[tedley2]

If you ever want to be entertained with sky-is-falling industry "news" like a mosin nagant shortage, check out classic arms. The guy there sells really nice stuff (in my experience at least), but he hocks it like a used car salesman. Right now he has a post about how the supply of Mosin-Nagants have completely dried up without any new ones on the horizon; buy em' now or you'll never get one! hehe

Earlier he had a tale where the Romanians had closed the plant making AK's. Not quite. I wonder what the next story will be?

 

[tedley2]

This is what is being spread on the Classic web site. Bwaaaaahahahahaha!
-------------------------
http://www.classicarms.us/

"BAD NEWS ON NAGANT RIFLES. THEY FINALLY SEEM TO BE DRYING UP AND A LOT OF DISTRIBUTERS ARE OUT OF THEM. WE ARE DOWN TO ONLY THE ROUND RECEIVER HARDWOOD VARIATION AND WHAT WE HAVE IN STOCK MAY BE IT FOR AT LEAST THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE. THAT IS THE BAD NEWS.
THE GOOD NEWS IS THIS. THIS LAST BATCH WE RECEIVED IS PROBABLY THE FINEST OVERALL CONDITION WISE THAT WE HAVE HAD IN YEARS."

'ANYONE WHO HAS KEPT UP WITH SURPLUS LATELY KNOWS THAT THE FREE FLOWING SUPPLY OF NAGANT RIFLES HAS ALL OF A SUDDEN COME TO A SCREECHING HALT. ONCE WAS A TIME WHEN WE COULDN'T THROW A CAT AROUND HERE WITHOUT HITTING A NAGANT RIFLE. NOW WE ARE OUT OF HEX RECEIVER RIFLES, M44 RIFLES OF ALL TYPES, AND WE HAVE ALL BEEN OUT OF M38 RIFLES FOR A WHILE. IT IS BAD ENOUGH TO BE OUT BUT THE EVEN SCARIER THING IS THAT THERE ARE NO MORE ON THE HORIZON."

 

[tedley2]

So, is the Cugir plant still operating?

Yes.

 

[tedley2]

I heard from a reliable source that it is not. Maybe he can chime in?

There's a thread on this way back a few months on the AK forum. There are even more "Reliable Sources" over there who can fill you in, if you have doubts. This whole business caused a tempest in a teapot over the summer. Cugir is up an running, last they were able to tell.

 

[tedley2]

Oh, MNs may become a bit scarcer in years to come, at least the collectible ones. My dad says that back in the 70s the South American Mausers were so plentiful you could hardly give them away. They are available still but not as much as in the past. I'd say Mosins are far and away the cheapest milsurps on the market these days, and they may not be that way forever. Available, but in smaller quantities, and therefore, a bit pricier.

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong about the SoAm mausers.........

In the 60's and 70's the milsurp market was awash in South and Central American arms. 7mm mauser ammo sold for $5 per 100. There was a lot of Argentine 7.65mm around, as well as the guns. Prices ranged from $20-$30+. They were suddenly dumping their bolt actions for semi or select fire weapons. These were mostly Mausers, and the numbers were considerably fewer in total than the Mosins. Back then there were some Mosins coming out of Spain and Finland, and maybe even Korea, 91/30's for $15 and M38's for $20. I'm looking at a Sept. 1967 issue of SHOOTING TIMES that I found recently in a box. You could order stuff through the mail back when, with no paperwork. M1 Carbines ran $60. You have to figure that, given inflation, the prices on most, except for the Mosins, are roughly 10 times what they were running back 40 years ago.