In mint un-issued condition, we have a 1915 dated Westinghouse made M1891 Mosin Nagant Russian Service Rifle. This is a non-import marked rifle that came out of the Woodwork from Connecticut. According to the noted author of the excellent and highly regarded book “ALLIED RIFLE CONTRACTS IN AMERICA 1914-18”, Luke Mercaldo, The rifle is an early production example (late 1915-early 1916) that was almost certainly used by Westinghouse as a presentation rifle. The rifle was assembled in the Westinghouse Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts, Chicopee Falls Hill Plant, this can be determined by the “H” marking on the receiver. It is 100% factory original with all the parts having Westinghouse inspection marking. The only numbered part is the receiver, which is typical on the presentation rifles, as is the higher quality fit and finish of the entire piece. This gun came out of a closet and it has a great accumulation of storage dust which we did little to clean off. When in 1917, Russia defaulted on their contract many of these rifles were purchased by the US Government. Many were used to train soldiers, arm state Militias and arm our Allies both during the war and in the immediate post-war period. Many were surplussed off and sold to the public in the 1920’s as well. The Westinghouse and Remington manufactured Nagant Rifles were certainly the absolute apex of Mosin Nagant quality and they were far better than anything produced in the Russian Arsenals during this period. If you are a serious Nagant Collector or WW1 rifle collector this is a prime example of this very highly regarded Service Rifle. There has been a lot of interest in the collecting community regarding these rifles, and this would be a prime example for any collector.
