Century Arms refinished Mosin Nagant and good?

[VegasAR15]

Has anyone purchased any of the Mosin-Nagant M91/30 rifles that have been refinished by Century Arms? Do these have any of the issues that their AKs have or are they just as good as any other Mosin? Local shop has them for $90 with all the normal accessories that they come with, that a pretty decent deal for one? Here is the link to their backpage ad for them: http://lasvegas.backpage.com/Sports...9130-rifles-with-accessories-in-stock/2768365
Thanks

 

[RP88]

unlike their AKs, CETMEs, etc. the 91/30s can be imported en masse without being chopped up and needing re-assembly or anything (laws for import don't effect curio and relic items, so they don't have to bring them in as parts kits). They should work fine. I have two Mosins (an M44 and my izzy 91/30) that have import marks from Century and they both work fine.

 

[Dave Markowitz]

Century doesn't refinish the Mosins. The Soviets arsenal refurbished millions of them after WW2 and put them in storage in case WW3 broke out. Now Russia, Ukraine and probably other former Soviet republics are selling them for Western cash.

I have several such arsenal refurbs and they are a great, inexpensive way to get into collecting milsurps, and get a rifle that's ready to go out of the box (after you clean it of course).

OTH, the vast majority of M1891/30 sniper rifles you see have repro scopes and mounts installed (AFAIK) by Century.

 

[DMK]

Arsenal refurbs are nice regardless of the gun.

It is of less value than a factory original condition to a serious collector in most cases (because original condition are more rare). However, to the casual collector and shooter, factory refurbs will usually be better due to the nicer finish, less wear and better overall condition.

The only drawbacks to an arsenal refurb are that the serial numbers of all the parts usually will not match, and many will have parts from different factories (or even different models), stock repairs often can look a little ugly and sometimes the muzzles are counter-bored an inch back or so to remove rifling worn from a cleaning rod.