For all the Mosin Haters...

[h2u]

I've been watching this for a couple of days and figured my C&R peeps might enjoy this first hand.
The one true Holy Grail of the Finn Mosins. Only 200 ever made, only three known to exist at the moment. This is a bolt mis-match and it's missing the handguard. The seller is a longtime Century employee that is selling off his Mosins acquired over the last 30yrs. It's been an awesome string of auctions - I couldn't even begin to afford most of them. Looks like he was saving the best for last

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=428991452

 

[Machodoc]

Now I know why Century is slow in shipping ... their guys are busy doing their own "Best of 500,000" hand-picks. Great rifle, but 'way out of my league.

 

[Dave91]

Incredible. I'm very curios how high that will go. What if there's some old guy without internet access sitting on 5 or 6 of those ?

 

[shaddydan]

Current bid over 12k? Cool!

 

[psoyring]

And it shoots affordable ammo to boot.

 

[Threeband]

Wow.

I wonder how much he paid for that with his employee discount. $50?

 

[8milimeter]

Wow

Wow.

I wonder how much he paid for that with his employee discount. $50?

Yeah, most likely a handyman special.

Remember the 4 for $100 turk mauser's

 

[Doctor_M]

LUCKY DUCK....

 

[h2u]

Wow.

I wonder how much he paid for that with his employee discount. $50?

He's been an executive there for decades, so who knows how much he paid. He says his Mauser collection in enormous and puts the Mosin/Finn collection to shame. What caused this sell off is he is retiring and plans to move. Last year he actually got an offer on his house, but couldn't move due to hundreds and hundreds of rifles that occupy his house-a VERY formidable obstacle to clear out to be able to move

So. He's starting with the Mosins, of which there were about 30-40. In the next year or so, he's planning on thinning out his Mauser collection. I can only imagine what he has stored away

 

[mawkie]

OMG, Sparky got out bid! Didn't think that would happen with his seemingly limitless bank account. For that money I could get either a Webley Fosbery or a Webley & Scott MkI Royal Horse Artillery, we're starting to move up into the C&R big leagues now (ignoring C&R Class 3 stuff, that's a whole league of its own).

 

[Alphabrew]

He's been an executive there for decades, so who knows how much he paid. He says his Mauser collection in enormous and puts the Mosin/Finn collection to shame. What caused this sell off is he is retiring and plans to move. Last year he actually got an offer on his house, but couldn't move due to hundreds and hundreds of rifles that occupy his house-a VERY formidable obstacle to clear out to be able to move

So. He's starting with the Mosins, of which there were about 30-40. In the next year or so, he's planning on thinning out his Mauser collection. I can only imagine what he has stored away

Good for him. That's a smart man right there.

 

[h2u]

Well, in like a lion and out like a lamb. It topped out at $12,500. The seller posted on Gunboards and explained things a bit. Remember, he was an executive and not one of the guys digging through the piles of rifles daily.
I thought you might like to see Steve's words on this subject...and the preview of his Mauser and Enfield collection that will be up for sale in the next year or two

---------
All
Richard nailed it with his post. Back in the early 90s, I was looking for guns with outstanding condition or rare marks ( remember these were $35.00 dollar guns back then). I was trying to get a good example of each type (like my Mausers and Enfields). There wasn't a lot out there for info on Mosins but I nearly feel out of my chair when someone brought this rifle into my office. I knew what it was and it was special. Dave is also correct about the interest in MN collecting. It has grown tremendously (thanks in a large part to this site, Teds and the internet as a whole).

The surplus market has changed a lot since I started with Century 24 years ago. Back then we had military surplus stacked 20 feet high!! I am a Mauser fanatic so I was in heaven! I also got to travel all over the world picking up tons of firearms. Everyone who knows me said that I had the dream job, and I did! How often do you get to live your passion! I enjoyed it very much and having the collector mentality I learned and saw a lot.

Today, things are vastly different. Finding Surplus Mausers and Enfields is very difficult. Thankfully Mosin Nagants are still available. The internet too makes collecting easier.

As I told Dave last night after the auction, I so glad the SAT went to an active Gunboards member. We, as a whole, tend to share info on various guns in our collections. Information is key to collecting. Lets face it.....we are all history nuts. We see something that is unfamiliar and hit the books researching. Funny thing this collecting passion. Now if I can figure out how to post pictures on this site (I'm computer challenged and 65) the Mauser and Enfield guys would really flip out!!

Keep Shooting
Steve

 

[Alphabrew]

Was that Steve Stanko's rifle?

 

[Dave91]

Well, in like a lion and out like a lamb. It topped out at $12,500.

What number were you expecting it to hit? Probably the rough spots, missing handguard and mismatched bolt hurt the value a little, despite how rare it is.

 

[h2u]

Was that Steve Stanko's rifle?

No. Steve Kehaya

What number were you expecting it to hit? Probably the rough spots, missing handguard and mismatched bolt hurt the value a little, despite how rare it is.

No real expectation of a certain price. With how fast it went up in the beginning, I was hoping to see a protracted bidding war at the end. Just for my entertainment purposes at someone else's expense

For this specific instance, I have to disagree with you on the mis-matched bolt and hand guard. With a rifle THAT rare, short of the barrel being cut down, this is an instance where these issues do not detract from a collectible firearm. Even if that had a matching bolt and hand guard, I don't think it would have pushed the price any higher or brought more buyers into the fray.
Plus, you have wonderful provenance in that you KNOW this rifle came straight from the importer in as-received condition. Someone literally pulled the rifle out of a pile of imports and it's been in a private collection ever since.

The one good thing about the auction is the buyer who ended up with it. He's got the deepest pockets in the Finn world and says he now has to take time off from purchasing for awhile - to the great relief of the other Finn collectors in the US sparky has purchased around $25000 in Finns the last couple of months
The one I really wanted was the PEM sniper from the seller of the rifle in this thread. Just under $5000 for that one.

 

[dancnr]

There is a seller with an M27 Carbine currently listed as well, I don't know enough to tell if its the real deal or not, but the bid price is at like 4,500.

 

[BlackBart]

The only GOOD ugly Mosin

is a dead one!

 

[Jimbob2.0]

Wow..........Thats like enough money to buy 2000 mosins!

 

[chooks9]

Awesome! I know it's rare but I don't know how I would feel about myself if I spent that much cash on a Mosin, unless Simo Hayha or Vasily Zaytsev used it in combat or it was made out of solid gold.

 

[Dave91]

Awesome! I know it's rare but I don't know how I would feel about myself if I spent that much cash on a Mosin, unless Simo Hayha or Vasily Zaytsev used it in combat or it was made out of solid gold.

Or if there were only two other known examples in the United States.