[hoosier8]

I ran into a Remington M91, not import mark, not US marked, not SA marked. The Remington stamp on the stock is incredibly clear. The gun looks to be 80%-90% but I have not seen it in person yet. The bore is clear and sharp.

The one detraction is that the mag floor plate is Remington but the only part that is not matching. Stamped with a different number and it is hard to tell but the stock looks like it has been varnished, but not sanded.

Yes, I know. No pictures.

What should I consider for a price to pay?

 

[Homer2]

The varnished stock hurts more than the mis-match floor plate. If all original condition and matching, that's easily worth over $1000. Mismatch a floorplate, knock off a couple hundred, but still really valuable if all remington. Varnished stock is a killer and I probably wouldn't pay over $300 even if matching. If any Russian/Soviet parts are present, it is probably from Spain or someone here changed out parts. In that case, maybe $150-200 with a varnished stock.

 

[hoosier8]

Not sure about the stock. Here is a pic.

 

[clayshooter2]

From that pic. the stock does not look varnished to me.

 

[Homer2]

That looks original to me. If the rest looks like that, I'd say it's a high end gun that I've been looking for for a while.

 

[Stalin's Ghost]

If the stock is sanded and with mismatched parts I would pay only about $300 or less, assuming the cartouche is good.
A good Finn goes more or less for that as well at auction.
If original and very good, they seem to go for about $600+ but I guess a perfect one could go as high as $1000. Not to me, though.
I paid $620 at auction for what I believed was a very good Remington but when it arrived, the stock was sanded and refinished and the bolt parts didn't match. I ended up paying $275 after some discussions with the seller, an honest gentleman, and I'm still not really happy at that.

 

[BradB]

"perfect" ones are bringing closer to $2k. You need lots more pictures. Stock finish looks good.

 

[Pahtu]

"perfect" ones are bringing closer to $2k. You need lots more pictures. Stock finish looks good.

Yes & IIRC an auction I was watching a few years ago went for a few more hundred than that!

Pahtu.

 

[hoosier8]

I am going to look at it tonight and may pick it up. It seems all the parts are marked circle R and the numbers match except the mag floorplate. I will be able to tell more by looking at it in person. The only thing that worries me is the finish. It does look shiny but not shellack shiny, more like some other finish.

 

[Jungles]

In the close up shot of the cartouche the wood looks fine. In the wide angle views, not so good. For one thing, it looks a good deal lighter than typical Remington black walnut. The finish also looks somewhat uneven above the magazine. Looks like it's been worked over, with whoever did it perhaps taking care to avoid the area around the cartouche.
If a non-matching floorplate was the only flaw, that wouldn't bother me overly much, but the stock bothers me. Perhaps not a bad piece, but not one I'd pay anything near top dollar for.

 

[hoosier8]

That is why I need to see it in person. Pictures sometimes make things look different.

Owner is asking $500.

 

[Stalin's Ghost]

As said above, rifles are often put into other stocks.
A Remington has a dark stock with a dull oil-type finish, not a bright and shiny refurb look. I have one Remington in an absolutely lovely stock, but it's a later Izhevsk stock, not a Remington -looks good but takes hundreds off the value.
I'd probably see if he'd take $400 even if the stock is questionable, assuming the cartouche and other metal is really nice. Lots of these have been gone over with cold blue at some point to spiff them up, so look for proper and normal wear.

 

[hoosier8]

I got some more pictures.

It looks like there has never been any rust on it. Most of the blue is still pretty good except where it has worn off the butt plate. The parts in white look like they are getting a bit of patina. Everything has the circle R including the bands, nose plate, and sight. Numbers match on the receiver, bolt, cocking knob but not the mag floor plate but the floor plate is stamped circle R. There are no other marks that I can see from any other country except the one mark behind the trigger guard that I cannot place which looks like III. Would that stand for the 3 line rifle? Just looked closer look at the stock and that mark next to the III and it is a circle R.

The stock has been coated but it does not look sanded at all. The pictures are redder than it is in sunlight but it highlights the woods natural color. It does not look like red Russian shellac in person.

The thing that makes most wood dark, especially oiled wood is sunlight and oxygen. I have a civil war rifle with an American Walnut stock that only saw oiling and it was so black you could not see the grain.

I could take the rifle somewhere to verify the wood but it does not look like it has seen the light of day for most of it's life. Of course it could have been cleaned when it was coated.

 

[BradB]

Pay $400. Strip the wood and linseed oil it. Nice rifle!!

 

[Vic]

Its not US surcharged? Then it could have an original finish on it. I like it. Its worth the 500 and + some

 

[Pahtu]

From the pics, the rifle looks pretty good - I would not strip the finish.

pahtu.

 

[martin08]

There are some NEW's that exhibit the light stock color. I hadn't seen it with the Remington, until now. Pics don't show any US acceptance marks.

Corners on the stock do look lightly cuffed to me, and the surface does not have any raised grain. Lightly sanded?

Beautiful gun, regardless. We sure knew how to build Three Line Rifles.

 

[zeebill]

I have seen one other Remington with a sort of light color like that has. The story that went with it was it was sold by relatives of a former worker at the Remington plant who had passed away. Supposedly the workers were given rifles at some time in place of monetary bonus if they chose that. Never saw the rifle again and the story lives on in my mind only. I passed on the very high price at that time of the rifle. I doubt the story had any value but the rifle was light colored like that one and at that time, 10 or more years ago, little was known about these rifles. I sold one awhile back the was very similar but in what I thought was the wrong stock for $400 (looked Finnish to me) and was happy to get that rather than hold it and wait around for the right stock. You got some choices to make and I don't envy you! Good Luck! Bill

 

[JIMMY C]

It is a nice Remington, but for whatever reasons portions of the stock were apparently sanded. Compare the O/P's photo of the rifle in question with a few pic's of a original un-sanded rifle. The difference is obvious. You can even see the scratches left by the sandpaper, as they are not in line with the grain of the wood. In addition old original wood has a "grainy" appearance due to different pores expanding and contracting differently. Sanding smooths out these differences and is readily apparent under magnification. If you cant see the pores it's a sand job!!!

 

[jodavk]

I overpaid for my first Rem M91. $400 for a Finn'd mixmaster in a beautiful finger grooved 2-piece stock; I had never seen one before. It has an example of just about every armory stamp there is, except Fox, on the many parts. I probably wouldn't again... but I'm still very happy when I hold and shoot it. If you want it get it.