The Finnish Mosin Nagant Rifles

As some of you may know, Classic Arms recently got hold of a bunch of Finnish M39 Mosin Nagant rifles. These are considered more collectible than the Russian models because of their scarcity and better quality wood--which translates into a higher price. Classic Arms is currently out of stock (they supposedly have more, but are busy sorting), but The Mosin Crate apparently has a few that it is reselling at around $400 each.

Looking at the rise in the price of Mosins over the last year or so (Classic Arms is currently asking $189 for a plain-Jane Mosin), these rifles are migrating from the "cheap starter gun for a prepper" category to the "collectible" category. Even at the $200 price point, though, the Mosin probably would make a good SHTF rifle--if left in its basic configuration. But upgrading its trigger, safety, sights, scope mounts, etc., can easily eat up the difference between the Mosin and an inexpensive NEW rifle, such as Ruger's American Rifle, giving as good or better performance than the upgraded Mosin. Plus, such upgrades potentially destroy any future collector's value. You may scoff at that now, but other surplus rifles have had their values significantly increase (at least so long as they are left in their original configuration and condition).

Update (9/21/2015): It appears from various reviews that the rifles being received (even when opting for the "hand select") are in very poor conditions, most having cracked stocks.