Pretty nice rifle.

Is that bolt dirty or corroded? It appears to need some cleaning.

Does it have an 02 marked base?

Stock looks good.

Your post makes it unclear if your rifle has VN documentation the other rifle that the seller owned?

Soviet optics and mount on an M52 is common.

You should find a lot of data on these here and also can search my posts for threads which have discussed these rifles. Alb/Alberto may have accumulated data on these. They are great rifles.

 

Mike,

Yes the base is 02 marked. The bolt as pictured was how I received the rifle, just dirty. It has since been cleaned properly. My rifle has zero papers, but the seller said he has another M52 that DOES have paperwork. I don't believe he is a member here as I found the gun by searching on gunbroker using mis-spellings of Mosin. In addition to spelling Mosin wrong he also called it an M51 I think.

I have found a decent amount of info on these, I was just hoping that everyone could post a couple pictures of their rifle and the "story" behind it, in this thread.

Thanks for the reply!

Tim

 

nice rifle. no pitting, nice blue. my guess is it was not shot much.

i have a m-52 pu scope, 02 mount and 02 base for 1952 rifle # bc 3366 (looks like it has been in the jungle), and m-52 pu scope, 02 mount, and 02 base for 1952 rifle # bc 0544 (very good/ excellent) if anyone has the rifle that got sent back from nam. I was hoping your rifle would be in the 3000s and pitted. lol

 

nice rifle. no pitting, nice blue. my guess is it was not shot much.

i have a m52 pu scope, 02 mount and 02 base for 1952 rifle # bc 3366 if anyone has the rifle that got sent back from nam. I was hoping you rifle would be in the 3000s and pitted.lol

Yeah too bad you didn't have a nice condition 1954 mount and scope! haha.

I think the rifle was shot a ton based on the bore condition. I know the outside looks great, but the bolt action and bore show as being well used.

 

Here it is. Got this one off funbroker a bunch of years ago. No story with it. No import stamp, and as I said, no scope or mount (I added the Soviet scope and mount so I could take her out and stretch the old girls legs). Everything else is 02 marked (including base). Bolt is mis match. Finish has turned a rough black/brown, with a little pitting here and there. Not as bad as I had remembered. All the edges on the wood are rounded; this rifle was carried around for a while. To me, she's got the look. I only wish she could talk.

 

Here it is. Got this one off funbroker a bunch of years ago. No story with it. No import stamp, and as I said, no scope or mount (I added the Soviet scope and mount so I could take her out and stretch the old girls legs). Everything else is 02 marked (including base). Bolt is mis match. Finish has turned a rough black/brown, with a little pitting here and there. Not as bad as I had remembered. All the edges on the wood are rounded; this rifle was carried around for a while. To me, she's got the look. I only wish she could talk.
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Great looking sniper Doug, it looks the part of a bring back.

If only it could talk

 

Couple pictures for you. Top Vz24T Sniper - Hungarian 02 91/30 sniper - Vz54 sniper - and 91/90 Sniper. Hungarian totally matching, with correct Hungary 41 Factory scope and 02 Mount & Base. Enjoy - Skid

 

What I can find.

 

and her sister 4850/4848 , in far worse shape but still all matching except scope. but together again..lol

got the feeling that one of it's previous owners did not make it.

 

A few more, maybe.

 

A few more, maybe, and all these are from gunboards picture files. The 1951 is a "prototype" best we can figure, the Alloy scoped rifle.

 

Good thread.

I'll post the informations about the production on the M52 ( based from my observations and from the s/ns I collected over the years) later this week, when I have a bit of more free time.

 

Thanks for the replies and pictures so far gentlemen. Interesting to see some with either dark blued bolts or painted?

Also, sssniper's 1953 dated rifle has a higher serial number than my 1954, unless the angle of the picture is making me see an 8 instead of a 3? I read: BC6834. Maybe it's BC6334?

alb87. I look forward intently to your information! Thanks in advance.

Tim

 

They had a very high quality blue when new. My alleged Nam rifle has enough patina that it looks rough like Parkerizing. Sorry my pictures are a bit scrambled but I pulled them from my prior gunboards photos. The 1951 was imported from Germany by a moderator apparently from KH and is believed to be a prototype.

I remember at one point it was believed that these could be of two types stock finishes, the light/blondish and the dark/chocolate color. I think we may have concluded that the dark was likely a finish at refurb. Alberto will likely have more on that.

Also, it would be interesting to have the latest guess on production totals. Seems it was less than 10,000, normally in 2 serial number blocks.

 

Hello, Got me wondering about serial #, Definitely BC6834 and 1953. Added a few more pictures, even the cleaning rod is 02 marked. This was shipped home through the embassy in Saigon about 1965 with out a scope or mount (that's the way I got it). As you can see by the dark wood, dents and scratches, well used. I added the correct mount and scope to it much later. Interesting, all numbers match, except floorplate? Oh, well. Enjoy, Skid

 

Couple more. Wood, 02 Bayonet (again much later), and 02 cleaning rod.

 

That one does look like it has "seen the elephant', Skid. Nice rifle. Did you ever get any US Embassy paperwork on it? (The reason is that I have a captured Tok that came back on an Embassy capture paper and I'd like to compare.)

 

I will try to post up some pics of my M52 latter this evening.

 

Here my 52M. With matching Hungarian scope and mount. I've had this one almost ten years (if memory serves)

no import marks, 1953 dated..... As nice as they come!

 

Here is my 53 Hungarian M52, all matching numbers rifle, Russian scope and mount, Hungarian base. No import markings, and the s/n is just a couple off of a documented NV bring back, but I do not believe that this rifle was ever over there. I believe this rifle came thru Canada.

 

badash5946, no paperwork, sent back with diplomatic currier to my sister in DC. Ah, the good old days!! Skid

 

Love those good old days Skid! I had one friend whose father was an airline pilot who flew troops to Vietnam. My friend, an SF medic, was able to get several items carried back through papa.

 

According to the serial numbers I collected over the years, production for 1952 was of approximately 6,500 units (lowest collected serial number BC 052x - highest serial number BC 646x).

For 1953, the lowest serial number I have is in the early 1,900s and the highest in the 6,85xs. So, production was of at least 5,000 pieces

In 1954 was of at least 3,800 M52s, since the lowest serial number I have is in the 3,900s and the highest is BC 7700.


I estimate an overall production, on the conservative side, of at least 15,300 rifles between 1952 and 1954. Real production was possibly a bit higher.

 

Interesting information. Thank you for posting it!


So it looks like they repeated serial numbers each year? This would explain why my 1954 has a lower serial than the 1953 posted.

Also, based on the pictures of additional rifles posted, I think it's safe to say that my rifle nor Miller Tyme's came from VN, but more likely as Miller Tyme stated already that it came from Canada? What is the theory behind this again? Canada had some imported at one time?

Thank you to all that have posted so far. Lots of very nice and very interesting pieces!

 

I have posted this one before, it is a Vietnam bringback.. The scope is just one number off from the rest of the rifle.

 

Great rifle Mel. Not far off from my rifle nor mjmd's serial wise. Makes one wonder if a block of serial numbers were sent to Nam? Mine and mjmd's are one off sequential. I suspect yours was shipped in a crate and the scope for yours and the sequential rifle to it with the scopes off and they were mixed in Nam. It is also impressive what a large number of known Nam PUs were M52s. The Soviet block made some efforts to make the origins of the weapons less than clear. Pistols, rifles, ammo was either scrubbed or coded.

Thanks for the production estimates Alberto. Now for the stock finish question.

 

In the 1980s early 90s with no restrictions, Century Arms of Montreal sold Russian, Hungarian and Polish PU snipers.

 

Thanks.

You mean no restrictions against shipping to a US customer? Or no import to Canada restrictions? Was there information on where Century got them from? Or they don't usually share that info?

Just trying to piece it together.

Regards

 

Well, these rifles are very much collector items, especially if they came from Nam. One that shoots poorly is still an expensive rifle. A rifle that is worth over $2000 is not the best everyday shooter and with a nice PU being $550, shoot a $550 rifle IMO and save the collector rifle. No need to risk the higher priced rifle beyond a few trips to the range to satisfy one's need to know the gun's ability but to each his own. Besides, if you get one that shoots sub-MOA consistently, that is different and may be worth lots of use.

I am now confused about the original purpose of this thread. Was it to evaluate a purchase of to learn about these rifles in general?

 

Mike,

The purpose of this thread is to gather as much information about these rifles into one place as possible. As part of that, detailed information regarding specific rifles should be welcomed, ie where they came from, condition factors; like having a rifle in good overall/exterior condition but not being a good shooter because the bore has wear is interesting. Since I haven't owned this rifle very long, there is much to learn about it as part of the process of gathering information on other examples.

I posted my picture of the muzzle wear vs. bullet as it was requested. As to my comments about which bullets worked better, etc., please don't take that to mean I've fired 100's of rounds through it. I've taken the rifle to my private range twice, and totaling approximately 40 or 45 rounds. I don't have intentions to take it to the range again unless there was a special reason to. I have plenty of other Mosins that are my shooters, some of which I could shoot groups half the size of this rifle's accuracy and using iron sights. I do want to buy a recent import PU sniper to use as a regular shooter. This M52 is my most expensive Mosin, and I do know how to treat it.

Regards,

Tim

 

Tim, If you wish to shoot it frequently I have no problem with that. As I said, generally speaking, they are getting too expensive to shoot on a regular basis. That is especially true with all the PUs recently imported. Of the three I have shot, 2 shot slightly worse(both had pretty worn bores) than most Soviet PUs and one shot a bit better than average. Any rifle that shoots worse than average and is much more valuable than average gets put on the back burner. One that shoots exceptionally well, I may well use it more than is wise in many folks opinions.

It would be nice if someone wrote a book on these interesting rifles. Maybe Alberto will do it. Otherwise, getting all the info, or even most of it, in one place will not happen. We have had quite a few threads on these and this is a good one. Reading all them, which I have, still just scratches the surface IMO.

You apparently have used some pretty good ammo in yours. Generally speaking I prefer Extra Match over others. Good hand loads with Hornady 174 HPBT Match and Sierra 174 HPBT Match have given most members the best results with any Mosin sniper. Good ammo comes from good components and careful loading as you likely know. I would not expect great accuracy from most any milsurp ammo but some will surprise you. The amount of conversation here and on the Collector's forum regarding ammo is huge.

 

It would be nice if someone wrote a book on these interesting rifles. Maybe Alberto will do it.

Mike,
currently I'm working on it.

 

I have two that I would like to add to this thread. First one is 1953 Dated Ser# BC4308 all matching numbers except the scope and mount are Soviet dated 1970. The scope base on the receiver is 02 marked. Note the shrapnel damage to the right side of the rifle. This possibly could have taken out the original scope.

 

I have two that I would like to add to this thread. First one is 1953 Dated Ser# BC4308 all matching numbers except the scope and mount are Soviet dated 1970. The scope base on the receiver is 02 marked. Note the shrapnel damage to the right side of the rifle. This possibly could have taken out the original scope.
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Very nice piece LD! The history oozes from this one. The battle damage puts it over the top.

Have you had it out of the stock? Anything interesting to report there?

 

My other rifle is also 1953 Dated Ser# BC5121 all matching numbers except the trigger group is one digit off ? Hungarian Scope and mount are not numbered to the rifle. Interesting thing to me is the serial number is 55 rifles off from Mel's bring back. I also wonder if these were sent to Nam in batches?

 

Excellent rifle! I have BC 6910 made in 1954.