U.S. To Spain, And Back

[martin08]

I love it when Gunbroker sellers don't know what they have! Very poorly listed on a seven day auction, one bid, a week later, and it came home to me.

1918 Remington Arms Mosin Nagant, Model 1891. Made in the USA, traveled to Spain for the Civil War, and then back to the States.

Without good pics, I could still tell it was a Remington with wire loop hangers, and the seller did list the date in the description. But otherwise, I didn't know what I was going to receive until it arrived a couple of weeks ago.

Sadly, just the barreled receiver is original. Tula bolt and mag housing. Izhevsk barrel bands. Not sure about the cleaning rod - it is in the white, with a small and smooth knob. Unlike any other in my collection.

The stock is quite interesting, and has the typical SCW bent wire hangers. Grasping grooves are not centered on the crossbolt, but it has no remnants of the Remington Cartouche, or any other identifying marks. Very neat repair behind the tang. It does not look heavily sanded. Very dark grained, but doesn't appear to be walnut.... Maybe made in Spain?

Enough talk. The pics, and thanks for looking.

Oh, and the lovely gal, Wendy, got her first turkey today. Of course, she got the 13lb jake, and I got the 7lb hen....

 

[enbloc]

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[warwickben]

I'm starting to become a Remington fan. Started with getting a 1911 r1 as my first gun.
Then got my grand dads old sportsman 58 semi auto 12.

I had no idea they made mosins .

How much do they normally go for? I've been wanting to get and now I wanna hunt for a Remington lol.

 

[NinerMaine]

Congrats on all 4.

 

[majspud]

What tells you Spanish use?

MS

 

[martin08]

I'm starting to become a Remington fan. Started with getting a 1911 r1 as my first gun.
Then got my grand dads old sportsman 58 semi auto 12.

I had no idea they made mosins .

How much do they normally go for? I've been wanting to get and now I wanna hunt for a Remington lol.

Remington was contracted by Tsar Nicholas of Russia to produce Mosin Nagants for the Great War in 1915. Production ran from 1916 to 1918. The contract was breeched in early 1917, and the US Govt bought the remaining guns.

These are normally the most expensive of the Mosin Arsenals, overall. The normal range for pricing is $350 to $500 for a Finnish refurbishment, or Balkan import. US marked models that never left the states can go upwards of the $1,500 range.

What tells you Spanish use?

MS

The late date precludes it from having been shipped to Russia. And subsequent refurbishment - barrel shank has scrubbing and rebluing, mix of parts from other arsenals, stock of unusual wood material, non-standard cleaning rod, and the bent wire hangers - all point to Spain. It has obviously been overseas, as late Remingtons from the US have all US parts, and does not have any import marks, which is typical of the Interarmco imports from Spain in the late 1950's.

Mostly, it is a combination of features that identify the origin, and this one has enough evidence to pinpoint its history. A couple of good links.

http://7.62x54r.net/MosinID/MosinRareSCWRemington.htm
http://scwmosin.weebly.com/index.html

 

[majspud]

So how did a US owned M91 get to Spain in '36? Period arms dealers? As non-standard pieces were they sold off after WWI?

(Haven't read the links yet; I do know about/how Gew98' and Gew98Ms got to Spain from Germany)

MS

 

[martin08]

The arms from the US may have been exported along with the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, or as Terrence Lapin has noted, some arms were supplied to Spain via Mexico. And some of the late Remingtons were sold to Mexico from the US.

CORRECTION:

Thanks all.

As a good politician will say, I misspoke in the first post. The grasping grooves are NOT CENTERED, as can clearly be seen in the photos, the satellite surveillance, and the many top secret documents that accompanied the gun.

I have corrected my stance on the issue. My apologies to the world wide web...

And upon further review, it is not a Spanish stock. I have determined its most likely origin to be from another Remington, though the buttplate has no R-stamp. It is of the same shape and font as my other two late Remington stocks. And I did find a U-cartouche behind the trigger guard, same as my other ones.

Obviously, the Remington cartouche was never stamped, or it was light enough to be sanded away without removing too much material. Nothing but dried crud behind the buttplate. And the light was better for pics.