WW1 Era Remington made Mosin Nagant

[Gildwiller1918]

Here is my newly acquired Remington made Mosin Nagant M91 rifle. These rifles were made under contract for the Russian army with 1,000,000 initially ordered, this went up to 1,500,000. These rifles were made by Remington and Westinghouse, and included a bayonet and were being produced up till the Russian revolution in late 1917. At this point about 50% of the rifles had been delivered to Russian forces, and with Russia effectively out of the war, the contract defaulted. To avoid bankruptcy, the US government bailed out the arms manufacturers and bought the remaining rifles. Some were used to train US forces stateside before going overseas, additionally some were used by US troops in Archangel and Vladivostok from 1918-1919. These rifles were also sold off later to various sources and some were later sold as lend lease and found their way into conflicts up to WW2. This particular rifle has a boxed SA stamp, which stood for Suomen Armeija, or Finnish Army on the receiver, a reproduction sling and a correct bayonet, but not Remington marked. 

[72 usmc]

What a fine rifle. How did you stumble into such a perfect specimen?   Just outstanding.  A Museum quality piece. I love it. I never found an intact Remington, mine is a Westinghouse.  Here is a nice video of some information on American made Mosins.

 

 

A great book that has some additional information and still in print is:  

Allied Rifle Contracts in America - Mosin-Nagant, Mauser, Enfield, Berthier, Remington, Savage, Winchester 1914-1918   (2011 )

Author is Luke Mercaldo 

[Gildwiller1918]

Thank you USMC for your kind remarks. I searched for some time, as well as doing research as I did not know much about these rifles. I can PM you the source I used if you like.  My guess is that this made its way to the Finns sometime in the early 40's after being in storage and likely sat in their storage or was used lightly as it has an excellent bore and little wear overall. I would love to get a Remington bayonet, but they don't come up often and the US made slings for these is even harder to find. Overall it is a very well made rifle, very solid. I have seen the Westinghouse models as well, but opted to get a Remington as they are a bit more rare to find, especially in good condition. It does not have any US acceptance marks on the stock either.

[72 usmc]

 Actually our local bowing alley gun show, a guy had a Remington marked lock ring , but had a crazy price of $175 on it. That was 3 weeks ago. He still had it at the Fond du Lac,  Wi big show. Maybe in April it wil be there at that same crazy price??????

[Gildwiller1918]

Wow, but it doesn't surprise me, typically at the smaller gun shows dealers charge ridiculous prices as they do not have much completion. We have one at our state capital fair grounds that is quite large but they seem to leaning towards modern stuff. 

[72 usmc]

 One question.  Is the cleaning rod marked in any way?   With such a crisp, clear stock cartouche that rifle and its barrel must be almost unissued.  Best described as what dreams are made of. 

[Gildwiller1918]

No the cleaning rod is not marked and I do not think its the correct one for this model, I am watching an auction for the correct type I need....

[72 usmc]

I have searched out pictures of the Remington Mosins and could not find any of the cleaning rods that were marked with a circle with an R  inside mark on the shaft or head of the cleaning rod.  It appears that  searches show Remington cleaning rods to be straight grooved heads and New England Westinghouse cleaning rods to have curved style heads with 45 degrees right slanted groves.  Some N.E.W.  cleaning rods may be marked ←R.  My Sestroryetsk M91 is marked as shown: 

 Tula rod is odd and unmarked But this M91 has a Bulgarian site wedge:

I got to dig my N.E.W. out to photo its rod. It is unmarked and has spiral twist.  First photo is what it was, too much rust...

Source P. 60  Mercaldo  2011

 

Mine is below

  

 

 

 

Some phots from Mercaldo 2011  a Remingtom rod and a N.E.W. rod page 62 Here is a

Page 62 

 

 

 

Remington marked lock Ring bayonet  Source is page 62  Mercaldo 2011. The book is gold.  A great reference. 

 

 

A New England Westingtonhouse marked lock Ring bayonet. 

[Gildwiller1918]

Thanks for the info USMC! I am bidding on correct cleaning rod right now, as predicted it is getting expensive.

[Gildwiller1918]

I did win the cleaning rod, waiting for it to get sent to me, I will post images when it arrives.

[Gildwiller1918]

Here is the cleaning rod...no visible markings. Goes nicely with the rifle now. 

[Gildwiller1918]

Here is the mutli-tool I just got in with Remington marks. 

 

 

[Gildwiller1918]

Well finally found a really nice Remington made Mosin M91 Bayonet, really nice condition. 

[Gildwiller1918]

By the way it was not cheap, but that seems to be the norm today.

[72 usmc]

 It looks like new fantastic condition. The last on I saw was $220 about a year ago and it was a rusty beat specimen. I was at a show and like a blind mouse stumbled onto a huge block of cheese. It was a VZ 35BB gun trainer. The guy told me he had the heaviest pellet gun he owned. Well it was a 1935 Military trainer in lead BB .177. Rare to say the least.  I got it and that is now the holy grail of the military trainer collection of BB or pellet rifles. 

[Gildwiller1918]

Thanks USMC, the bayonet is in very good condition. I do not mind paying a premium for items that are in mint to very good condition, especially hard to find and rare items. Sounds like you got a lucky horseshoe hidden somewhere, lol. Congrats on the air rifle.