happening elsewhere.
 
most shops here don't carry milsurps, but from what I've seen, non of the sporting goods stores have had mosins for over a year except big 5, they always have a sale going on but they never have them in stock, they have little claim cards you fill out and when they get them in they call you down the list in order that people picked up claim cards and charge them whatever sale price they had when you got the card. the only mosin I've seen on a shelf has been a crappy type 53 U-Fix-em that the moron shop owner wants $200 for... it's been on his shelf for over a year and a half, I notice it's always in a different spot and he's tried a number of different ways of staging it(bolt open/closed, bayonet flipped back/forward, ETC), nobody is interested. the only other shop in town that I know of that carries milsurps just has SKS and mausers from time to time, no mosin nagants. I notice when stores stopped getting in pallets of x54R spam can ammo is about when they stopped having mosin's in stock. I doubt it's so much an issue with supply dwindling as it was with demand dwindling.

they only made 15 million of the buggers with guys buying them by the crate, supply is bound to dry up some time.
 
One of the retailers is hyping "last of the Mosins"...as they said last year...and the year before...
I'm not buying.
I suspect some importers bought at elevated price levels during the "scare" and are trying to get rid of inventory.

With as many as were made (18MM by Russia/Soviets alone- and about 3MM here in the US, plus millions more in other Eastern Bloc countries and China) I doubt it.

That said, I was wrong once before...
 
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they only made 15 million of the buggers with guys buying them by the crate, supply is bound to dry up some time.
Click to expand...

^^That! I've seen it so many times where people expect the stock and prices to stay the same over the years. While a milsurp is cheap and easy to get, there's no interest. Then, when they dry up, everybody all of a sudden wants one! "What happened?? :eek:" "Where'd they all go??:confused:" "There were so many of them, this can't be!! :confused:" Happened with CZ-52, Nagant revolver, MN M-38, 44, 91/59, and probably lots more since before I started collecting. Get 'em cheap while you can, if you are truly a collector. Looky-loos always lose out.

Happens with milsurp ammo too!
 
I guess it is a good thing that I already bought all of my Mosins and Mausers. I was afraid that milsurps would start drying up someday so I adopted the "better get'em if you want'em" method a few years ago. I was a little surprised that the Mosins started drying up that quickly though.
 
that quickly? they've been flooding the market and dirt cheap for the last decade or so. 60 million americans own guns... meaning if every single mosin nagant was shipped to the US, that would be a single mosin nagant for every 3 people... naturally not everyone is going to want one but I have seen some cases in which a single individual will buy them by the dozen for no other reason than they really want 12 of the exact same rifle(I never understood the use) so that kind ruins it for the rest of the guys that do want one. like I said, I'm not convinced that it's not a perceived shortage in that there is less cheap ammo so less people are drawn to them and so fewer people are continuing to stock them.
 
surplus drying up?

I remember when Chinese sks's were $69 each people called them cheap pieces of Chinese junk rifles, sellers at gunshows selling Russian sks's use to put signs on their table that said "Original Russian manufactured SKS" "NO CHINESE JUNK"

they almost said it in a racist tone or racial slur

now people wish they didnt stop imports
 
My suspicion is that the importers have simply started releasing them more slowly in order to justify the price increases.

I suspect that they weren't making much profit selling them for $59.99.
 
I have mine, Mosin M91/30 1941 Izhevsk, and I'm happy with it. Especially its recent work at 75 yards...Not tryna brag but....


(Not the best, i'm very happy though)
:D :D :D

Also, there were closer to 37 Million made...

I definitely reccommend everyone buy at least one. They're absolutely wonderful rifles. And That Action, Stronk as Soviet Steel, Da? :D
 
They ARE starting to dry up.

I needed a sample, asked Century, they're essentially out & say they haven't gotten any in for a while.
Scoured their Odds & Ends bin & found a hex, but they're basically outa the Mosin biz.

Unknown if or when they'll be doing any more.
Denis
 
I needed a sample, asked Century, they're essentially out & say they haven't gotten any in for a while.
Click to expand...

I just logged into their site, they have them (cracked stock) for $119, and "regular" at the pricey cost of $179.

Above my pay grade, but I don't know that Century is a true barometer; I don't think Mosin-Nagants ( and C&R in general) are a real focus in their business as they only have nine offerings currently.

91/30's are still $115.00 (and T-53's at $80 and $100) at SOG, when that starts to creep up I'll buy into the "no more available" line of thinking.
 
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Century's been a Mosin-mover for quite a while, I've gotten Mosins here with their markings both direct & from retail sources in the past.

When I asked for a loaner sample about three weeks ago, their marketing rep said they only have odds & ends left & have not gotten any shipments in for quite a while.

She checked & found that hex in what she called "excellent" condition among cracked stocks & other leftovers.

My best info.

The guns are not showing up as widely as previously, prices are rising, stockpiles couldn't be expected to hold up indefinitely. :)
Denis
 
I have noticed this to there seemed to be quite a few in my area gun shops last year but within the last year I have not been seeing any. There has however been some mauser's popping up the last six months. I might buy one of them if the price is right.:)
 
what century calls excellent is probably less than what most others would call excellent. about a year ago I bought a M95 carbine from them, it was supposedly "very good" condition... what arrived had virtually no finish left and had a chunk of wood missing from the butt roughly 3/4"x1.25".
 
Yeah, I paid extra for my first one from them years ago to get a higher grade.
Came with a cracked stock. :)
The replacement was covered in pitting. Gave it to a C&R-holder friend to use for parts.

Those I've been able to check out myself at local shops before buying were in better condition.
It's a gamble, never know.
Have not had a chance to pick this hex up yet, but the last hex they sent for a project was in good shape.

Probably Friday, we'll see.
Denis
 
my first mosin was a ATI import from KY gun co, one of the prettiest round receiver wartime production rifles I've seen. the second was a pretty junked up(by comparison) century, the century had bigger bilboard carved in it and mismatched wood, both cost $125 at the time, both were advertised as excellent condition.
 
There is a gun shop here that has couple of hundred wich I was disapointed to see because I was wanting to trade my M44 . Went back and it had been pad locked and the Bank owns it now . Hopeing tp get around $200 trade in on my M44 its near mint and clean sharp bore .
 
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