Mosin–Nagant 1891/30. What should I be looking for?
I know little to nothing about rifles, and I at least know that this is a typical surplus rifle with moderate accuracy. Seeing that I will be buying this without much help, what should I be looking for? Or rather watch out for? I see that the price can range from $99 to $300. Is there something I should be looking for in the $300 vs the $99?
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Hiroki has provided a good collector's summary.
But for shooters: look at the bore. It should have sharp rifling, and a plus is a non-counterbored muzzle. To check this, look in the front of the bore to see if there is rifling. If not, it's been counterbored.
Some background: Mosins have a steel cleaning rod, which can damage the rifling when rubbed indiscriminately around the inside of the muzzle. Soldiers were issued a bore guide which was to be placed over the muzzle before cleaning, which would keep the rod away from the bore, but small tools like this tended to be lost in combat, and so damage ensued. When these rifles were later reworked at an arsenal, the muzzle was bored out to a larger diameter to eliminate the damage.
My suggestion is to buy only from two sources: a private buyer (where you can examine the rifle before purchase), or a trusted online source. I like Classic Arms, though that's a personal choice and there are others. I've not found good rifles from local big-box sources.
$300 range is usually Finnish ones which are more collectible (better quality and they kicked the crap out of the Russians during the Winter War).
The short of it is the hexagonal receiver ones are more collectible than the round ones, Tula is the preferred factory for collecting, and the ones made prior to WWII are of higher quality since they weren't in a rush to get them sent to the battlefield.