Mosin-Nagants are great rifles. They feel and shoot much better than they look. the 7.62x54R roughly splits the difference between the .308 and .30/06. Pretty much equals the .30/06 with bullet weights up to 150 grains, but falls behind with heavier bullets. The safety can be tough to operate with cold hands. I have heard of folks tieing a length of leather strap to the cocking piece to allow them more grip when moving it to the safe position. I don't, it could cause problems if the leather strap breaks. There are scount mounts availabe that mount on the rear sight, and allow you to mount along eye relief scope on the rifle. Otherwise, you will need to bend and extend the bolt to allow for scope mounting. My favorite bad weather hunting rifle is a M91/30 that I mounted a Russian sniper scope on. Only three power, but opticly very clear, with good resolution. My oldest son likes to hunt with it, regardless of the weather, and has three one shot kills.