Japanese Single-Shot Trainer, Russo-Japanese War

This Mosin Nagant is an 1899 Izhevsk M91 that was captured by the Japanese during the Russo-Japanese War and subsequently converted to a single shot trainer. The stock is an "Arisaka style" and completely "new", along with the handguard, nose cap, barrel band, and trigger guards. The chamber is sleeved to 6.5x50 Arisaka although the bore is still .30 caliber. The intent was to use it for blanks only so the bore diameter was not any issue. The bolt face is unmodified and will still accept a 7.62x54r case head, but the extractor channel is reshaped to allow the extractor room to catch the smaller 6.5x50 case head. The original hex receiver has been reshaped to a round configuration, the recoil lug has been removed, and a solid floorplate welded in the feed opening.

The interrupter has been removed and the ejector reshaped for the smaller 6.5x50 cartridge.

The tang has been shortened removing the Izhevsk arsenal mark, but the date, 1899r, is still visible.

The rear sight base has been turned backwards and notched to hold the rear of the handguard. The sight leaf is the pre-1908 flat type which is very rare to find on any Mosin. The barrel is shortened, a new front sight installed, and turned down to accept a T30 bayonet. However, the bayonet lug is broken off the nose cap and the front sling swivel has been cut off the barrel band.

The stock inletting is rather crudely done.

There are Japanese characters painted on the buttstock, but they are very faint. The previous owner translated them as "#5" The whole bottom of the butt is spiced on with a couple of dowels. When the rifle was acquired the wrist was broken completely through but it has been repaired.

The trigger guard and floorplate are one piece and simply screwed to the stock.

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