Saw a sad thing today or, the death of a VKT B Belgian Proofed

I was at the Hattiesburg gun show today, and a Kiwi fellow I have dealt with in the past was selling a B VKT m91 with Belgian proofs in excellent, almost unissued condition. He wanted a paltry $125. The sound of the wallet leaping from the pocket, like a Jedi with the Force caught his attention. He pointed out it was so cheap because the rifle had fallen onto the concrete floor and was cracked. I first thought "that stock can be replaced" until he said it was the receiver. How does one break a tank? So I looked. The receiver was just fine, but like many who don't understand Mosins, he referred to the barrel shank. What I saw looked like a scratch. He said "Folks say it's a scratch, but it's a crack." I thought him wrong, but looked at the point where the rear sight touches the end of the shank (where the rifle landed on the concrete) and low and behold, that was not a scratch, but a crack! It must have been just plain dumb luck, but the barrel shank was cracked at the shoulder with the crack running about an inch towards the receiver.

Moral of the story, be vigilant. There is a cracked VKT B m91 with Belgian proofs out there. He might sell it, and the purchaser might turn that thing around for a quick buck.