Looks like an old Moisin-Nagant; ca. 1880's. Better examples are often on sale at Sporting Goods chains; as they are considered "Curios and Relics" and not subject to as rigorous laws regarding sale.
If the bolt and receiver are in Good to VG shape, they can be pretty accurate; albeit not extremely powerful. With a tight receiver and a really clean (not-pitted) barrel; you can get good groups out to 200M; but the 7.62x54 is usually loaded to barely much more than blackpowder specs (It's a 122-yr-old design!), so you're not gonna put down much more than a good-sized bunny rabbit at that range.
Your's looks like the typical '65-66 6-cyl Coupe on craig's list...... if that's just surface rust and stock dings on an otherwise good bolt/receiver/barrel; you got something that can be put back together and fired. But if the barrel is really pitted; you're looking at the equivalent of a long-rotted cowl. Badly worn receiver and bolt? Now your talking about that rotted cowl dumping
years of water on the floor, rotting it, the rockers and the subframes. It just goes from bad to extremely dangerous.
I'd take it to a gunsmith - not some big shop, but the guy who opens up his garage to show something between a gun store and a high-end machine shop. Let him look it over, scope the barrel and mic the bolt and receiver. He can tell you if it's worth rebuilding or turning into a wall-hanger. But remember, it's just the equivalent of a "good ol' Stang", not the rarest of rare Shelby's.
I'd have the ammo checked out as well; he could probably decode the headstamping (if there is any) and find out its age. Old blackpowder is extremely corrosive; and the orginal smokeless stuff can break down - like into
nitroglycerin and something resembling charcoal. (Doesn't show up often, but still
). Also, the last of the heavily mass produced 7.62x54R was very often still produced with corrosive primers - all of which could be/have been eroding that barrel.
If you think the worst thing that can happen in an old rusty Stang is that it breaks in half when you hammer your "built" motor and the sticky tires really hook up; you may well be right. But a very weakened old gun fired with very old unstable powder is nothing less than a long skinny hand grenade; and remember as you take aim a Peter Cottontail, they only thing between your brain and the bolt being explosively thrown back through the receiver stops, is your right (or left) eyeball.
Seriously, get it checked out before you fire it. And who knows, the guy may
in good conscience tell you to polish the rust out, re-blue it, steam the dents out of the stock, and have fun!
