Something to consider: at one point during Operation Barbarossa, the Nazis advanced to within artillery range of the arsenal at Tula on the Eastern Front. I strongly suspect that some of the 1941 Tula Model 91/30s went straight from the production line into the hands of Red Army infantrymen who needed them badly, given the situation at the time.
i bet they got test-fired on the front line!
__________________ Badges? We got no badges! i aint gotta show you no stinking badges!
I recall reading that they ended up moving the entire factory. Workers, machines, tools, stock, etc. So that also contributes to lower wartime production, there was a rather long period when the factory wasnt even operational because they were trying to save it.
(Commenting on Ken in Iowa's post) Your info is regarding M91's, not M91/30's,
The website you list doesn't specify what arsenal made how many 91/30's, just the total made. Though I can assure you Tula made less.
Two winters ago I got to wondering: just what was the total production of Mosin Nagant rifles - all arsenals, all countries. It's kind of hard to figure. The only figures I can trust implicitly are the ones from Remington, New England Westinghouse and Chatellerault. The figures out of Red China are sketchy at best; ditto some of the ComBloc countries. But I plugged away at it checking and cross-checking where I could. Eventually I came up with what I consider a semi-accurate guesstimate: 53 million units. I consider this figure accurate to plus or minus 3 million - which is admittedly a pretty big fudge factor. That doesn't make any of them particularly valuable by arsenal with the exception of Chatellerault and Sestroryetsk, which produced only Model 1891s with arshin sights.
Rarity seems to have more to do with use. Unaltered Cossacks or Dragoons are very rare because most were reconfigured to 91/30 meter sight standard. There are the 50,000 test Izzy M44s, of course. Mosins with the MO (Ministry of the Interior) stamp are rare. Genuine (as opposed to replica) snipers that can be traced to a specific shooter are rarer yet. Rarest of all are probably the modern snipers, the M85s, that the Finns built on hex receiver actions. Not many of them have made it here and all of them I've seen are in the mid 4 figures.
But rarity is in the eye of the beholder. I have a "type collection" of Mosins, one each of the major types: a Model 1891 Tula made in 1899 with arshin sights and the single front blade (in Finnish wood, unfortunately - Bubba got to her before I did and cut down an American walnut stock into 'sporter configuration,' **** him); an Izzy ex-Dragoon from 1924; a Tula 91/30 hex; a Tula M38; a Romanian M44 that looks unissued; and an Izzy Model 91/59. None are particularly rare, but they allow me to show the evolution of the initial design into its final form. I've others, of course, but I enjoy them all.
Dollar values aren't everything when it comes to Mosin Nagants.
I know the history there and that's all irrelevant when were talking about the rifles today. When they made less has nothing to do with the total numbers and what we perceive to be more or less rare here/now.
The fact that they were equal in numbers until one point in time was already pretty obvious, hence the wartime discussion and tula moving. It's what happened after the move, and the numbers that were produced that show us the rifles we see today.
As far as I know Tula only made the 100,000 in 1944. I would personally need to see pics of a 43 Tula m44 before i believed it. That would be a VERY valuable rifle. The only 1943 m44s i know of is the Izhevsk built rifles that only numbered 50,000
Also these factories made lots of things, I think Tula also made trucks and parts for other things as well. So maybe firearm production slow in order to fill in other demands for the military.
Only thing that matters to me is does it shoot well.
If I was specifically in the market for something harder to find, I wouldn't turn down a Tula, but when it comes to more run of the mill, I will pick an Izzy over a Tula if all else is equal
Now don't hurt me Red.
