Many years ago when I was in my teens, I saw a magazine advertisement for military surplus rifles, $50 apiece or two for $75. I pooled my paper route money and bought two, one Mauser and one Mosin. They arrived in old boxes, wrapped in waxed paper and packed (and I mean PACKED) in some sort of heavy yellowish grease, probably Cosmoline. It took me three days to clean up the Mauser and it was such a pain in the keyster that I left the Mosin in the box. Fast forward 36 years: Yesterday I finally got around to breaking out the Mosin and cleaning it up some, still a long way to go. In any event, the bore is in great shape, rifling intact throughout and the metal overall is in great shape with the exception of the clamping rings around the fore-stock, they are corroded a wee bit. Near as I can tell by doing some research on the net, I have a Mosin Nagant model 24, the underside of the barrel is stamped Bohler-Stahl, the top of the barrel has a Christmas Tree stamp with an “S” enclosed in some sort of double triangle underneath the Tree stamp. I’m looking for a project so I’m thinking of modernizing this rifle but, I don’t want to if I can’t get ammo for it, parts, or have it blow-up in my face. Any comments would be appreciated as I’m NOT a modern firearms collector and know very little about curios and relics. Thanks in advance.
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Old Rifle, New Life?
- Thread starter NickW
- Start date
simonkenton
New member
STOP!
Not because this rifle may blow up, or that you can't find ammo. These are well made, shootable rifles and there is lots of ammo available.
You do, indeed have a Finnish M24 "Lotta." This is a rare and valuable rifle, and is prized by Mosin Nagant collectors.
The minute you begin to "modernize" it you turn a $500 collectible rifle into a $100 deer rifle.
Go over to this site, these guys wrote the book on the Finnish Mosin Nagants.
Post some quality close up pics and tell your story of this rifle, and ask for a price check, these guys will go nuts.
There are several different variants of the M24, value depends on which type you have, and what shape it is in.
Don't even refinish that stock until you learn just what you have.
Look, it is your gun and if you want to sporterize it it is your business, but at least figure out exactly what you have first.
http://forums.gunboards.com/forumdisplay.php?3-The-Collector-s-Forum-Mosin-Nagant-HQ
Not because this rifle may blow up, or that you can't find ammo. These are well made, shootable rifles and there is lots of ammo available.
You do, indeed have a Finnish M24 "Lotta." This is a rare and valuable rifle, and is prized by Mosin Nagant collectors.
The minute you begin to "modernize" it you turn a $500 collectible rifle into a $100 deer rifle.
Go over to this site, these guys wrote the book on the Finnish Mosin Nagants.
Post some quality close up pics and tell your story of this rifle, and ask for a price check, these guys will go nuts.
There are several different variants of the M24, value depends on which type you have, and what shape it is in.
Don't even refinish that stock until you learn just what you have.
Look, it is your gun and if you want to sporterize it it is your business, but at least figure out exactly what you have first.
http://forums.gunboards.com/forumdisplay.php?3-The-Collector-s-Forum-Mosin-Nagant-HQ
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Any such bargains still out there? I remember Sears outdoor catalogs as a kid. They had old surplus rifles for $39 or so. Rose's Dept. Stores in some locations had a few surplus rifles for about $100. Very few Rose's stores anymore. I don't think any of them still sell firearms.
Ignition Override
New member
The Finn rifles are the best. I agree with Simon, and sporterizing would be a permanent loss of history and classic battle rifle quality.
Have you read about the (almost unknown here) "Winter War" of 1940, where the courageous Finnish soldiers, although very outnumbered, mostly stopped the Soviets' advance?
"Ammo-deals". Choose a caliber, then enter your zipcode.
Can you beat .20-.25/round for a surplus, full-power cartridge?
You might know this but you must clean corrosive residue soon after each and every session, using water or a water-based solvent, then dry, or the bore and bolt face will be trashed. It works well with my x54r, .303 and 8mm Mauser.
Have you read about the (almost unknown here) "Winter War" of 1940, where the courageous Finnish soldiers, although very outnumbered, mostly stopped the Soviets' advance?
"Ammo-deals". Choose a caliber, then enter your zipcode.
Can you beat .20-.25/round for a surplus, full-power cartridge?
You might know this but you must clean corrosive residue soon after each and every session, using water or a water-based solvent, then dry, or the bore and bolt face will be trashed. It works well with my x54r, .303 and 8mm Mauser.
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ksstargazer
New member
I had a M24 just like yours. It had the Christmas tree stamp and was one of my favorites. A month after getting the M24, I found another, without the Christmas tree stamp. I was offered a Finnish SVT-40 straight across for the Christmas tree stamped M24 and took the offer. So, yes, considering what SVTs are selling for these days, that M24 of yours is worth quite a bit. There aren't too many of them around and are only going up in value.
simonkenton
New member
Nick: Have those guys on Gunboards been trying to buy your rifle?