doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com A.S.N. ?

I recently acquired a sporting rifle conversion of a Remington Mosin Nagant with the letters A.S.N. stamped neatly on the receiver. The guys on the MN forums tell me that it isn't an arsenal or unit marking and confirmed my suspicions that these are the initials of the converter. A S N appears also on the top and underside of the bolt handle that has been bent from the standard straight to a more conventional ninety degree American bend and formed into a butter knife handle with the underside "checked". The stock has had it comb raised with a graft, and the joint is virtually undetectable. Too, a pistol grip has been neatly grafted on and nicely checkered. The sling holes have been expertly closed with grain and color matching diamond inlays. I had to hunt for them. For a MN, this is nice work. The rear sight is the period Cadillac of MN sights, the swing arm Lyman #36.
My Gun Digest article for 1999 (THOSE RUSSIAN SPORTERS) was about the 1920's trend to "sporterize" these buck and a half guns and the American sportmen's methods of getting it done on the cheap. Craftsmanship varied in degree, but some guys spent some real money on them. A minor cottage industry grew out of the demand. Alvin Linden restocked a number of them. I had been looking for a decent specimen of one of the better one for some time, and when I saw this, I thought "this'd be the one". I have some pictures if anyone would care to post them - it's over my head.
Anyone have an inkling who A.S.N. might be?

Go on 7.62X54R.net and you will get what you want to know. The guy will even talk to you. I would love to see a properly done sporter made on this action.

This appears to be inletting for a 1903 Springfield??

Pictures posted for Krag 1902

I don't know that rifle, but I think I know that fence.


Nice rifle though.

Same fence, different nails.

Neat looking M/N sporter.
Don't recognize the A.S.N.
(Assigned Serial Number ?? bad guess...but the rifles as made do have their serial numbers on the bbl and not on the rec'vr.)

If you want to know what year the orig rifle was made,,
Take the bbl'd action out of the wood. Turn the action over and look at the area immediately around where the rear tang screw is threaded into the action.
You should see a year date stamped there followed by a 'r'.
The 'r' I'm told is for 'year' in their cyrillic language.
The year date is usually a full 4 digit but sometimes only 2 if mfg in the 1800's (These are Model 1891 Mosin Nagants and variations).

It's with this date code that collectors/buyers/sellers determine if they have an Antique status rifle even if rebuilt at a later date which vast numbers were. The Finn M39's are a good example.

It's pretty amazing that the M/N in military dress has now gone to a $250+ rifle with the drought of the cheap $69.95 M91/30's imports from the Ukraine in recent years.
Remington and N/England Westinghouse M91 rifles in original configuration and nice condition can bring $450 and up.
Finnish use and modification models have a huge following, high prices as well.