Did I pay too much for a Mosin?

1

1940izhevsk

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Back in November of 2015, after 6 months of saving, I bought a 1940 Izhevsk 91/30 round receiver, for $325. Bore is in excellent condition, very little cosmoline. Numbers matching. Came with the dog collar sling and a clip carrier that was made in 1986. Bolt is very smooth, just a little tough to close with cartridges. I was able to get to the range the next month, and the only problem I had was on the 40th round, the notorious "Sticky Bolt Syndrome". I simply pulled back the cocking knob, and opened right up. Overall it's a very sound rifle. There are some black spots on the barrel, what looks to be like model paint, I guess to cover up some bluing loss.
 
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What you paid for the rifle is here nor there. Apparently at the time you paid what you felt was a fair price for a rifle you wanted. You and the seller agreed on the price. Had you done some shopping around or used Google a little you may have found the price you paid to be a little high but again, here nor there. You wanted the rifle and bought the rifle and July of 2016 is a little late to be concerned with how much you paid. When I was buying and selling those things in the early 90s dealer's cost was about $30 and after I cleaned them up we sold them for $69 but then too, an SKS sold for under $100 and this sure as heck isn't the early 90s is it?

Long as you are happy with the rifle the price you paid is not important and hindsight is always 20/20.

<EDIT> OK, changed it to July 2016 rather than August 2016 which, while close, is not quite here yet. :)

Ron
 
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Reply to Reloadron

I see your points, the time of me asking this question, whether I'd done research or not, and I accept that fact. It was quite a quest to find one at the time, calling shops from Longmont all the way to Windsor, the one I bought was practically the only one in the state. This is my first rifle, and I'll keep it until I can no longer physically pull the trigger. I appreciate your insight, though.
 
Most of the nagant I bought were 32 bucks.

I sold all mine when the m44s started selling for over 200
 
I agree with what Ron posted. However. Once Mosins went over 200 bucks is where I stopped worrying with them. In my mind they simply are not worth the coin. Not saying I don't like them that is just where I personally drew the line. My collection holds steady at a beautiful laminated hex pre war 91/30, a type 53, and two M39's. There are still some far better Mil Surp rifles available for what a Mosin sells for now. But you wanted one, payed the going rate and happy. So I wouldn't say you "paid too much". A tip though, go on You tube and in the search block type in "How to make your Mosin Rock" follow that video series and you will have a slick running Nagant when you are done.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
 
Just wanted to point out that Ron is posting from the future so his insight is invaluable.
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Not to disrespect anyone's post, but I don't care who you are, that's funny!
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I found it to be really funny too. Seriously good humor. August 2016? No clue what I was thinking. Then too, if this was August my wife would be in PA visiting family and I would likely be trashed by now. :)

Ron
 
Not sure of the differences, but we have an m1938 carbine on my shops wall for 299. That's the only model I've looked up in a while, but it/they are nice rifles. And I've also noticed fewer and fewer of them around my area lately.
 
A month ago I paid $700 for a Win 70, just to take the action off.

In 1974 I paid $600 for and SAE audio equalizer. Someone asked if it was worth that much. My little brother getting a degree in economics said that it must be if I paid that.

Gold, guitars, and guns appreciate at 3% compounded annually. Audio equipment does not.
 
You probably paid more than I would have liked. I paid $150 for my '43 91/30 imported by Century in halfway passable condition. For $300 I'd be trying to find a Finn. But it's not a terrible price, and if you like it you've probably done OK. It sounds like it's in good condition and somebody may have cleaned it up for you as mine was covered in Cosmoline and bolt was always very sticky.

One thing that worries me is where you said it's hard to close the bolt on a live round. That sounds to me like improper headspace (too short) and could be an indicator of future issues. You might find it handy to have the headspace checked if you have a friend or gunsmith nearby who has a set of 7.62X54R headspace gauges
 
There is some kind of weird psychology tied up in the question "What did you pay for it?" Followed by feedback that you "They had the same rifle at Gunderson's hardware for a hunnerd bucks cheaper last month but they are gone now.

Then you feel like an idiot and you don't like your gun anymore.

Why do we do that to each other?
 
You'd paid what they're going for currently. Supplies are drying up so prices are going up.
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Actually, they're (prices) not- anymore. In fact, of late there have been "sales" and a reduction in the near $300 prices being asked by some.
If you look at any classified or auction site, you will not find these selling at those prices. $325 is approaching the price range for the much less common and more collectible M1891.

They are now, and have been, available through SOG for $186. Nothing "collectible" in a 1940 Izhevsk, they are among the most produced and still the most common. They have M44's, and older less common hex receiver models at $289 (and the hex have been up for a while at that price, so may not be "moving", either).

The supply of surplus ammunition- at least at affordable prices- has dried up. Temporary or not, who knows. But I can tell you that the popularity of this rifle- and the price increases we were seeing has been stifled by lack of ammo availability. Buyers were willing to pay more for a rifle they could shoot for $.20 round for a full-power cartridge.

Did you "overpay"? I'd say so (especially if there was a transfer fee as well), but so what. The market has, and will continue to set the prices for these and everything else.

No point dwelling on that now- just have fun shooting it!
 
in my opinion, yes $300 is way too much for your garden variety 91/30. I've owned 2, shot 5 or so throughout my life, handled dozens more in pawnshops and the like. they just aren't very good guns considering the other military rifles in use at the time. however when they were $100 rifles that shot .10 a round ammo they were a heck of a fun way to make a lot of booms for not a lot of dollars. now the surplus ammo is gone and the surplus rifles are starting to get harder to import so naturally the price is higher on both counts, with ammo now being closer to 30 cents a round for the ammo and right about $250 or so for the garden variety izzy 91/30, with absolutely no increase in the quality of either gun or ammo.

now don't get me wrong, I'm not trashing your gun at all, and $325 is right at the upper end of gun show asking prices so in neither respect did you get cheated. but when you consider that for roughly the same price you could have gotten an Enfield number 4 rifle and shot just slightly more expensive but infinitely greater quality ammunition, it does start to seem like the prices people expect to get for mosins does not reflect the quality of the workmanship.
 
You overpaid by a fair bit.

You probably could have gotten a Finnish rifle for what you paid.

However, a great bore and light cosmo should really help ease the pain. Those are hard to come by. The difference might as well have been a hand select fee. And what is your time worth? The hours you could have otherwise spent removing the cosmo and refinishing the stock could also make up the difference. I wouldn't worry about it, and especially a year later at that.

My Mosin cost $65 back in the day, but it's so oil soaked and trashed that I'm starting to think I got ripped off. Hell, it probably still has $65 worth of cosmoline soaked into it.

Enjoy your rifle.
 
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