This post is a reprint of one I posted on my own blog a while back, but I've got a bunch of cool new stuff to post pictures of, and I'm testing posting on this blog...
Anastasia is a New England Westinghouse manufactured Mosin Nagant M1891, dated 1915. (Although I've heard that all Westinghouse M1891s are marked 1915, even those made in 1916 or 1917) During World War I, Remington and Westinghouse manufactured the rifles under contract for Czar Nicholas II. Because of the unplesantness going on in Russia toward the end of the war, many of the rifles weren't delivered to Russia, but instead the US Government took possession of a large number of them and rebarreled them to .30-06. Anastasia, however, did make her way to Russia. At some point, the Finns got their hands on her (probably captured during or before the Winter War, at least, that's my guess) and put the tiger-striped stock on her, crossed out the old sight markings measured in arshins, a measure of distance equal to a soldier's stride, and stamped SA (Finnish Army) and a few other proof marks on the receiver. The picture really doesn't do the stock justice, it's in perfect shape, hardly a ding anywhere. The rifle's a few inches longer than the M91/30, and noticeably heavier. Shooting this rifle has less felt recoil than shooting any of my other Mosins, including the one with a slip on recoil pad. Oh, and I bought the rifle for $150 from an otherwise overpriced store. They usually sold ordinary mosins for at least that much.
