"ENEMY AT THE GATES" russian sniper find

[Toecutter]

Ran across this,a trade in for 600.00 , had to have it after watching the movie.This is an early MOLOT import with a very descrete tiny import mark on bottom end of barrel.This is a real sniper rifle, all matching stamped numbers to include scope and mount,a nice one as these go,perfect clear optics.Now I need to find some burlap wrap!The stock looks original as it has the proper proofs for this maker.Everybody needs one of these!

[BRIOLF]

Very nice, you do like your shooters

[Toecutter]

Thanks!Yeah these rifles were pulled from the regular production line after test firing in ww2 .Only the most accurate rifles were used for snipers.After the war most were reworked and the original sniper numbers were either scubbed off or lined out , like this one, and rifle was renumbered to scope and mount and put in storage .The Russians have been liquidating surplus rifles and pistols to importers for many years ,but these are the cream of the crop, not many of these snipers were imported and at 699.00 they dried up fast and I can see why.These are becoming collectable but not so much that you cant enjoy shooting them!Havent shot this yet but bet its very accurate,will find out!

[Luftwaffe 1941]

Seeing that ammo pouch filled to the brim with 7.62x54R made me smile LoL. Very nice rifle!! Ive wanted the sniper version for a long time. I always wondered why my 91/30 wasn't pulled for sniper use, its VERY accurate. Shot my first deer with it too. Thanks for sharing this beautiful rifle Toecutter!

Best regards- Jarret

[Alex W]

Nice rifle. Cant wait to hear how it shoots.

[Toecutter]

Thanks Jarret and Alex I appreciate it!Bet this rifle shoots dead on at 100 plus plus yards,will post results.Jarret your rifle sounds sniper worthy ,not all exceptional 91/30s were chosen,just what was needed at the time.

[Rescue190]

Great Addition! Thank you for sharing.
John

[Anderson]

What a great find TC. I'd be itching to try it out on a range.

[Toecutter]

Thanks guys!Will try it out and post results.

[MarkV]

Beautiful 91/30 PU sniper. There was a lot of discussion about these when they came to the US. The "experts" generally considered them as "original" refurbs that were refurbished after the war and then put into storage, similar to many US rifles of the time. It seems to me that yours is an excellent example of this - one of the best I've seen. The line through serial number on the left side of the receiver was the original scope SN for the rifle - Izhevsk marked their snipers with the SN - Tula did not. With a '44 date for the rifle, it would have originally carried a later made scope - probably a '44 since this late in the war they didn't have the luxury of keeping a store of parts due to production demands. The vast majority had matching numbers because they were re-stamped during the refurb process - although you'll see a good number with line-through remarkings...nobody has figured out why for sure that I've seen.

The interesting part of yours a is that it is the first I've seen with a matching stamped scope/scope mount - every one I've seen has had the scope SN electro-penned. Nice score on your part!!

I currently have 4 PU snipers - one is a "faux" that carries a new-manufactured PU scope made by the original factory to "almost" exact specs of the originals. It's a great shooter and was an inexpensive way to get hooked on the snipers.

I also have an original, like yours, '43 Tula and then have 2 re-built ex-snipers that have original PU scopes that I had rebuilt for my use in vintage sniper matches. All are great shooters, especially if you reload.

These are my PU snipers - from top to bottom: the "faux, '42 Izhevsk ex-sniper, '42 Tula ex-sniper, '43 Tula sniper.



Just to show how accurate they can be with reloads, this was a target that I did before a match one time to sight in the scope and check load consistency. 100 yards using my '42 Izhevsk ex-sniper. 5 round strings followed by an adjustment - starting with the lower left. In the mix were 3 rounds with a slightly lower powder load that appear at random. 10 rounds on lower left, then moved to lower right and repeated the process - you can see two of the lower-powdered rounds in that grouping. Then I shot 5 rounds at the upper red bull - obviously one lower charged round there.

These rifles are rugged and accurate, especially with re-loaded ammo.

Enjoy yours and I look forward to hearing about your range time!!

I need to sell a few of mine - they have just been hanging on the rack for a few years.