Mosin-Nagant

[Bocajnala]

Hey
I am looking at picking up a mosin-nagant. I know it is a russian made rifle used from WW1 Through the end of WW2. At leastfrom everything I have ever read. Does anyone own one? And could you please tell me anything you know about this rifle as far as how accurate and consistent it will shoot? Thanks in advance for anything you can tell me.
-Jake

[TUK101]

If I remember correctly they are about the equivalent of a 30-30 in ballistics and not quite as accurate. I was looking at one the other day myself and still intend on picking one up just for the historic aspect of it.

[eldeguello]

ORIGINAL: Bocajnala

Hey
I am looking at picking up a mosin-nagant. I know it is a russian made rifle used from WW1 Through the end of WW2. At leastfrom everything I have ever read. Does anyone own one? And could you please tell me anything you know about this rifle as far as how accurate and consistent it will shoot? Thanks in advance for anything you can tell me.
-Jake

I have had two of the M91-30 types. It was designed by a Russian artillery officer, Captain Mosin, and the well-known Belgian arms designer, Nagant. The M/N was used by Russia from 1891 until well after WWII, in some version or another. Some are still in use in Russia, at least by hunters. In addition, they were captured and used by Finland during the 1940 Winter War, and Finland made their own version, with is generally much more accurate than the Russian version. In addition, a number of Soviet satellite nations made them as well, including Poland and Communist China.

They generally have .300" bore diameters, but the groove diameters can run from.310 to .314", and maybe more, even. As far as power is concerned, the 7.62X54R cartridge for which these rifles are chambered can be loaded to equal the .30/'06, at least with bullets up to perhaps 165 grains. After that, the '06 is better with the 180 to 220-grain bullets.

Some of these are extremely accurate, and others are POOR. A lot depends on the condition of the bore in the individual rifle, and also on how well your bullets fit the groove diameter of yours!

Mine will shoot about 2" five-shot groups at 100 yards with a handload consisting of the Speer 180-grain .311" round-nose, and 53 grains of IMR 4350 in GRAF's cases. I have never fired mine with any military ammo. My groove diameter mikes .314", but the bore diameter is exactly .300", so it has grooves .007" deep. It might shoot better if I could find some good quality .314" bullets.

The Mosin-Nagant is a strange, rugged, reasonably accurate & powerful, SIMPLE military rifle, and that's all it will ever be. The first ones, Model of 1891, had 32" barrels. In 1930, with the adoption of the M91/30, the barrels were shortened to 28", and the sights were greatly improved!

If you plan to hunt with one, I'd recommend the M1938 or M 1940 carbine-they are shorter and lighter than the full-size infantry version. If you can get one that was made in Finland, they are the best. SAKO even made some!

[eldeguello]

ORIGINAL: TUK101

If I remember correctly they are about the equivalent of a 30-30 in ballistics and not quite as accurate. I was looking at one the other day myself and still intend on picking one up just for the historic aspect of it.

It is the 7.62X39mm which is about the same as the .30-30. The Mosin is chambered for the rimmed 7.62X54R cartridge, which is just slightly less powerful than a .30/'06, but more powerful than a .308 Win.

[Briman]

If you want a decent one, buy a 91/30 made in 1938 or earlier, te ones made at the Tula arsenal are generally better than the Ishevsk made rifles. Tulas made before 1936 will have a distintive 'hex' receiver.

If you want a carbine, buy one made after 1945. The wartime carbines (m38 and M44) are usually poor shooters- they were made for house to house, block by block urban fighting, and they were producing huge numbers of a far better weapon for that purpose at the same time -PPsH Submachinegun. The ones made after the war are generally unfired and tend to be ok shooters. The 91/59 carbine was made by cutting down 91/30rifles after the war- these are good shooters in general.

If you ar etruely looking for a shooter, find a Finnish Mosin. The Finns had high standards fro accuracy, they reworked a lot of captured russian mosins and restocked, carefully bedded, and/or rebarrled them to get them up to their standzards for accuracy.

[Pioneer2]

The Finn Model 39,28 and 28/30's are excellant if you can locate one.The Sako made barrels are marked SKY.They only made barrels as the actions are used over and over again.Also Steyr made some. The Hex recievers are a hold over from the Czarist era and those made by Westinghouse and Remington are true .308 bore as are most of the Finn models.The Finns had a 40-1 kill ratio against the Reds in the 105 day winter war and between 750,000-1,000,000 Soviets never came home.This was very difficult for Stalin to cover up.One Finn sniper killed 535 Russians with a open sighted 28/30 in 105 days roughly 5 a day.One Russian sniper taken out at 600 meters!This is no 30-30 class cartridge by any means.Winchester also made a run [complete with bayonet] of full stocked lever action 95's in 7.62x54R for the Czar.Neat history..................Harold

[cage]

My wife took this ram from 180 yards with my M44, Most of my hunting freinds have bought one, either a M44 or 91/30. I have purchased a 91/30 (wife claimed the M44) but I havent gotten a good chance to print it at 100 yards yet. There is a lot of things you can do to help them out. Most have a horible trigger until you give it some attention. Pick out one with the best rifling and crown.

[Pioneer2]

There's a guy that can either work or replace the factory trigger to something more civilized.It has a ball-bearing in the sear area.I'll see if I can find the website.Rifle magazine ran a 7.62x54R reloading article a while back as well.Let me know if you want some data..............Seen an International hunting mag that the guy shot a Marco polo sheep with a PU scoped 91/30 sniper because his got lost by the airlines.Harold [what scope mt did you use?]the old weaver 2 piece side mt for the Sav340 works so you can use 1" scopes

[BigTiny]

I picked one up at a gun show last week for $150. I bought it because it had the hex reciever, good looking wood, and a nice bore. When I got it home I noticed it has the czar's crest on the reciever and barrel. I was gonna shoot it, but it looks like a resell now.

[snedd162]

the mosin nagant is chambered in 7.62x 54 its not the most accurate thing in the world but i picked one up for 100$ and it made a nice project