Assistance in Identification

[Kaden Wilson]

I recently purchased a Mosin Nagant. I'm both new to this forum as well as owning firearms and would like any assistance or guidance towards taking a step in the right direction for discovering the history of this firearm. As you could see in the pictures, the serial # I'm seeing repeated on separate parts is 9971. With that I've been able to find where this firearm was manufactured and, of course, when; however, I haven't been able to get any information more specific than that. If possible I would like to know who possessed this firearm in the past and where it might have been. I understand if that's not realistic but I thought it might still be worth asking those with significantly more knowledge on the topic than to just assume it isn't feasible. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you.

 

[dlbleak]

Welcome Kaden, the Mosins can be a hodgepodge of info. 7.62x54.net is a good place to start. Probably impossible to track down the soldier that carried it. The Swiss k31 had a piece of paper under the butt plate that could narrow it down. There are some Mosins that are more desirable than others but the best thing is to shoot and enjoy it! Remember to rinse that barrel with ammonia after shooting surplus ammo.

 

[Catt57]

You won't find a database that records an individual rifles history. However, the various stamps and markings on the rifle can often tell a story. Like dlbleak said http://7.62x54r.net/ is your best starting point.

 

[Swingwing]

That looks like a 91/30 that was made at the Ishevsk factory in 1941. I can't make it out for sure. It would make sense if it were 1941 because of the 41 stamp on the upper right side of the barrel shank, then was later restamped with the SA in a rectangle on the lower left side. The 41 was used as a Finnish army property stamp for a short period during 1941 and later the SA was used. So that would mean your rifle was actually captured in 1941 during the Finnish Continuation War (1941-44) with the Soviets. It went thru a Finnish arsenal at least twice. It would help confirm that is really an SA stamp with some more pictures of the barrel shank and the whole rifle. Is there a finger splice in the stock forward of the magazine almost directly under the rear sight? The PS over the serial number is the transliteration of the original prefix ΠC9971 done by the importer to satisfy ATF at that time. The people here are some real experts:
https://forums.gunboards.com/forumdisplay.php?3-The-Collector-s-Forum-Mosin-Nagant-HQ