Anvil 093: 1891 Mosin/Nagant , Dragoon and Rifle 

BW picture was American sailors from the cruiser USS Olympia in 1919.

Funny story; I have a White-Westinghouse Finish 1891 infantry rifle in great condition. Bought it at a gun store where it was a trade in. It would drop the firing pin if you thumped the stock. not safe. I had them check the chamber to make sure it had not been re-chambered for 30--06. It wasn't. I offered $50.00. and took it home, couple of swipes with a file to increase sear engagement and I have a safe and functional rifle. The bore was very dark, lots of lead and crud, but clear rifling. Shoots pretty good.

You are a fantastic teacher. I refurbed some family heirlooms thanks to you!

My god the unissued mosin was beeeautiful! Man their standards for a military rifle were high. Lovely conservation work though, as always, Mr Novak.

lil suggestion from a carpenter, cabinet maker. those lil screw holes are the perfect diameter for hardwood cooking skewers, and if look hard enough can find diff diameters, they great for filling screw holes, with a dab of wood epoxy, predrill the filled holes like you would for a new screw and all done, neat, secure, will last as long as gun,

Seeing that unissued Mosin is so awesome man, that thing is immaculate. I love to see the history of some of the old surplus rifles but it’s really cool to see something of what they would’ve been new as well.

Mark, The real question is: When does the lack of patina become maintenance?

The more of these I watch, the more it becomes apparent that the struggle between drastic measures to future proof the artifacts and the resistance towards fucking with the historically significant old thing, is kind of like the struggle between a surgeon and a reluctant patient. You really have to judge it on a case-by-case basis whether you want to go in with the knife and cut the guy up as a long-term measure, or whether it's too late to do any good. And just like with health, a healthy dose of prevention is better than trying to find a cure.

There's nothing quite like a 100 year old unissued rifle. I've got an unissued P14 from Winchester and boy howdy did they know how to put together a pretty service rifle! Great work as always!

When I was stationed at Fort Bragg, NC. in the 70's-80's, the city of Fayetteville had a chain department store I've only seen in the South, called "Roses". They always had these old but serviceable milsurp guns in stock for $75.00 - $100.00. Just like the kind that you are always breathing new life into, Mark. If only I picked one up every other payday, I'd have quite a collection.

I alwasy love going down the rabbit hole with you Mark, one learns so very much.

I have found that a lot of Imperial Russian gun threads are British, either BA or one of the 55degree Whit form threads. Tula was largely equipped by Greenwood and Batley who produced large amounts of gunmaking machine tools in the late 19th/ early 20th century. The 7.62x54 bore is basically .303 (.311) made using British rifling cutters.. If you are looking for a source of Brit taps and dies, then Tracy Tools in UK are a good bet..

That cleaning rod threaded block is probably an 1/8"-40 Whitworth thread. The cleaning rod should be a 5/32"-32 Whitworth. Pretty much all the mosins use Whitworth threads with a 55 degree thread angle rather than the 60 degree on standard/metric.

Excellent. I served with the 31st Infantry Polarbears 1998-2004.

The skills displayed in this series of videos which were within my ability to glean and reproduce helped massively when fettling a 1924 Mauser, specifically fitting an upper hand guard to existing stock and barrel fittings, etc. Thanks for the entertainment and chance to pick up shop tricks.

My four favorite words on RU-vid. Down the rabbit hole...

Wow! The way you close this segment is a scream. Mark ! You crack me up. Thanks again for this enlightening block of instruction.

You crack me up Mark. Good job, and again I learned a few things, thank you.

Get in touch with Ian mccollum in a video. I emailed him once. He really cares and answers. You two gentlemen fit really well for a joint production.

Thanks Mark for always posting a video I can learn something from. Yesterday I was at my parents home, mother asked me to look at one of my dad's guns she thought needs attention. Boy was she right. An ancient Remington .22 Target Master. Functions fine, good bore, but the stock is almost black with old oils. When warm weather returns I'll be getting it back in shape as I remember it as a kid.

These are some of the best videos. I really like what you always say about rust. I spent some time in the Marines, and have been a farmer before that and after that. I have seen rust all over the world. I have had to deal with rust as a farmer, when I fix equipment that breaks. The only thing I really learned about rust is it recks almost everything, and is never good. The other thing I learned was the is always a lot more work involved when you see it. Great video! Thanks

That angelic choir singing Hosannas and that beatific smile. You never looked so good, Mark!

The gun surgeon strikes again! Thanks for saving yet another piece of history.

Another wonderful trip down the rabbit hole. Thanks, Mark & Bruno.

Nice job Mark, you have become must watch, and must watch again!

Wow..one of the most sleek guns i have ever seen.. A true masterpiece Nice work btw :)

Been watching you for about two months now, lovin' every episode! At the same time, you're making me feel like I need to take much better care of my guns.

I always tell people that my truck does not have Rust on it, it has patina, and it adds value

Incredibly skillful a joy to watch a craftsman at work.

I'm new to this, my grandfather passed away and left me 10 Mauser's and 3 Lugers and im attempting to learn how to best take care of them. Watching these videos and reading online is starting to build my confidence but i'm not quite ready to start taking them apart and cleaning/preserving them. Some of them have rust

Always a joy watching your videos... besides 90% of the guns you are working on don't exist where I live. Thanks for showing us interesting firearms Sir

Beautiful conservation work . Thank you for showing us how to preserve our living history pieces . Ontario Canada .

Love spending time in your company, as you might say “outstanding”

Mark it's always a pleasure to see your work, I cannot wait for more and hopefully "The book" of infinite knowledge too it's a highlight of my day.

Wonderful episode. Thanks for showing us that awesome rifle, and for conserving the other.

take a drink every time he says Gack

I have learned more from watch this channel than I did from all my highschool teachers together!

I got lucky last year. I found a numbers matching, Remington made 1891 from 1916 that is in excellent and all original condition. The gun shop I found it in apparently thought it was just another surplus Mosin and threw a price tag of $400 on it. I snagged it and it's one of the best shooting milsurp rifles I've ever owned. The bolt is amazingly smooth and out to 100 yards with crappy surplus ammo and the open sights it will group around 2 inches. During the winter I want to work up some handloads for it to see what I can get it to do with good, quality ammo. Mine was issued to the Russians, but it's got a couple other markings I haven't been able to decipher, not Finnish, certainly not US, closest thing we I can figure is either Poland or Bulgarian. The gun also has no import marks at all anywhere on it. It's a heck of a gun.

Missed you buddy... dont make us wait for so long.

I turned down a new out of the crate Remington mosin a few years back for $300…I still feel it haunting me

A quick fix for "screwed out" screw holes is to use a flat toothpick glued in, or a wooden matchstick, depending on the size of the hole. I keep a small container of both on my work bench.

An Arshin is the equivalent of a pace, which is approximately 30 inches. The average height soldier has a stride of 30 inches when marching.

I wish I had your videos 20 years ago when I got my first Mosin.

Glorious work my Good Sir! Keep em coming and I'll keep a watching!

Another great video Mark! I am of the same mindset, "Patina", is an awful word in my shop! I do have a 1944 Mosin rifle keeping the '17 Enfield company in my safe, all cozy with several 1909 Mauser actions. I have a Peruvian 1909, in the white, that is at least 95%. Amazing for a 122yr. Old rifle. Found it in a pawn shop!

I learn something new with every video you do. Thanks for putting these videos together.

My father was a high school teacher and historian and during the summers he would take me on 2-3 day trips around Oklahoma and bordering states to research historical events. In 1973 or 1974 we went to southwestern Oklahoma to research the Babbs Switch fire of 1924. That's an interesting story in itself; it's the reason there's a federal law that the doors on all public buildings have to open outward. In the course of asking among the long-term residents of local towns, we encountered a 96 year old man who happened to mention that at the end of WWI he had been "sent to fight the Roosians". My father immediately grabbed a different note pad and started writing. It was the first I'd heard of it and I don't remember much of what he said except that "They took our American rifles and gave us Roosian ones." and "I hope I'll never be that cold again." I've been fascinated by the expedition and its firearms ever since.

I always love seeing your videos especially anything Mosin related given that is my current (And nearly finished) "project" rifle. So far all I got left to do is figure out how to tighten the front sight blade so it doesn't attempt to fly out with every shot.

"Don't possess the skills? Do NOT attempt to perform at this level." Fair warning for the viewers watching YT videos saying "nah I can do that with a wire wheel and a kitchen knife"... Very good content, keep up the work! It's a pleasure watching a pro!

What a great channel! Not sure how I found it, but I'm glad I did.

I had a remmy like that back in the 90s. I was a kid and knew nothing. It was just as pristine. I sold it for 200 and thought I made a killing. If only I knew....

When you have unreadable stampings in old wood like this, one trick that sometimes works is to hit it with a UV flashlight in a darkened room. This highlights crushed wood fibers that are invisible in typical room lighting; it can reveal otherwise unreadable text and numbers.

I just smiled when I saw another video made available today! Thanks for an entertaining and informative 30 minutes that, as always, just flew by.

You got my upvote in the first few seconds. Perfect opening.

huge fan of Mr Novac

never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd ever see an unissued mosin

It's like Christmas when you post a new video.

Most beautiful Mosin I have ever seen WOW

@ 4:26 The "Ligne" is a fascinating unit of measure. Watch movements and cases are still dimensioned in lignes.

Just a pleasure to sit in your class room.

YEAH!!!!!.love it. Keep them coming . Awesome stuff..

I love your philosophy, and totally agree with you, that these old vintage rifles desperately need some TLC. Better to conserve and maintain a firearm as you would do with any fine instrument and keep it in the fight than to let it gather rus....I mean patina and become a wall hanger.

2:36 I bet that window was totally a swastika at some point.

Indeed Mark, Always a pleasure.

Thank you for putting out another entertaining and informative video. Now I have two rifles you've done video's on that make me wiser. (SVT 40)

That Remington is a thing of beauty.

Mosin Screws are all BSW Inch standard...Imperial Russia was based on the Inch system, and Greenwood &Batley of Leeds, supplied the initial Berdan II machinery, then the Upgrade to the Mosin 91. All Mosins ( Russian, Chinese, etc) were ALL Inch based into the 1960s...despite the Bolsheviks changing to Metric in 1920. KISS!! DocAV

Fantastic work at always, Mr. Novak! You just love to see it.

That unissued Remington!🤯🤯🤯🤯

A long while ago I asked Mark about my Mosin that would lock up after firing and he suggested that there was a patch of rust in the chamber and somebody polished it before shipping it to the US and it was a divot left after the cleanup. I recently got a bore scope and it's worse than that, MUCH WORSE! It seems that when manufacturing the barrel, somebody got too aggressive with boring out the excess metal before cutting the chamber as you can see spiral cuts near the edge of the chamber on one side where the base of the cartridge would expand and lock into place when firing, and it goes for at least 1/8" into the chamber getting thinner as it goes deeper, so I'd have to cut at least that much off the end of the barrel to clean it up! The only solution I can think of is solder in some tin, or braze some brass in and then use a finish chamber reamer to clean up the chamber

Wow that unfired Mosin sure is purty

I had a 1917 for a short while....bought it for 95 bucks in 90 or so. I was a kid. had no idea. It was a mosin that was really nice to me. no internet to learn from. I sold it for 200 thinking it was robbery....i got robbed. She was every bit as immaculate. Pristine bore. Perfect blue.

Were gonna come back in with the steel wool and take off the dirt not the finish. Look at the colour of that ... Dammit Bruno can i get another coffee....... Thanks for the video Mark :)

Thank you for doing what you do love your stuff

Craftsmanship of the highest order , 10/10 as always

I thought he has shit posting about the sling for a second

26:20 that escuchin ain't gonna hold after such a vigorous tappin!

Sometime around 1998 I first read about Remington Mosin/Nagant rifles though I don't recall exactly where I ran across the reference (a back issue of American Rifleman maybe but I'm not at all sure about that). What I AM sure of is that at some point some really low life types apparently started selling fakes at gun shows on the east coast. A gent I met in Maryland made the gun show rounds in the area looking for, and sometimes purchasing, "unique" and/or "rare" 19th and early 20th century rifles and handguns. In 2014 he purchased what looked, to the untrained eye, and as it turned out his was one of those eyes...And mine too though in my defense I had NO idea what made an original an original and a fake a fake. He paid some serous scratch for that rifle and took it to a PA gunsmith for conservation purposes only. The gunsmith spent about thirty minutes looking the "Remington" over and declared it a well made though, to the trained eye, 100% fake. Somewhere along the line considerable time, effort, and money had been spent with modern machine tools, scrap metal, and punches to turn a WWII Soviet era Mosin (worth about $275.00 at the time at many pawn and gun stores) into a very, very nice looking "Remington" model right down to the shelter half sling.

I also have a Remington 1891 mosin in great shape for $75, the sights are in arshins (28") as all mosins are untill the 91/30 witch is in meters so use a calculator to set the sights. Happy shooting😊

Love your work, ive learned alot from you

The pleasure is always ours

Left escutcheon screw is still wayyyy loose?

Can't ask for better approval than that.

Great video. FYI the easy way to remove the cleaning rod nut is to use the nosecap screw. It fits the hole on top perfectly.

“It looks like it was done by a trained rat!” I spit my wine a little when you said that. I just really enjoy your content Mr. Novak, thank you.

Best youtube right here.

There was a guy on gunboards that reproduced the M91 handguards, I have 2 and they are darn near perfect replacements.

Beautiful work as always Mark! Take care and stay safe! God bless! 🙏✝️🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

for this evening cigar and gun time with Mark i am smoking a Guillermo Leon - Ambassador (they had a sale at a shop here)

If you turn a wood screw backwards until it re-engages the existing threads in the wood, you will run little danger of cutting a new set of threads. You can feel it hop into the threads when you turn it slowly backwards - it will CLICK. Same thing for a screw in plastic.

..............................................................MARK !!!! .................................................. That stock had the Swastika on it . Someone added lines to make it look like a square with a cross in it .

Excellent video. Great work and super fun to watch. Going to use that soap and wool trick!

YES!!!! THE TIME IS HERE!!!!! THANK YOU!!!!

Fantastic video. I love seeing the diligent work you put into conserving these guns, and it’s amazing how good they look at the finish, considering how bad some of them look at the start of the process. I did have a question...How oil-soaked does a stock have to get before it begins to impact the integrity/safety of the stock? I have a Yugo M24 Mauser derivative that is fairly dark around the wrist, likely due to oil running down out of the action during storage. Do you have a video that goes into greater detail about the risks/warning signs of this issue?

That's my rifle, 1917 remington.

Mark, do you soak your steel wool in acetone to remove the oils that are added to the steel wool during manufacture? I have found the oils add contamination to my woodwork.

I love my Remington Armory and my New England Westinghouse mosins. Both Finnish captures.

Thanks, Henry, for sharing that beaut of a mossy naggy with us!

Mark Why weren't you there when I used brake cleaner, Minwax wood finish, and spray paint to "refinish" my $110 91/30? My brother did a pretty good job fixing the stain and removing the paint, but I need to handle some of the rust that keeps appearing under the hand guards and now I'm afraid to ruin it further... Haha! Seriously though, how do you stop that pitting from spreading?

You need to get a ring light for your camera. You'd get a nicer balance.