My first firearm was a Mosin-Nagant 1891/30. You heard right--it's similar to the .308 in ballistics and recoil. Mine was refurbished at the arsenal in Russia, so it was in excellent condition when I bought it.

However, the sights are horrible. Even at the lowest (i.e. point-blank) sight setting, my groups were about eight inches above the point of aim (which I learned was a common problem). My best groups were about 3 M.O.A. Not very bad groups, just very bad sights.

I'm really not confident that it's a good deer rifle, especially for a novice. The trigger pull is eight pounds, and the weight of the rifle loaded is almost ten. IMHO, you'd have to buy a Russian-made scope and a bent bolt to hunt deer with it. It's entirely possible that yours shoots very well, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Let us know how it works out for you after your next range visit. Also, you can buy ammo cheap at Ammunition Store.com. Hope that helps!

P.S. Those shots that hit eight inches high were made at 100 yards using Wolf 147 grain FMJs. When I adjusted the rear sight to the 100 yard notch, the hits were closer to a foot high.