With our editor’s continued blessing, I’ll be presenting reviews and profiles of exceptionally affordable yet dependable firearms. Aesthetically-challenged guns that will never command a collector’s premium. Guns that were often made by the tens of millions, in countries that either no longer exist or whose names cannot be pronounced by Western tongues. Guns that attract sneers and looking-down-the-nose condescension from the bespoke shotgun crowd at your shooting range. Guns, in other words, for Cheap Bastards. Or, in this case, paranoid cheap bastards.
If you find entertainment in marginally informed but strongly-held opinions, you’ll never be bored with sports bars, talk radio and firearms bulletin boards. After interminable discussions of “the best carry gun ever” and “is my AK clone 922(r) compliant?” you’ll be regaled ad nauseum on the subject of gun for SHTF (Shit Hits The Fan) or WROL (Without the Rule Of Law).
When SHTF and society is WROL, it is opined, you’ll want a handy and reliable rifle at your side, as you try to survive or escape the ensuing Hobbesian jungle where life is “nasty, brutish and short.” Where anarchy provides liberty only to the strong and ruthless.
Let’s add IMHO to this theoretical search for a SHTF WROL firearm that you can stash away for a very rainy day, along with several hundred rounds of ammo and a can of dessicant, for two or three Benjamins. I recommend the Mosin-Nagant rifle as your new GBFF (Gun Best Friend Forever).
History
The Mosin-Nagant rifle fought the enemies of the Russian and Soviet Rodina from the 1890s until the early 1960s. The weapon’s history is a 70-year lesson in what life is like when you don’t get on well with your neighbors. The Russians used their Mosin-Nagants against the Japanese, the Germans, their fellow Russians, neighboring Finns and, finally, more Germans and more Japanese.
The Mosin-Nagant earns no great distinction in having been used and abused by millions of illiterate peasant soldiers and Soviet conscripts. It wasn’t the best all-around infantry rifle of its time. Truth to tell, the Mauser 98 and the Lee-Enfield would be superior SHTF rifles in almost every category—except reliability and price. Nothing holds a candle to the Mosin-Nagant when it comes to price and reliability.
It’s not just a beer-budget blunderbuss. During World War Two, the Mosin-Nagant was the weapon of choice (and necessity) of Soviet and Finnish snipers. These grim reapers of the eastern front used the Mosin-Nagant to single-handedly kill entire companies of enemy soldiers.
Sniper Vasiliy Zaytsev, fictionalized in “Enemy At The Gates,” used scoped Mosin-Nagants to snuff 242 Wehrmacht Soldaten in four months. His sniper girlfriend, Tania Chenaya, (who may or may not have looked anything like Rachel Weisz) gave at least 80 Germans a dirt nap with her own Mosin-Nagants. Lyudmilla Pavlichenko was even more effective: she and her Mosin-Nagants had 309 confirmed kills.
Even these Russian die-hards couldn’t keep up with Finnish sniper Simo “White Death” Hayha. He killed 505 Soviet soldiers in just 100 days during the Winter War of 1939-40, using only his Finnish-made Mosin and its iron sights. Gangsta!
It may be ugly and antiquated, but a Mosin-Nagant in the right hands (and a target-rich environment) is a nine-pound weapon of mass destruction.
Today, Mosin-Nagants are the Mother of All Budget-Minded SHTF WROL WTF is that rifles. With perhaps 50 million weapons rattling around worldwide, they’re cheap as chips. Big 5 will sell you a Mosin-Nagant for $120 ($89 if you wait for their biweekly ‘sales’). Prices are even better at gun shows and gun stores. My own M44 carbine, IIRC, cost a whopping $65 in 2008. Your mileage may vary.
The Trick to Training a Dog?
Buy the right dog. Not every Mosin-Nagant is worthy of your zombie panic-room. Triggers run from good to hideous, as do their bores. It’s important to buy a [relatively] good one from a rack full of candidates, if only because you can.
If you go Mosin-Nagant shopping at a gun show, you’ll have to convince the dealer to snip the zip-tie so you can check the trigger and barrel. If it’s a busy gun show, he’ll have other, more profitable sales to chase. Don’t be surprised if you’re SHTF gun elicits a TILI (Take It or Leave It). in that case, get thee to a gun store. Preferably on a slow day.
There’s nothing magic about picking a good Mosin-Nagant. Find one with a nice bright bore that doesn’t look too beat-up and locks up tightly. Test for a decent trigger pull. Mosin-Nagants have so few moving parts—there’s not too much else that can go wrong. As a bonus, many of them have been arsenal-refinished. Don’t worry about “collector value.” Unscoped Russian Mosin-Nagants have less collector value than remaindered Stephen King paperbacks.
Now what?
As we’re asking a new (70 year-old) Mosin-Nagant to perform SHTF duty, you’ll need to function-test it and sight it in before you oil it up and put it in storage with maybe a thousand rounds of ammo. And hope you’ll never need it.
Where’s the fun in that? Once the Big Brown Truck drops off your crate of ammo, go ahead, make it pay. Blast holes in paper targets, tin cans and big game (void where prohibited by law). If you’re using steel-core ammo, have a go at any metal plate less than .5″ thick. [NB: If you've loaded you Zombie Plague rifle with steel-core bullets, keep in mind steel core bullets don't expand. Hint: aim for the head.]
7.62x54R ammo is cheap. Russia and Eastern Europe produce hundreds of millions of rounds each year. An online bulk retailer will ship you a sealed 440 round ‘spam can’ for as little as $82.50 plus shipping. Compare that to the cost of commercial .30-06, and you’ll notice that your Communist rifle has a strong Capitalist charm.
This cheap ammo is no slouch, either. Depending on barrel length, the Mosin-Nagant typically drives a 147-grain bullet at a velocity of 2600-2900 fps. Some of the cartridges feature a mild-steel bullet core. It’s banned from some shooting ranges, it’ll punch holes in almost anything. CBs (Cheap Bastards) note: surplus 7.62x54R ammo is made with steel cases and Berdan-type corrosive primers. No reloading for you.
Another crucial tip: corrosive primers require you to give the rifle a quick cleaning with Windex or another ammonia-based cleaner promptly after shooting, followed by a regular cleaning with your favorite gun cleaner like CLP or Hoppe’s No. 9.
Cleaning a Mosin-Nagant isn’t difficult or terribly time-consuming. But failure to do it even once can ruin the bore and trash the gun. Alternatively, you can buy non-corrosive, non-reloadable ammo from Wolf and Privi Partisan starting at $8.60 per 20-round box plus shipping, which is still a hell of a deal for full-powered rifle ammo.
Ergonomics? We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Ergonomics!
When it comes to shooting comfort and ergonomic controls, the Mosin-Nagant’s got nothing. The nicest thing you can say about the club-like stock is that you’re not likely to break it by accident. It features a straight grip, a dismally short length of pull and a contusion-inducing steel buttplate.
The short pull length was meant to allow a proper hold while wearing incredibly bulky Russian winter uniforms. What’s good for Igor the Soviet Conscript sucks for you. If you’re taller than 5’6″ or if you’re wearing normal clothing, you’ll have the bolt cocking piece nearly in your eye socket—unless you attach a thick recoil pad.
The butt end of the Mosin-Nagant resembles a steel-clad cudgel, destructible only by fire or chainsaw. If Barry Bonds tried to snap one over his knee like a misbehaving Louisville Slugger, he’d be carried off the field with a shattered and protruding femur.
Like most of its contemporaries, the Mosin-Nagant sports a clumsy bolt handle that sticks straight out from the receiver at 3 o’clock, instead of bending gracefully downward. It’s ugly and awkward; doing exactly nothing to improve the slightly balky cock-on-opening action.
The Mosin-Nagant isn’t buttery-smooth like a Lee-Enfield, or a masterpiece of clockwork German engineering like a Mauser. It is what it is: strong, ugly, cheap and functional.
I Spit on Your Safety!
TheMosin-Nagant’s ’safety’ mechanism isn’t just clumsy; it’s a useless failure. Engaging it requires griping a small, slippery cocking piece on the rear of the bolt and pulling it back with 20 to 30 pounds of force while twisting it counterclockwise.
Disengaging it requires the same knuckle-crushing manipulation in reverse. This is challenging for iron-fingered rock climbers, difficult for mortal men and completely impossible for those with arthritis, gloves or cold fingers. Unless you go aftermarket, a Mosin’s only ‘safety’ mechanism is an empty chamber, or removing the bolt and carrying it in your pocket.
Hindsight is 20/20
Mosin-Nagants don’t do too badly in the sighting department. Its robust open sights are optimistically calibrated out to 1.5 or 2.5 kilometers. The carbine models (M38 and M44) are more challenging to shoot well because of their shorter sight radii, but benefit from much quicker handling. Aperture sights? Nyet. Scope attachment? Nyet. But M44s do come with a permanently attached side-folding bayonet which can stab your left middle finger if you grip the stock the wrong way.
Recoil
Perceived recoil depends on the type of Mosin you’re shooting. Without a recoil pad, carbine-length M38s and M44s kick like a short barreled 12-guage shooting 3″ rifled slugs. Or maybe like a featherweight .35 Whelen. Either way, the undersized stock and the steel buttplate don’t help things. You’ll want a beefy recoil pad which adds perhaps an inch of pull to the stock. Long-barreled 91/30s are heavier and the mass soaks up the recoil, but they will still fit you better if you add a thick recoil pad.
Accuracy
I’ve fired many hundreds of rounds through various Russian Mosin-Nagants, long and short, with iron sights and scout scopes. Not all of them were guns I would have bought; some had horrid triggers and some had rough bores.
A good Mosin can shoot 3″ groups at 100 yards with surplus ammo—if you’ve got better eyes than mine. A bad one won’t keep five shots on a Domino’s pizza box. Family size. My own M44 with a scout scope will shoot 3″-4″ groups all day long, or at least until my pounding headache starts to impair my shooting.
The Mosin-Nagant isn’t a tack-driver. Buut it handles quickly and points instinctively and hits what you aim it at (if your target’s big enough). I’d like to spend more range time with a scoped 91/30 and its longer barrel (and its reduced muzzle blast) to really see what a Mosin-Nagant can do from the bench with optics. But then . . . reliable, accurate or cheap. You’ve already chosen two.
Reliability
You will not find a more rugged or reliable firearm on earth. Other than poor triggers and mistreated barrels, which you’ll discover before purchasing, the only common functional flaw is difficult extraction once the gun heats up. This is usually caused by baked-in cosmoline in the chamber. A thorough cleaning while the gun is hot and you’re G2G.
The 7.62x54R is a rimmed cartridge; that’s what the “R” stands for. While the rim provides extremely positive extraction of spent cases, it requires special attention when loading. Each inserted cartridge must be pushed fully to the rear of the magazine before another is inserted on top of it. This makes reloading slower if you’re not using stripper clips.
Your Hurt Your WHAT?
The Mosin-Nagant is a ‘blast’ to shoot, on two levels. It’s all kinds of fun to go trigger-happy with a powerful rifle knowing you’re only spending $1 each time you empty the five-round magazine. The short-barreled Mosin variants (M38 and M44) are also amongst the loudest small arms ever built.
DO NOT fire them without hearing protection, even once, unless your life depends on it. I won’t fire mine without double hearing protection: plugs and muffs. Failure to double up sentences me to a splitting headache, which lasts for hours.
Surplus 7.62x54R ammo is optimized for light machineguns and Dragunov SVD sniper rifles, not for 20″ carbine barrels. When those bullets leave the muzzle of a 20″ barrel, they’ve still got burning powder behind them which blows out of the barrel and produces a dazzling blossom of flame, anywhere from six inches to three feet in diameter. It also subjects you and your fellow shooters to a grenade-like concussion.
Accessories and Modifications
The Mosin-Nagant has frugal charms and ergonomic flaws. It’s only a matter of time before you’ll start to wonder how you might be able to improve it a little bit. Maybe you could improve the trigger pull a little, or give it a functional safety mechanism, or replace the stock,or add a scope, or . . . whatever.
Don’t go there. I know the above video (and many more like it) show enthusiasts firing modified Mosin-Nagant’s at—and occasionally hitting—targets that are eight billion yards away. [ED: I blame Zaytsev.] But the Mosin-Nagant should be first and foremost a cheap gun.
The Mosin-Nagant aftermarket is thriving; you can transform your $89 STFU gun into a modern scoped hunting rifle or a tricked-out’Tacticool’ scout-sniper. You’ll end up dropping $400-$500 on a 70-year old gun that’s only cosmetically different from the $89 beater you bought. If you want a modern scoped rifle for $400-$500, there are plenty of better choices out there.
That said, some of the Mosin’s flaws can be addressed fairly cheaply. The safety, the bolt handle and the trigger can be collectively upgraded for about $120. These three modifications will make your Mosin a more accurate, comfortable and safe gun without compromising its character or reliability.
Safety and Bolt Modifications
Various third-party vendors offer Mosin cocking pieces with a steel ring welded to the safety knob, after the style of Swiss Schmidt-Rubin rifles, for around $25 plus shipping. This photo of a friend’s rifle also shows a $60 professional bent bolt modification. Steer clear of DIY bent bolt kits. Bolt handles are subjected to enormous stresses, which can shear the tiny machine screws that secure DIY bolt handles to the body.
Trigger Modifications
Mosin-Nagant triggers are all over the place in terms of creep, weight, overtravel and grittiness. You should have selected a good trigger when you cherry-picked your rifle. If you didn’t, you can drop in a Timney match-grade trigger group for less than $100. Or you can get a $55 ball-bearing trigger modification from Huber. [ED: Next time, pay attention in class.]
Optics
Mounting a scope on a Mosin is tricky. A gunsmith can drill and tap the receiver for specific Weaver-style bases, but you’ll need a bent bolt to clear the scope. This combination of parts and projects can easily cost $200, so . .. stop already.
To avoid the expense of a bent bolt, you can opt for a long eye relief ‘scout’ scope mount. There are many cheap ‘no-gunsmith’ mounts, costing less than $50, which attach to the rear sight base. Most are too flimsy to withstand the recoil or hold their zero. S&K makes the onlyhigh quality no-gunsmith scout mount for the Mosin-Nagant, for about $90.
My own DAIS NAID (Do As I Say, Not As I Do) M44 wears an S&K mount. It’s proven to be durable and reliable through 300+ rounds fired. Degreasing it thoroughly and applying blue Loctite to all screws during assembly was crucial to holding zero.
Muzzle Brakes
Don’t be tempted to bolt an AK-style muzzle brake on your M38 or M44, even if the recoil beats the stuffing out of you. First off, they make these guns even louder. They also attach rather weakly to the front sight post, which is only pressed onto the barrel proper. The violent recoil and muzzle gasses from these guns can either permanently damage the front sight post or physically tear the muzzle brake apart. I have a twisted paperweight that used to be an AK-style muzzle brake on my Mosin-Nagant.
Summary
The Mosin-Nagant isn’t pretty and it’s not the sweetest shooting rifle in the world. It could be pressed into hunting or defensive service, but it’s not the first choice for a hunting rifle and it would make a lousy home defense carbine. For an SHTF WROL OMG you bought THAT? gun it doesn’t get any better—that’s to say, cheaper—than this.
Two-hundred dollars and change buys you a rock-solid rifle—and 440 rounds of ammo. Every time you load it and pull the trigger, it goes BANG and blasts a big hole in whatever it’s pointed at. Works for me.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Caliber: 7.62x54R
Barrel: 20.2″ or 28.7″
Overall Length: 39.9″ or 50.7″
Weight: 7.5 lbs (M38) 8.8 lbs (M91/30) 9.0 lbs (M44)
Action: Magazine-fed bolt-action
Finish: Blue steel, wooden or laminated stock
Capacity: 5 round internal box magazine
Price: $90 to $120
RATINGS (Out of Five)
Style * *
It’s got a rugged and rustic Partisan charm, but has never won and will never win any beauty prizes.
Ergonomics * *
Nobody likes straight stocks or straight bolt handles. Stout recoil and a short length of pull give the carbine models punishing recoil. Add a ring safety and thick recoil pad for 2.5 stars.
Reliability * * * * *
Load, aim, pull trigger, and BOOM. Every time.
Customize This *
Trigger, bolt and safety can be upgraded cheaply, but proper scope mounting is costly. Buyer beware aftermarket muzzle brakes and DIY bolt modifications.
Overall Rating * *
Two stars is still a lot of gun for $89.
When the men of the American 339th Infantry deployed to Northern Russia in September 1918 they carried Mosin-Nagant 91s. The MN91s were issued to them by the British War Office, which was in charge of the operation, for logistical reasons. Allied commanders believed a large cache of 7.62x54mmR ammunition was in the vicinity of Arkhangelsk, but this turned out to be not the case. Though they were given sufficient time to familiarize themselves with the MN rifles, both the enlisted men and officers of the 339th, accustomed to M1903 Springfields or M1917 Enfields, hated the Russian rifles, calling them "worthless weapons" and remarking, "No wonder they [the Russians] lost the war." Interestingly, these rifles were American-made, either by Remington or New England Westinghouse under contract with the Imperial Russian government, and were surplus when the Bolsheviks cancelled the contract. The only weapon which more infuriated the "Polar Bears" (as they have been called ever since their Winter of 1918-1919 combat tour in Russia) was the Vickers machine gun. The British, who were actually in charge of the entire American North Russia Expeditionary Force, in their infinite wisdom equipped the 339th and the other units of the ANREF with the water-cooled Vickers, knowing full well the men would be in Russia the entire winter. They also fed them British rations, which warmed the cockles of no man's heart.
Personally, if planning for a SHTF WROL situation (one I hope doesn't ever occur), I would be inclined to heed the experience of the Polar Bears and spend a little extra money to get a better rifle than the Mosin-Nagant, in a cartridge more readily available in post-ROL United States. You might pay more on the front end, but as the saying goes, "Garbage in, garbage out."
Detlef:
I'm glad you mentioned the US-made Mosin-Nagants. A late riend of mine owned a well-worn Remington contract Mosin-Nagant, and I had the chance to shoot it on a few occasions. I wish I had bought it as a collector piece; it was an interesting historical oddity, and one of the only Mosin-Nagants with any collector value. Original scoped 91/30s and Finnish-made Mosin-Nagants are the others.
The 'Polar Bears' were quite right to prefer their own M1903 Springfields and M1917 Enfields, which were superior weapons in almost every regard. Mausers were just as rugged and much easier to shoot, Lee-Enfields were much quicker and had twice the magazine capacity, and Springfields were far more accurate than Mosin-Nagants. Mosin-Nagants were *never* the first choice for an infantry rifle, except to the Imperial Russian ordinance officers who chose the design based largely on simplicity and ruggedness.
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Certainly not a SHTF gun for me, but I do enjoy shooint my 1938 Izzy-made 91/30 often. I use modern rounds so I don't have to deal with the corrosive primer issues. For an extra $0.15 per round, I save $3.00 on ammonia and having to deal with it. I can consistently shoot a 24"-square steel target @ 300 yards with open sights at my local range. I thought I was a ZIT (Zaytsev-in-training), but others that have shot the gun can manage the same feat (although not quite as often as me, I'm in the 6/10 hit ratio). Fun gun to shoot and a nice little piece of history.
So far as I know all of Mr. Zaytsev's achievements were in Stalingrad. Id' guess 300m would be considered a VERY long shot in that environment.
Hey Chris,
Nice write-up. I appreciate your effort to give some very insightful and practical advice.
Well done.
Nice writeup. I enjoyed it.
I've a number of M-Ns with my favorites being the M44s. I like the noise and flash plus the strange looks I get when I extend the bayonet to shoot (it does seem to make a difference on where the bullet lands). The least I paid was for two laminated M44s from AIM about 10 yrs back for $29 each. On the high end it was $159 to SAMCO for a Finnish SAKO M39 which can shoot better than these 64 yr old eyes can ever do with it. Then there are about a half dozen 91/30s and a couple of M38s in the batch.
You're right that they are solid, dependable long guns and the ammo is very reasonable although I rarely buy anymore as I've dozens of Spam cans of the stuff (and 8mm and .303) stashed out in the barn. So, if SHTF occurs in my neighborhood I think I'm ready.
Again, good writeup!
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I purchased mine at the monthly gun show here in KC for $130 usd and I did dig thru a green rifle box of about 25 rifles in it. PIA yes. but I dug out a Hex 1925 with a fairly good trigger and a supurb bore in it! so the only other expense here was the sling and stripper clips . being a fully retired old fa–. it is fun to shoot and all of my 06 cleaning gear works just fine . but a couple of pulls with the bore snake makes it look very good . and maybe I will try the bent bolt handle later on . BUT just out of the box for the price it cant be beat ? unless we can force the Obama and Clinton to bring the approx 1 mil. yes 1mil of used garands and 30 cal carbines back int the country? got to work on that one. and yes it realy barks hard so the double ear protection is a MUST …..just know that TSHF an autoloader will probably be the ticket cause it takes a long time to jack the bolt and resight . probably for me cause I am getting slower in my oldness ??? but the weight of it and 5 rounds feels good on the range !
I once owned a 1914 M1891 made into a 91/30. Solid bore, not the smoothest bolt I've worked on a mosin but it was still quite workable even if it did get stiff once the thing had a few dozen rounds through it. Reliability? Superb. The only times I ever experienced a legit jam was when one of the rimmed cartridges would wedge itself at an angle into the magazine well, usually caused by a rapid and sloppy loading with a stripper clip. Sometimes this necessitated removing the magazine, but not always. I highly recommend getting quality stripper clips. Examine each one, if it's stiff or gritty on the inside polish it up and loosen it by spreading it apart against a table etc. Practice loading with them also, obviously. From a SHTF standpoint, this weapon has: extreme reliability (huge bonus for any weapon), excellent stopping power even against big game, solid potential accuracy and range, and really nothing else. It's long (excluding the carbines) fairly heavy, has some awkward features and quirks, and obviously can't generate the kinds of firepower of any semi-auto. Don't get me wrong, I could work that bolt FAST, fast enough to feel confident defending my life with it, even against someone with a gun much more capable. Against multiple targets? Not hardly. Man on man, preferably with things like concealment and surprise at my disposal, you bet. Realize that tesshese weapons are still encountered on modern battlefields, it's a damn old design but that doesn't turn it into a usel relic. The Mujaheddin used them to good effect against the soviets in A-stan by using irregular tactics and ambushes, which is how I would see these as being effective in a SHTF scenario. As a side note, you might want a good magazine pouch for those stripper clips huh? Look no further than the standard leather dual pouch that often comes with mosins. The flap can be opened instantly but stays closed when you need it to, the leather is stiff enough to allow easy retrieval of the clip without it getting hung up in a loose cloth bag, and the downward orientation of the rounds keeps the cartridges from wanting to slip off the ends of the clip. In closing, for such little money, you have a helluva boomstick. This isn't the greatest rifle on Earth, but it is in it's price range.
Norma , winchester , and seller & belloit make soft point ammo for these that work well for hunting. the norma stuff costs a fortune , but it is ammazingly accurate. That said these are great fun guns. get a slip on recoil pad
(9 about $10) and you are good to go. I don't shoot mine form the bench, standing with a shooting stick or sitting are a good way to go, a lot less felt recoil.
You guys think a 20 in barrel carbine , makes noise and has a big flash, I picked uo a 91/30 with a damaged barrel, it fell over in this guys barn and a tractor ran over it, put a good bend in the barrel about 6in back from the muzzel, I dissasembled and inspected the rifle, and when I was done cutting the barrel was 16 in long, I was useing the surplus ammo, and not only does the gun throw fire like a flame thrower, it make a noise so load it scares animals 3 miles away, and now after 15 or 20 rds, I have a tennis ball size black&blue mark on my shoulder, it hurt but it was ALMOST worth it, seeing the reaction of the guys at the range
Thanks for sharing. Please send video file or link of your hands cannon to guntruth@me.com. Oh please.
Very VERY interesting article!
My bro-in-law gave me a “wonderful Christmas gift” last week. He gave me his old Mosin-Nagant–not sure where he got it–along with a big metal box of 800 rounds of surplus FMJ. (Knowing him, I should never have thought he was doing me a nice turn. After reading this article, I now know his real intentions!
I never saw such an ugly-looking thing in my life! (I grew up in a house full of ’06 weapons–mine was the 1917 Enfield). He handed it to me–it looked like a mower shaft ruined by a froze-up bearing (probably due to 1943 manufacture during the Nazi occupation of Western Russian Homeland?). I assume the wooden sheathing was to cover up the tooling striations on the barrel. I looked at this Christmas gift thing and wondered what in the world I was looking at!!!
I took it home and tore it all apart–re-worked the sear and bolt a bit–and got seriously impressed with the simplicity and ruggedness of this cumbersome clunk.
Now, reading the article, I think I might really enjoy blasting monstrous noisy holes in the sky–and anything else in front of this carbine (I don’t even know what model it is). Just hope I got the firing pin adjusted down so that it doesn’t bore a hole in the primer and blow hot crap all over my head–everywhere not covered by googles and earpads.
But the most interesting thing is all the WWII research this thing caused for my over-60-Baby-Boomer curiosity.
Very, very interesting piece of history my less-than-well-intentioned bro-in-law gave me! And thanks much for the very humorous article!
I purchased a 1926 91/30. $99.95 from a dealer in smyrna, ga. Floated the barrell in an ATI stock, 3-9×50 tasco scope, ATI scope mount, walmart bi-pod, $10 ak47 muzzle brake ( reamed out, set screws to center and then brazed on), my own bent bolt from a 5/16 stainless bolt ( also brazed on), drilled and set screwed trigger, and polished sear, reduced firing pin spring unsprung height ( helps ease cocking of bolt and no failure to fire yet). All of these upgrades cost $150 additional . At the range, 100 yard lane, I hit paper without even sighting in. 20 rounds of wolf ammo, I am shooting 2 inch groups. But let me qualify this. All five rounds are spaced within 2 inchs horizontally. The same 5 rounds do not vary more than 1/2 inch vertically. Hence the shot patten was rectangular 2″x 1/2″. I believe the width of the group can be drastically reduced if i were more steady . However this was the first 25 rounds through a gun i just bought. I am thrilled with it. Suprised with its performance. Every gun nut i know puts it down. I believe most people associate performance / reliabilty with name recognition. It reminds me of my brother in law who works for oxford industries. They make clothes. The most expensive pair of pants they make cost $4. They sell these pants to Polo Ralph Lauren which in turn sell them for $130 at Macys or Parasian. If your in Hiram, ga, look for mine at local ranges. I will be glad to let you shoot it. It will suprise and exceed expectations . The Mosin Nagant is the Rat rod of rifles.
I’m somewhat amused by the fact that the first picture shown after the part talking about horrible ergonomics and a straight stock is . . . a pistol grip M39.
Finns are the only Mosins worth having. I have several M39s (my pride and joy is a ’42 Sk.Y, even the original Sk.Y stock is numbered to match with is exceptionally rare), all with perfect barrels and all of which are at or near MOA capable. The standard of acceptance for the M39 was that each rifle was required to be able to put three shots in a row in a 1.3 inch circle at 100 meters. No other country in history has ever been so demanding of accuracy in their infantry rifles. Even my beat to shit Finn-rework ’39 Izhevsk 91/30 (brass shims still in place, in a Finnish two piece stock . . . ahhhh, proper length of pull, barrel that looks nasty and pitted on a good day) can do 2″ groups at 100 yards. Funny thing is, it was imported from Russian not Finland . . . but had never been rearsenalled by the Russians. Those guys at SAKO and Tikka and VKT really, REALLY knew how to make a rifle tick. Still do for that matter, making Mosin barrels better than any Mauser or Enfield ever made is how SAKO earned their name.
Hah, though, even the Finns couldn’t do anything to reliable make that clunky if indestructible bolt any smoother. I’m surprised though that they didn’t use the Mauser-style turned down bolt from the M27rv more widely, even just that is such a huge ergonomic improvement.
You might want to add that the Mosin rifles were also used against the Polish, Lithuanians, Mongolians, Ukranians, Latvians, Estonians, Georgians, Austrians, Hungarians, Turkish, Bulgarians, Romanians, and even the British, Americans, Czechoslovakians, French, Greeks, and Italians.
Most of these are a result of the Russian Civil War and only saw limited use against some of these powers, but it did happen. It’s certainly an interesting aspect that this rifle has engaged nearly every European and American country in existence.
I’ve got my own 1930 Izhevsk Mosin Nagant 91/30 that I picked up from a private dealer. Very nice rifle, the bore is immaculate and the stock is in pretty good shape for an 80 year old rifle. The numbers match but I personally think that the ones on the bolt and floorplate were stamped, and the butt plate was lined out, but whatever. The bolt is smoother than some of my modern day rifles, and giving the chamber a good cleaning is a good solution if you have sticky bolt. I finally got a chance to shoot it this past weekend and it went very well. I shot about 20 surplus rounds and about 5 commercial rounds. The recoil really isn’t that bad, and I’m only 150 pounds. I wasn’t even using a rubber butt pad, just the steel one. As long as you hold it good and tight, you’ll be okay. Shooting 148 grain surplus is also good for recoil as I shot 182 grain Prvi Partizan ammo, which had more felt recoil. The surplus does not “kick like a mule”, contrary to what other people might say, even the heavier stuff doesn’t kick like a mule. You want something that kicks like a mule? Shoot a 7mm Remington Magnum in 175 grain bullet for some recoil. The Mosins really aren’t that bad. But anyway, I love the rifle, it has become my favorite. It’s a little piece of history that happens to shoot well. And like others said, you can’t beat the price.
Having ownership of each of the several countries rifles of the time period they were used I would agree with all of you. Each has its own flaws and positive points. But I will stick with my 91 with a laminent stock. OOOHHH pretty amber red color. I went and spent some money on the young miss and gave her some optical improvement by installing a PU scope. Perfect set up. How many of you have set up your AR to have optics AND back-up iron sights for mucho dinero? Well the nagant was the first to be prepared. As far as caliber goes, the 30 cal will always be the preferred cartridge no matter what part of the world you are from. I guess I got lucky with a rifle that shoots 2 inch groups at 100 yards. not shabby at all for the price. Mausers ar enfields or springfields 3 was considered just fine and is usually what you will get with any of these rifles. usually.
Ok must go now a metal target plate is talking trash about my baby.
Gotta give it some lessons in courtesy and respect.
well the scope mount you talk about shouldn’t even be on it, it should be a PU scope a regular scope just looks like crap on it while the PU is historically accurate and doesn’t require rifle modifications
I own a mosin 1891/30, made at tula in 1933. The rifle is a great bargain and value at $89.95 online. I shoot 203 grain soft point commercial ammo. at $8.95 for a box of 20, also online. I find the mosin comfortable to shoot and handle. It sometimes takes a little muscle to cycle the bolt, especially after it heats up, but this rifle has never failed to operate. The cartridges will rimlock occasionally, but a sharp slap on the bolt handle is enough to easily chamber the round. More often than not, I use the palm of my hand to slap the bolt when cycling the action anyway! This is one tough, reliable and simple rifle! Smooth? nyet!, but it goes BOOM every time!
I have a 1943 M 91/30 which I bought in a unfired/unissued state. Unfortuanatly here in NZ we get the sharp end of the stick price wise, mine cost $300.00 nz dollars. I am currently looking to purchase from a dealer another mosin M 91/30. He too has a stock of unfired/unissued rifles, Hex and round reciever models from the Tula and Izhevsk factorys. He has agreed to let me select from his stock so I am keeping my fingers crossed I can find a real treasure amongst them.
After paying $300NZ fora Mosin, I hope you’ll at least be able to buy cheap ammo! When it comes to hunting and shooting, we sometimes forget how good we have it here in the States, and how difficult and costly it can be for people like yourself in other modern democracies.
I would love to know more about the shooting sports and self-defense in NZ. Has your government gone as far as the Australians have to demonize and restrict gun ownership?
Hi Chris, our gun laws are not as bad as Australia. After sitting a basic licence, theory and multi choice written test we get a A category licence. This allows me to own most shotguns and rifles except pistol grip semi autos and pistols. Semi’s on a A cat need to be pinned so the mag holds no more than 7 shots. We have rifle ranges varying from 200-1000 yards around the country and pistol clubs etc. A good forum here is http://www.fishnhunt.co.nz
I own a Mosin 91/30 and an M44, they shoot as I had expected after reaserching them before purchasing. They are among the easiest to disassemble and clean. I was a Navy Corpsman and served with the Marines and have had the pleasure of shooting some of the most exciting and exotic weapons on the planet earth. The Mosin in comparison is dependable, shoots accurately and I know no matter the elements this gun will shoot – it is a BUG(Big Ugly Gun). I have the most fun at the range with the M44 when I shoot as the people around me are going pop-pop-pop, then I come out and go B A N G -B A N G, damn get the fire extinguisher – people stop and look wondering what I am shooting. All in all the mosin is a reliable fun and affordable gun to have in any collection.
Wow, wonderful blog layout! How lengthy have you been blogging for? you make blogging look easy. The full look of your web site is wonderful, let alone the content material!
I have owned two finn m39′s. a 1970, and vkt 1942. Couldnt hit the inside of a barn with either one of them. Have a 44 tikka 91/30 with the blade front sight that is deadly! Far better rifle for sure. One M/N that suprises me is the 91/59 carbine! Dead on deadly! they took time to get the sights right on these. carol
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Who says Mosins aren’t tack-drivers? With a Mojo ghost-ring sight and Partizan factory ammo, my 1940 Tula long rifle will always put 5 shots in a 1″ group at 100 yards if I hold it straight.
I think Mozzies get a bad rep because of the atrocious milsurp ammo they tend to get fed on and the relatively crude ladder sights. Good modern commercial ammo or handloads plus a decent aftermarket sight (*not* the made-in-a-tractor-factory Soviet issue scope with its massive but unstable iron mounting plate) turn the Mozzie into a contender out to 300 yards.
Yes very much so. I own a Nagant and after a few after market pieces…I have a very accurate and efficient rifle, that I am very pleased with. Very. Its accuracy is astounding for such a big bore.
My mosin is a beast,
It’s a 91/30 and for the longest time I ve fired bulk ammo( 440 rounds for 85 dollars) . I can have a 3-4in grouping, standing up, iron sight, shooting at a foot and a half by foot and a half plate at 115 yards.
Have you ever put the bayonet on a 91/30 ? It’s a shorter javelin. No need to get close and personal with the mosin at all.
I will agree It’s not so good for a massive horde of zombies or a shit load of people coming at you(5 rounds…), but if you want to drop someone with heavy body armor, kill an animal 3 times your size, hit someone from a greater distance, or just want to scare any predator away in a mile radios , the rifle is perfect .
I think $ to gun ratio you can’t find anything better.
I have developed a cam type safety for the 91/30 and make scope mounts with or wihout open sights. The bolt handle must be bent and extended to provide clearance for the scope.
Do you sale your mounts?Pics?
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Some more interesting things. First there are dovetails under the site. Just punch out the two pins to get to them. Then standard .22 scope rings can be used to mount a scout scope (aka Long Eye Relief / LER / hand gun scope)
[IMG]http://i632.photobucket.com/albums/uu47/grapefarmer/scopemount2.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i632.photobucket.com/albums/uu47/grapefarmer/scopemount1.jpg[/IMG]
Also, for the small varmint there is a cheep bore adapter (purchased from sportsman guide) that allows you to shoot 32 S&W Long and 32autos hand gun ammo. It like shooting a .22 – Its a one shot deal, shoot then manually load the adapter again. Its as quite as a .22 too.
[IMG]http://i632.photobucket.com/albums/uu47/grapefarmer/32_adapter.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i632.photobucket.com/albums/uu47/grapefarmer/32_adapter2.jpg[/IMG]
Learned the hard way about the penetration abilities of these beasts. I had been shooting an M-44 (Which btw you want to shoot with the bayonet out, as that does somehow affect accuracy, and will also prevent hand stabbings) at a metal target that swiveled on a rebar axle. Well, after the first 5 rounds I was dismayed as I thought I hadn’t even hit my target, but then I checked it out up close to see that I had hit the target all 5 times, but the rounds simply blew through the steel without causing the target to spin. Not long after the target was rendered usless when one or two rounds cut cut through the rebar axle.
One thing about purchasing a Mosin: if you can, get one with matching serial numbers (receiver, bolt, magazine floor plate, butt plate). The more original the rifle is, the better its components tend to fit together. I have an all-numbers matching M91/30 made in 1942 by Izhevsk. Everything locks up tight and functions like it should. A friend of mine has a franken-Mosin. It’s got parts and bits from several arsenals and years. It works, usually, but it doesn’t function particularly smoothly and the Izzy bolt and Tula receiver aren’t exactly friends. That being said, most Mosin’s have indeed been arsenal refurbished and had their parts forced to match. However, I paid $150 for an original rifle, my friend paid the same for his monster. I got the better deal.
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These M91/30′s are excellent guns for the price. Accurate, deadly, and cheap. The “hex” recievers (pre 1936) are the best looking ones and have better finish work. By now most have been arsenal refurbed with a beautiful blue and still have a decent bore. The round recievers are just as good internally, but outer apperance tends to show more tool marks. The ones pruduced during WW2 have the overall worse fit and finish since production time was cut from 20 to 15 hours to meet demands. They are ugly, but will be the best shooters since they have seen less action. As far as laminted stocks are concerned they are a post war addtion to M91/30′s and are heavier. Not to mention the extra cost. They are not rare by any means, just less comomon. The M38 and M44′s are just as deadly, but suffer a little in range and larger muzzle flash. The M38 is more desirable, but harder to find. Don’t forget the chinese T53 which is their version of the M44. The T53′s have better machine work and have the best trigger pull. They are truly excellent well built guns, but most were mistreated and you rarely see a good one anymore. Avoid mismatched serial numbers on primary parts at all costs. Counterbored guns aren’t necesseraly inaccurate, just don’t pay the same price as one with an original bore. Most counterbores are the result of imporper cleaning techniques, not from being worn out. Post war refurbed Mosins will have a square stamped on the right side of the stock and make up most of the retail market. 99% of these have mismatched parts, but are renumbered to match the reciever. These refurbs were well done except for the end in some cases they were hastily put back together. My Tula has been refurbed 4 times in the past and when I bought it many screws were loose. Always completely dissassemble and clean them before shooting. Baked on cosmoline is the #1 reason for sticky bolts and poor cycling. DO NOT FIRE without checking the headpace first. Some arsenals did check, but many did not. The screwdriver in the cleaning kit doubles as a headspace gauge and a firing pin wrench. Learn how to use it!
I have a ’33 Tula hex and a ’42 Izvhesk. Despite my poor vision I can still achieve a 2″ group at 150 yrads. Just remember, these were sighted in with the bayonets on at 300 meters and for the most part will shoot high to the left all the time. The sights are set for mass volley fire, not precision shooting and were intended to arm large masses of illiterate conscrpits, so to achieve real accuracy you will need to spend a little time dialing it in. Not bad for a $100 battle rifle with a history behind it. Don’t forget the accessories that come with them!
BTW: Get some now while they are still cheap! Remember the SKS?
I resently bought my first mosin nagant… I been doing a lot of research on it now… I never known anything about this weapon accept it looked rather nice as far as i know about weapons… I bought it with out any Intel on it . All numbers match it was made n Tulsa I think its a 91/30 I been shooting and is kicks like a horse… Shoot.my first deer with it this year… It is very accurate at 100+ yards the only thing I have problem with trigger it very lose other then that i paid $90.00 at a pawn shop and haven’t found a better weapon other than a M-16 n my opinion….. But I love it…. and I have a hex recover and would love to scope it… Not sure how r where to get more Intel on putting scope on it… Don’t want to change bolt. I kindly like it the way it is… Also thinking about camo the whole weapon…. Any idea on that also?….. Best web site i found so far…. One more thing I only bought the rifle no sling no bayanet no thing accept decent weapon as far as I am concern… I hear a lot of bad Intel on it,but the one I found is great more accurate then most weapon I have shoot…its shirt heavy and reliable…
Michael
I don’t know if you found a scope mount for your Mosin yet, But there is a company called Rock Solid industries that makes a real sweat scope mount and turned down bolt body, for $ 160.00 plus shipping. If you follow their instructions and have access to a drill press you can do it yourself. Look them up. I have the setup on my M38 Mosin and can shoot 2.5″and 3″ at a 100 yds till my shoulder can’t take it any more. I think it is the best mount and bolt body you can get. A friend of mine sold me the scope mount that he got from Rocksolid and never installed on his Mosin. I had to get the bent bolt body from Rocksolid, You can get the parts separately or as a kit the price is the same, $100.00 for the mount and $60.00 for the bolt body. Hope this was some help
Heading over to the Big 5 today, theyve got them at 120 with bayonets and cleaning kits after christmas special. I am hoping the quality is good because its being sold in a chain store. This is my first rifle purchase (I have shot many, only owned air rifles though) and I have decided to go with this one because of the history.
I was never much for ear plugs, but after seeing that muzzle flash, I’ll be biting the bullet no pun intended. Happy shooting!
I just bought a the m91/30 at Big 5 just before Christmas. I have a 1938 Izhevsk imported by PW arms. I haven’t fired it yet though. But after doing some rather extensive research, this deal can’t be beat. The stock looks pretty good, some very minor scratches, the barrel looks perfect, and the action feels smooth. So now I am anxious to try it out. People who are calling this a crap gun is just not being reasonable at all. Where are you going to get this kind of power in any rifle for this price? Sure, get a time machine and go back 15 years and buy an SKS for $100 (that was fun rifle as well, owned two). Or you can buy a .22 for the same price. There are even some air rifles that cost more. Tons of videos on youtube on how to care for this rifle as well. I’ll try and update this after I shoot it some time next year. Happy Hunting!!
I bought one for a $120 at a show in CA. It hurts my should when I fire, it’s heavy, the trigger pull is tough, while other people gingerly work their bolt on the range, I really have to rack it hard and the finish bubbles up after a while. But man I love that thing.
Have a 1942 built 91/30. Installed the ATI bent bolt/scope mount kit. As I am an Engineer and decent machinist it was not difficult. Would not recommend it for someone with no machine shop experience. Kit works well and greatly improved my ability to hit a target well past 100 yards. With the addition of a “made for Mosin” rubber butt pad, it is a pleasure to shoot. Is my wife’s favorite rifle as well. I used the Mosin for my daughter’s 4H project to show accuracy of different ammo at same range, bench mounted etc. The steel cased ammo was the worst, my hand loaded rounds (150gr Spitzer) was the best. But overal within 1inch at 50yds. Not bad for a $79 rifle and a $50 kit.
Had a difficult time believing this article was referring to my lovely safe queens, as I find them to be the most attractive firearms of the period besides the swiss k31. They have such smooth sexy lines, unlike my clunky looking mauser, 03′ spr, or 1917 and no blocky over complicated magazine like others of their day….just smooth simplistic beauty. Both of my 1943 m1891/30 have excellent finish of metal and wood, they each required some tlc on the ejector spring to make them feed. In the field they performed good, 200yd hits are easy on an 8″ x 10″ steel once the long heavy trigger is mastered.
When it comes to recoil I’ve got a slip over sissy pad and personally I think it is less than my 30-30 marlin …way less than my ’06 savage. It was so mild that all my shooting buddies even the most recoil shy, who were scared off by articles like this, shot it and are pursuing their own as they found it quite mild and very fun. After a day of watching for 22lr bullet splash at 200yds there is no mistaking the authoritative impact of the 54r on a snow covered sand pile.
If every one gets one in the US perhaps one day we may fight off socialism with the rifle that brought it to us.
I had a difficult time believing this article was referring to the safe queens I love. I find them to be the most attractive rifle of the period besides the swiss k31. Not so clunky looking like my mauser, or the 03′spr and 1917, no blocky or funky magazine like others of their time, just sleek smooth sexy lines simplistic and beautiful. Both of mine came with excellent finish of metal and wood with shiny bore.
Accuracy was good an 8 x 10 plate at 200 yd was easy fodder for those that master that long hard trigger pull. With a sissy pad recoil is very mild on the m1891/30, less than my 30/30. All my range comrades, even the most recoil sensitive that have been frightened off by articles like this, enjoyed it so much they anticipate procuring one of their own.
I have two M38 Mosins and a M 91/30 and I think they are great.
I got a turned down bolt body from Rock solid industries for $ 60.00
and it is rock solid, love it. Put it on one of the M 38. Had to notch the stock
but no big deal. Also put recoil pad that adds about an inch to the stock, and
is made of leather that has velcro on it and I can easily change from one Mosin to another. I re finished the stocks without loosing any of the markings and was asked
at the local Gun shop how much I would charge to do a couple for him. I haven’t
come up with a price as of wet.
I bought my Mosin-Nagant from Big-5. Heavily cosmolined, but good bore and action. Cleaned it up using Easy Off Oven Cleaner, hot shower, fine steel wool and boiled linseed oil. Gets lots of attention at the gun range…everyone wants to shoot it.
What are some scopes that work with that S&K mount?
The Mosin rifle is the most fun to shoot,Big Bad-Ass rifle a guy or gal can legally own ! It is super affordable , the ammo is in the 20 cents each range for bulk surplus and they are generally rather accurate . We enjoy busting concrete blocks at 100 yards , making geysers out of 2 liter plastic soda bottles and shooting zombie targets . I brought one to a family gathering recently out at a farm owned one of the family .
All the men and a couple of the gals wanted to shoot it ! Everyone got a chance to pop a couple of rounds ; but I had one big complaint : YOU ONLY BROUGHT 30 ROUNDS OF AMMO ! ! ! ! BRING MORE NEXT TIME !
I mounted a B-Square mount, and slapped a used leupold 4x compact, bent bolt kit, and recoil pad. Total with labor was about $275 to do, with $100 for the rifle, so I now have just under $400 in it. But shooting at 18 cents per round for 7.62R compared to surplus 308 at 50 cents per, the rifle will pay for itself soon enough! Cleaning the corrosive out of the barrel is easy with hot soapy water. On a good day I can get 2-inch groups. The Bulgarian surplus ammo shoots just as good as Brown bear with 2-3 inch groups. Easy shooting out to 400 meters
The best thing about having a 91/30 is that for a hundred and twenty bucks, I got a SHTF/WROL weapon, a deer hunting weapon, a rabbit hunting weapon (after I convert a bunch of these “non-reloadable” steeel/Berdan cases to use shotgun primers and load them with tiny charges of pistol powder and round balls), a zombie slayer, a car stopper (it’ll punch half inch steel at more than a hundred yards), a fun shooter (yeah, it pounds my shoulder, that’s part of the fun), a genuinely brutal club, and a top-notch pry bar — and the whole kit only weighs about ten pounds (including the cleaning/servicing tools and bayonet). A case of ammo will cost more than the rifle did, but that’s enough to shoot fairly intensively for a year. Hunting ammo (in reloadable brass/Boxer cases) is still only about a dollar a round — and mine, at least, is accurate enough with forty year old Bulgarian surplus rounds to depend on hitting the kill zone of a whitetail out to 200 yards or more with the iron sights (it should do at least that well with Prvi Partizan or handloads).
I’m seriously considering getting another to bury in a plastic pipe with twenty or so packets of rounds…
You cannot have too many Mosins. I have “new ones” (armory refurbs), old ones, Finn ones, Finn-captured ones, a bunch. I think they are beautiful, shoot great, are indestructible and make a very big hole in anything they are shot at.
I find that adding about 3/4 to 1″ pad of paper towels, I used old brown plain paper towels the military used, traced around butt plate and cut out, stuffed into a slip-on butt-plate shoulder pad reduced the recoil quite a bit! I believe the air space retained in the paper towels acts as a shock absorber, like you have on your car! May not look kosher, but sure saves your shoulder!
I got this Mosin-Nagant (1942) a short while ago. Spent hours cleaning it. Baked it in the sun. Got El-Cheapo Russian ammo, 440 rds for about 85$. Spent two hours
trying to open it. Four letter words became eight letter words. The cat hid, the wife
was in shock.
Tried it out first time. One boom, two booms, three booms, and the bolt jammed.
Slapped him hard. It loosened up. Range people got bent out of shape. Apparently ammo was not brass (Openrange near Louisville, KY). So, now looking for range
that accepts steel Russian ammo! Other than that, I may not have Bridget Bardot in my hands, but ‘Olga’ here is very rugged and has a charm of her own.
Just about the most painful rifle I’ve ever touched off – kicked like an irate mule, the safety is a horror-show, it’s loud enough to tell the whole county where you’re firing from, and I was stupid enough to try my friend’s Cossack rifle at night. Couldn’t see a thing after the first shot, and I missed an old washing machine we were using as a target from maybe sixty yards away. (Couldn’t see the big white box for a follow-up shot after that fireball went off in front of my nose.) On the other hand, it’s indestructible so long as you clean up after that filthy, dirt-cheap surplus ammo and if all else fails (and it might) you can always use the butt-end as an effective bludgeon.
My friend’s got a collection of these (granted the rifle he’s got that I covet is his Winchester M1D) and swears by his ex-Dragoon, but I’d sooner have a Mauser any day of the week. It’s not a bad rifle, per se, but I’d rather have something I can reuse the brass from and that doesn’t hate me nearly as bad as it hates whatever goblin I’m pointing it at.
I had the pleasure of getting my first Mosin a couple of years ago. A fellow Deputy that I work with saw my Crimson Trace lazer on my duty Glock-23. He stated that he would like to have one for his Glock-17. Just so happened I had an extra lazer for a Glock-17 and trade him for the Mosin, bayonet, cleaning kit, and 75 rounds of ammo. The next week a buddy of mine that works for the local Bomb Squad gave me an 50 cal ammo can with 495 round of ammo for free. Later thre same Deputy I had gotten my Mosin from said he had another one with the bayonet an ask me if I wanted to do another trade. I was able to get the other one for 300 rounds of Chinese SKS ammo. I had a bent bolt and scope put on the first one, but bought a second bolt to be cut off because I did not want to cut the bolt with the original serial number on it. I have been using it for deer hunting and have gotten at least one deer for the last three years. I love the fact thats it is very cheap to shoot and been having lots of fun with it.
No matter the gun that you end up with, there’s few things I like more than following the trail of trades amongst a firearms community – swap you this laser for that rifle, swap you this rifle for that shotgun, swap you this shotgun’s stock for that ghost ring…
I own a 1933 Tula M91/30.
If recoil bothers you then get a Limb Saver slip on recoil pad small / medium size.
The M91/30 is zeroed in at 300 meters with the bayonet on from the arsenal.
If you take the bayonet off and try and shoot it at 100 yards which is only
91.44 meters it’s going to shoot high because the front sight post was purposely made short to zero the rifle at 300 meters. Plus the bayonet helps dampen the barrel harmonic / oscillation.
You can buy a taller sight post or just slip on piece of wire shielding ( 16 gauge ) over the post and re-sight the rifle to 100 meters. If you don’t want or can’t have the bayonet on then what you do is wrap some oiled felt, electrical tape or cork down at the end of the barrel so that it doesn’t touch the wooded stock and top wooden heat shield thus dampening the barrel increasing accuracy.
If you’re worried about the 5 shot magazine don’t be. There are stripper clips you can use and with some practice you’d be surprised how many rounds you can fire in a minute. This rifle is very capable of putting 5 bullets in a 20′ sized target at 500 meters with or without a scope it just depends how good your eyes are and if you have practiced enough.
I bought a 91/30 with kit in 2011 from a gunstore that had a rack full for $109. I went through and examined several and picked one out. No its not a Enfield. A decent one is a incredible bargain. The gun eithor speaks to you or it doesnt. I find them a much more interesting rifle then many modern rifles. Recoil is quite soft with light ball. The round front sight shroud lends itself to very quick shooting at 7-50 yards. If the target is close you put the circle on it and squeeze the trigger ignoring the post. If its a bit farther go to the post. I cant imagine a better value, investment, insurance or entertainment than $200 for one and a tin of 440. I always have cleaned mine faithfully at the range with a spray bottle of water followed by a bore snake and then spraying it down with barricade with no problems whatsoever. Mine shot a little high so i just removed a little metal from the bottom of the slider of the rear sight. Why mess with the front sight unless it shoots low?
Gents, where can I purchace a “trigger pin” for my Mosin Nagant?
After wanting a Nagant for awhile I finally grabbed 2 for $150. A 1923 Izhevsk M 91\30 and a sporterized Tula M44. Both are fun shooters, but the Tula surprised me. With surplus ammo and a POS Tasco scope I was able to get 1″ MOA groups from 100 yards. The same accuracy as my Remington 700 30-06 that I just spent 600 for. Wish I would have seen this first. I’m not saying that its better than the 700 but for my main use (hunting) spending $75 for a 1″ MOA gun is fantastic.
I have a 1937 tula which was sporterized/bubbarized, carbine, (barrel was cut down to 21″) and the accuracy is reather amazing with cast boolits.
With milsurp ammo is a all in one rifle, flame thrower and concussion grenade. But very tame with the cast boolits, I can push a 175 grainer right at 2,000 fps without loss of accuracy.
Got it off my neighbor couple years back for $25.00 and it is my go to fun gun.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y92/TANSTAAFL-2/P1010407-22.jpg
Thread Lazerus……The first bolt action that I ever owned was an Izhevsk M44 carbine bought at a gunshow in Colorado. Unissued and cosmoline encrusted it was one of the best memories I had of living in the U.S. I paid about 130 bucks for it including some ammo. I remember living in a little appartment and filling the bathroom sink with coleman white spirit trying to disolve the gunk and my ex wife hitting the roof when she found out what I had bought. One of the many treasures that I had to leave behind when I moved back home. They pretty much seem indestructable and make a great brush gun and if you’re charged by that elusive moster wild boar you can always stick them with the fold out bayonet….LOL
I always tell those who put down the Mosin Nagant to talk to my brother-in-law who was on Hill 51 (or was it 55?) in Vietnam. The gook snipers were taking out our soldiers from 700-1000 yds with scoped 91/30′s and some at 500 yds with iron sights. I have a hex 91/30 I cut down to 22″, recrowned, modified the safety with a pull ring, pillared in a synthetic stock, free floated the barrel and mounted an ATI scope mount bedded in epoxy with a cheap 3-9X32 Simmons scope and the thing will will shoot 2″ groups at 200 yds all day with Wolf ammo. I have taken several deer with it at 150-200 yds with instant drop results. Granted, I did all the work myself w/exception of bolt and safety mods, so my total investment for purchasing the MN and improvements made was less than $350…but the sense of satisfaction and the fact that it out-shoots my Mossberg ATR 270 with a much better scope at 200 yds is priceless. You just gotta appreciate the simplicity, roughed reliability and history of accomplishment that the rifle has. Everything considered, give credit where credit is due.
“Gooks,” dude? Seriously?
Yes, he didn’t stutter did he? And I’m Asian-American FYI with my father fighting for the CIA in LAOS. YES, the US shouldn’t have been there. But, War is ugly and they’ll always be gooks to me too. Saying ‘Gook’ is like saying ‘Kraut’ when it comes to the Germans. Try telling an old WWII Vet not to call them Krauts and you’ll get your ass handed to you!
In other news, the M44 is brilliant. God bless the Russians for charging Berlin with this weapon!
Not gonna lie, I find the idea of an 80 year old man kicking my ass pretty hilarious.
My gut tells me anyone who was disrespectful to any 80 yr old veteran would find plenty of MEN capable of kicking ass backing up that old veteran. My gut also tells me any 80 yr old veteran would kick any disrespectful “dude’s” ass in a battle of the wits.
Eagle1USAF says:
April 17, 2013 at 00:51 “In other news, the M44 is brilliant. God bless the Russians for charging Berlin with this weapon!
Actually the M44 was not a front line weapon, but was primarily for back in the rear protecting the gear.
My apologies for not being politically correct and for offending anyone who was offended by my poor choice of words by referring to the VC as “gooks”. It was years before my bro-in-law shared his experiences of 3 tours in Vietnamnd a he would tell of the horrors he experienced he always referred to the VC as “the gooks”…I guess when experiening such horrors as did, there is no love loss for those who killed your buddies and comrades, so what you refer to them as most likely isn’t PC by today’s liberal standards…It’s like Eagle1USAF said…Try telling a WWII Vet not to call the germans “Krauts” and you’ll have your ass handed to you. My Dad was a B-17 pilot and was shot down over Belguim returning from a bombing mission over Cologne in Dec of ’43…He spent 18 months in a Nazi POW camp before being liberated by the Russians in May of ’45. As children we witnessed him going into a rage one night when Hogan’s Heros TV program came on. It certainly didn’t reflect the true horrors of being a WWII POW…He always referred to the Nazi Germans as “Krauts”…Try telling my bro-in-law not to call the VC “gooks” and he’ll hand you more than your ass “dude”…Veterans of combat at the very least have earned the right to be politically incorrect (by today’s liberal standards) in my opinion. as for me, I regret I never had the opportunity to earn the honor of being a veteran…The Marines turned me down when they discovered my history of bleeding ulcers, even though I lied by omission by not disclosing the fact when I tried to enlist.
In other news : Thank you Eagle1USAF for your comments and thank you for your service.
Nice blog.
I have four of the MN rifles, three Finn M39’s and one $25.00 very well bubbarized, 1937 Tula. One M39 is a 1942 Sako Continuation War veteran, the other two are 1968 No Name’s, which were unissued and like new inside and out. One of the two, has a New England Westinghouse receiver, I am still trying to determine who and where it was accurized, it . The work on it was done very professional, action has been epoxy bedded with pillars and the forestock done like no other I have ever seen. My son-in-law, who is an excellent marksman, has proved this rifle to be of match quality, at 100 yards he can do consistent one hole 3 shot groups with the iron sights using 1983 Russian milsurp ammo.
Of the four, the 1937 Tula is my absolute favorite, it came as a 21” barreled carbine. Receiver internal machine work I would compare to any high end sporter for quality, action is slick as glass and trigger had a light mouse trap spring to eliminate slop and pull, breaks crisp clean at 2.75 pounds. The rifling is superb and bore slugs at .311”. I use mostly hard cast and gas checked boolits in all four NG rifles, but it is like this Tula and cast boolits were especially made for each other. It came with a lyman ramp front sight and is my $25.00 dedicated truck gun.
The work I have done on the Tula consists of, removing rear sight and utilizing the existing 12MM dove tail to install a scout scope and fully adjustable aperture ghost ring back up sight, just in case scope should fail afield. I made up a leather cheek riser piece and installed a hard rubber butt stock extender. All in all, have invested a little time and very little money in a rifle that I really like a great deal.
Ammonia and other solutions are not needed, nor desired, for cleaning milsurps after shooting cartridges with corrosive primers .
As it is the best, I primarily use H2o for cleaning, but sometimes, just plain water.
My 1937 Tula carbine:
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y92/TANSTAAFL-2/P1010407-32.jpg
Guess cannot post pics.
Seriously, this is the best Mosin review EVER. Spot on, man. Funny, informed and well written. Keep it up!