kodiakhuntmaster

I've got this old Mosin Nagant 91/30 that I've been kicking around for years. It's a flat out shooter, and I've been thinking about deer hunting with it for the late season.

Have any of you used the 7.62x54 round with any success? I know it would work but I'm curious as to what to expect. The ammo that shoots best out of it is "wolf" brand 200 grain soft points.

If all else fails, the rifle is long enough that I could probably pole vault over brush with it to get closer to the deer.[8D]

stalkingbear

The mosin nagant and it's cartridge the 7.62x54r is likely the most underrated combo in history. In 2 world wars,and countless other conflicts,russian snipers (including a LOT of women btw) made clean 1 shot kills in excess of 1,000 meters,and sometimes much further. If your eyes and markmanship are up to it,there's NO reason you can't hunt deer with soft point ammo. I'm assuming your 91/30 is still unaltered and unscoped,therefore I would guessitamate 200 yards max range unless you're really good with iron sights.

kodiakhuntmaster

Is is fairly unaltered. When I bought it, it was covered in rust and the stock looked like it would fall apart, so I cleaned all the rust off of it and washed the stock, buffed it with a little steel wool and put a new coat of stain and a protective finish on it. All the original markings and stamps are still there, but it looks a lot better now. Here's a few pictures of it.





I've shot it at 200 yards before and it did ok, but unless it was a wide open field with a good rest and good light, I don't think I'd shoot it at that range for hunting. Many of the farmers around here use the Mosin Nagant carbine, but they mostly shoot coyotes and other varmits with it.

Ol JohnnyBoy

I got one last year as a Christmas present. Still haven't shot mine. Mine had a bayonet attached. I removed it and plan to dremel off the bayonet lug...then put an ATI stock on it and use it for hunting. Some people frown on "bubbatizing" a rifle like this but they're a dime a dozen and I won't own a gun that I can't hunt with unless its a pistol...Yours looks real nice.

Bocajnala

I practiced with mine, was very comfortable out to 150 yards for this season. Hit atree branchat35 yards and watched 8 doe bounce into the ravine in front of me ....
I wasshooting a 208 grain soft point out of mine. I was very practiced up..grrr just low light and not the best vision I totally missed the tree branch i hit!!! I ended up getting one with my .30-06 later that day... I was also shooting with a cast on my hand.... and as heavy as the nagant is...it was a little rough to shoot! I love my nagant, and will try again next year!!!
-Jake

HEAD0001

Be careful if you shoot any of the surplus ammo. I bought some, and it was unbelievably corrosive. It was a great price for practice ammo. But it was not worth it. Tom.

kodiakhuntmaster

Lol, I did that when the rifle was "new to me" and it rusted after just sitting in the closet! I never shot surplus ammo out of it after that.

Bocajnala

I shoot some surplus...clean it really good and haven't had any rusting problems.
-Jake

Wolf1171

I have an M91 also that I have just finished upgrading. I have put a new ATI stock on it, with a scout scope with a muzzle break. It shoots much better now with a lot less recoil than it did without the muzzlebreak.

Thinking of taking it Hog hunting.

eldeguello

Wiggy, that round is so similar to the .30/'06 and the .308 that you'd never be able to decide which one was used to make a given wound channel in a game animal....

It is best to treat all eastern bloc made ammo as corrosive whether it is or not! Clean your bore with hot, soapy water (or WWII GI bore cleaner) after shooting such stuff. Then oil or otherwise preserve the bore....