mawkie
C&R Whisperer
-In the course of a typical week I'll scan hundreds if not thousands of listings. After a while you get good at ferreting out the little interesting tidbits that lead to gold. This was the latest that got my attention: Russian – Mod. 1938 Carbine (Modified) – 7.92mm Cal. Bolt Action Rifle – w/Sling. Loaded the auction house photos and while not the best I could make out specific features that told me a road trip to Redding Auction in Gettysburg was in order.
-Arriving I went directly to the rifle rack and quickly verified I was right to make the drive. Bidding on lots leading up to this item were pretty routine, no crazy money in the room. So I was hoping that maybe I was the only soul to ID this lot. But was so wrong. When bidding on this lot started I found myself in competition with an employee of the house who was representing an absentee bid. Nuts! We quickly went to the limit of what I wanted to spend. Then did something I almost never do: I chased the bid. Luckily for me the absentee bid max'd out at the same number and I only had to go $50 over my limit. But then another live bidder jumped in only to drop away after one bid. She was mine after spending $100 more than I wanted, not the end of the world. Wasn't cheap, the most I've ever spent on a Mosin Nagant, but well under what these have been fetching in the market over the last decade.
-What I got was not a Russian M38 but a Polish Wz. 91/98/26 built at the Arma facility in Lwow. It started life as a M91 that was reworked to a carbine chambered in 8 x 57mm. Quite a bit of work was involved and I can only think how much it parallels the French M27 Lebel. This article lists all the changes involved in the conversion and it's impressive just how extensive the list is.
-I've never seen one of these in the flesh before today and rarely see them online, again much like the M27 Lebel. This one had a US web sling installed so it might have been a bring-back. Another possible avenue was via Spain as some of these were used in the SCW along with Polish Mausers.
Removed the GI sling and replaced it with a proper looking period leather sling. This one goes to the back of the safe with the M27 Lebels!
-Arriving I went directly to the rifle rack and quickly verified I was right to make the drive. Bidding on lots leading up to this item were pretty routine, no crazy money in the room. So I was hoping that maybe I was the only soul to ID this lot. But was so wrong. When bidding on this lot started I found myself in competition with an employee of the house who was representing an absentee bid. Nuts! We quickly went to the limit of what I wanted to spend. Then did something I almost never do: I chased the bid. Luckily for me the absentee bid max'd out at the same number and I only had to go $50 over my limit. But then another live bidder jumped in only to drop away after one bid. She was mine after spending $100 more than I wanted, not the end of the world. Wasn't cheap, the most I've ever spent on a Mosin Nagant, but well under what these have been fetching in the market over the last decade.
-What I got was not a Russian M38 but a Polish Wz. 91/98/26 built at the Arma facility in Lwow. It started life as a M91 that was reworked to a carbine chambered in 8 x 57mm. Quite a bit of work was involved and I can only think how much it parallels the French M27 Lebel. This article lists all the changes involved in the conversion and it's impressive just how extensive the list is.
-I've never seen one of these in the flesh before today and rarely see them online, again much like the M27 Lebel. This one had a US web sling installed so it might have been a bring-back. Another possible avenue was via Spain as some of these were used in the SCW along with Polish Mausers.
Removed the GI sling and replaced it with a proper looking period leather sling. This one goes to the back of the safe with the M27 Lebels!
