I’ve seen some lately at Cabelas, and heard they get them in at Big 5 from time to time. Gun shows often abound in these things. Online venues like Gun Brokers usually has them as well.
The usual ones are around $100 now, ones with better barrels are more but you’d have to know what you’re doing to get a good one without getting ripped off.
The ones commonly available these days are the 90/31s made at the Tula and Izhevsk factories in Russia before or during WWII. From the looks of them, they saw plenty of action, and were not typically maintained very well - but it doesn’t matter.
What DOES matter is that they were packed for storage after the war in a sunstance called cosmoline, and it still coats them. It is VERY difficult to remove, and if you don’t remove it, it will melt as the gun heats up after a few rounds, and mix with the shellac that coats most of the Eastern Bloc ammo, forming a tenaceous glue that will then freeze up the action - hence all the jokes about needing a 2x4 or sledge hammer to keep them running.
Both (2x4 and sledge hammer) work ok, but it is far preferable to go find the several web sites that have instructions for the processes known to remove the cosmoline. That’s a MUST! Keep working at it until it’s ALL gone!
Also, AmmoMan has some great quality 7.62 X 54R ammo that lacks the shellac, and this helps, too. Get 1000 rounds for $200 or so, and shoot it through your cosmoline-free gun to your heart’s content. Most fun-shooting gun you’ll ever own once it’s working right. Good luck.
Correct that to a 91/30, not a 90/31 - not enough coffee yet back when I posted that.
Great to see such a lively thread, y’all, and one that started with AR-15s and quickly branched out to all my favorites. Happy shooting until the shooting starts in earnest, then shoot well.