Agreeed. I have a 1927 hex that shoots awesome. I also have a 1939 round.
Pre-war production dates tends to have better machining on the parts. Doesn't affect function, just smoother appearance. War time quality assurance suffered when the Russkies were trying to equipment 10 million troopers.
Nearly all will suffer from "Sticky Bolt Syndrome", whereas after shooting 3 to 5 rounds, you can't open the bolt. This is caused by the laquer used on Russian rounds to prevent the steel cased ammo from rusting. This laquer built up inside the chamber and the firing will "melt" it just enough to grab the case and not let go. After the rifle cools down, the laquer will let go and you can open the bolt without the use of a two by four.
Take a 20 guage bore brush and attach it to your cordless drill. Dip it in Hoppes #9, or your favorite gun cleaning solvent, and insert it into the breech, but not so far it engages the rifling. Give it a spin for about 20-30 seconds then wipe everything out of there. Your patches may appear green. That is good as this is built up laquer and copper fouling. Do this two or three times and then go try shooting again.
If it still sticks, repeat the above process. I had to do this three times on my 1927 hex, twice on my 1939 round. I thought everything was cool until I bought some Polish laquer slatherd surplus. Three rounds later and I could not open the dang bolt again. Use Brass or copper washed rounds for best results.