I'd say definitely wartime by the way it looks. So sometimes in the 40's. I don't really think its rare or something i would buy but if you like it, get it.
There was a no date M38 on the trader several years ago. It looked like a '42 or '43 as well. AIRC, It sold for double the going refurb price at the time.
Right now I am not able to take the rifle apart to check the tang as it is not mine and its is at a local shop. However, I will have access to it at the end of the month. I find it strange that there is no date. The group of rifles it came in are dated from 1941 to 1943 and are all refurbished. This was not the best of the bunch, but the lack of date made it stand out.
I was just shooting this one yesterday, thought about starting a thread on this very subject.
Mine has a receiver date of 31. Figured the barrel was too?
Shank appears to have been ground on, then sanded to seriously wavy on a lathe. Refurbed and given a new (?) serial number.
I'm thinking yours has been re-turned on a lathe during refurbishment, taking off the original number. I have several examples of this on 91/30s, some by the Finns. Our two have had the most metal removed that I've seen, completely eliminating the date.
I personally believe the OP's rifle was just never date stamped-the barrel shank is too close to the diameter of the receiver to have had much metal cut off in a second run through the lathe. The Tula in the pics looks scrubbed on a buffing wheel.
If you look at the serial number, just under the "y" and to the left of the refurbishment mark, there is a small set of crossed hammers with a crescent under them. Anyone know what they might be? So far, 7.62x54r.net shows them as unknown.
I have seen the "crossed hammers" before, if that is what they are. I believe in a circle....some kind of inspection marking if I recall.
This is another 91/30, a Finn rework that was turned/filed/sanded. Can't think of any other method that could have been used other than a lathe. Just too smooth of a surface finish and even diameter/contour. Some are smooth and polished while others show coarse turning marks. I must have 6 or 8 that are very obviously re-turned, re-blued, then partially re-stamped.
Those machinists were good. Look at how they milled stamps off of the top of hex receivers - and they don't appear uneven.
I have an MO marked one that is smooth except for the "MO" and the second date.
The receiver is actually straight and does not have an indentation like the photo below shows. The indentation is caused by the flash and glare from the display case.
Does the mark in the photo mean anything? I know the photos are not clear. I am pushing my luck, at the shop, using a cell phone camera to get these photos.
The stock also has the crossed hammers stamped on the right side. I do believe it is a refurbishment inspection mark.
Above and between the 1 and the 2 in the serial number looks to be the vertical bar of the 'r'. It looks to me like the rifle had a VERY shallowly stamped date, and it got eradicated during the refurb process.
I have a 1945-built M44 with a very shallow date, and just about ANY cleanup work on that area before a refinish job could easily eradicate it.
Quite frankly, it looks like a small part of a triangle stamp of unknown content. I'm thinking it's just another proof.
As for rarity/value. Yeah, it's definitely rare, but value is highly subjective on something like this and I just don't know any collectors that would go bananas enough to spend a small mint on it. Maybe when Mosins become as sought after as Mausers, but until then I just don't see it happening.
Thanks for the information. Just was wondering if it was common or not. Just thought it was an oddball as I had not seen one without a date on the barrel. For the most part it is just a common 1943 M91/30 without a barrel date. It has been added to my oddball collection. May just get what I paid for it someday :laugh: .
Oh I'm sure you could get what you paid for it now. Plenty of folks are interested in it for the novelty factor. I just wouldn't expect a huge profit on it.
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