Posted on 11/11/2008 3:24:49 PM PST by Pyro7480
Last weekend, I went with a friend of mine to looking for guns, in the aftermath of the election. He ended up getting a Mosin-Nagant M44 carbine (I didn't get anything because I didn't have any money to spare that day).
Of course, this is a historical rifle. I was wondering if anyone on here has experience with it or any of the Mosin-Nagant models, since I'm now interested in getting one myself, along with some other budget-end rifles (up to $600).
Don’t poke anyone with that marshmallow roaster...
My Father and Grandfather had the MN long rifle and the carbine, respectively. They’re a sturdy gun. The recoil is nothing to scoff at, and we found the carbine was less likely to make you need to visit the chiropractor.
The little puppy kicks like a mule.
His longer older brother is a bit better but his daddy is the best.
My long Mosin-Nagant was made by Westinghouse, yes Westinghouse, in 1916.
7.62x54R can reach out and touch somebody far away.
A buddy of mine bought one a few years ago. It shoots well, but to me, it seemed to get really hot after a few rounds. This made extraction difficult. IMHO, this is not a rifle I would want to go into battle with. Still, in a pinch...
I fired one in May. Loud as hell.
I thought 7.62x54R ammo was still readily available.
7.62x54r
From surplus to new:
My son was given a Moisin Nagant for his 15 th birthday. A very reasonable cost rifle. Check gunbrokers.com for prices.
Its cheap and so is the ammo and the ammo is available. If you get enough and get Boxer primed, you can reload it.
I'm not sure I'd discard thoughts of those rifles, but availability of ammo should definately be a concern.
Midway USA apparently has 7.62x54 available.
Cheaper Than Dirt also as 7.62x54R available.
It looks like Cheaper Than Dirt has 440 round "spam" cans of 7.62x54R 147 grain BT FMJ for $129.97.
While ugly as a mud fence and appearing to have come from a blacksmith shop, the Moison-Nagant is a surprisingly decent rifle. I have had little experience with the carbine version but had had good luck with the rifles. Please, however, stay away from the surplus military ammunition that is floating around. Much of it was of poor quality and aging hasn’t improved it at all. Stick with modern commercial ammunition, you’ll have better accuracy and the rifle will be easier to clean.
It's a damn fine bolt action rifle chambered in 7.62 x 51 NATO (.308 Winchester).
It'll set you back around $300 or so. Spend some time cleaning it up. Have it checked by a competent gunsmith.
You'll never, ever be sorry you bought it.
L
Isn’t this the rifle Vasily Zaitsev used at Stalingrad to rack up a score of 242 verified kills against the Wehrmacht? Long live the memory of Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov and the Soviet 62nd Army.
That sounds very cool. Thanks!
I love em. Makes a good throwaway rifle.
He used an earlier model, the 1891/30, that was a full rifle, not a carbine. But otherwise, they’re similar.
Reference self-ping.
I have a sizable collection of M-N rifles. The M44 does indeed have a stout recoil. You might note to your buddy that the M44 is usually sighted such that it fires most accurately with the bayonet open.
Starting from scratch, I’d suggest a M-N M39 rifle if you’re looking to get into 762x54r in bolt action form. The M39 is a Finnish creation built on Russian receivers. A bit heavier than the M44, and far more accurate. I don’t know who carries the most M39s these days. The longer ones - M91 and M91/30 are a bit long for my tastes. Perhaps my ceilings are not high enough?
I have a sizable collection of M-N rifles. The M44 does indeed have a stout recoil. You might note to your buddy that the M44 is usually sighted such that it fires most accurately with the bayonet open.
Starting from scratch, I’d suggest a M-N M39 rifle if you’re looking to get into 762x54r in bolt action form. The M39 is a Finnish creation built on Russian receivers. A bit heavier than the M44, and far more accurate. I don’t know who carries the most M39s these days. The longer ones - M91 and M91/30 are a bit long for my tastes. Perhaps my ceilings are not high enough?
I have an M44 too. This sight has a lot of stuff to upgrade your Mosin.
I have a pristine Polish version of the same gun. It’s a kicker, very loud, and fun to shoot. Pay attention to your ammo as much of it out there is corrosive—which is fine as long as you clean it correctly—scrub with warm soapy water, rinse, dry, oil, wait a day, a scrub with more warm soapy water, dry, then finish up with a good cleaning with your normal fluids, Hoppes, Kroil, Butches, CLP, or etc, and a final oil.
BTW, in case you were unaware, the safety is the rear part of the bolt, just pull back the knob and rotate 90Deg. To remove the bolt, open bolt, pull and hold trigger, pull bolt rearward out of receiver.
Enjoy your toy.
In the 7.62 configuration the magazine holds 10 rounds.
And with mine I can ring a 10 pie plate with every shot at 400 yards using the iron sights.
L
Maybe I can find one at the Nation’s Gun Show in Virginia later this month.
What kind of condition will it be in?
If it's anything other than fun or historical re-enactment, I'd rethink yor choice.
Ping.
It is now, but imports are much more easily restricted by the executive branch than domestic production.
In this current climate, I wouldn't buy any gun counting on continued availability of cheap imported ammo.
Well, fun and target practice, not protecting our country.
I've never fired it. The ammo I got that was supposedly
7.62 x 54R was NOT marked as such and didn't seem to fit right.
My safety alarm was going off, and it's not very sensitive.
But hey, it looks great in the gun case!
Put a decent sope on this baby and you'll reach out and touch some ..errr. thing
(From Aim surplus .com)
Have you found, as I have, that they vary wildly in accuracy, from rifle to rifle? I've got one that can barely get a 5" shot=group at 100 yds. Another one gets 1" groups, all with just the original iron sights.
$129.00
If price IS an object, $50-100 will get you a proven high-power weapon.
M44 is a great gun and CHEAP!
Ammo is still readily available and FAIRLY CHEAP!
Own and shoot several M/N 91/30’s all Ishevsk arsenal, round receivers. “Collectors” of these things look for hex receivers and/or Tula arsenal marks. Rugged, lots of fun and cheap to shoot!
They’re kind of brutal for long shooting sessions. The steel buttplates don’t help much either. Surplus ammunition is still plentiful and even some import manufacturers are getting on board. Bullet weights go from 147gr (light ball surplus) up to 203gr soft point. (Wolf Gold)
Most barrels slug out between .310 and .312 even though it’s designated 7.62mm diameter. Folks that reload goto bullets .311 diameter same size diameter as the .303 British.
If you get one...make sure the headspace is within specs (as you should for any used firearm purchase) and chamber for any burrs. Excessive headspace is bad (read dangerous) and burrs in the chamber can make extracting a round very difficult. Even if the chamber is structurally perfect, the heat from several rounds can melt unseen cosmoline in there and make extraction very difficult, also known as “sticky bolt syndrome.” If that happens lay the rifle down on a hard surface and stomp on the bolt with a boot. If the rifle breaks, no big deal. You’re only out $70.00. Just kidding!
Just make sure you really clean the chamber well. You’ll know after a few shots if you’ve cleaned it well enough. If extraction becomes tough, you’ve got more cleaning to do! One thing you can do to help unstick a sticky bolt is to pull the safety bolt back to “cock” the firing pin. Then the upward movement on the bolt handle is ALL transmitted to twisting the bolt and not also trying to cock the firing pin.
2 invaluable sources for the Mosin Nagant owner/shooter....
http://www.surplusrifle.com/russianmosin189130/index.asp
for “practical” information
and
http://7.62x54r.net/
for “historical”
oh...and for a bit of humor....
http://7.62x54r.net/MosinID/MosinHumor.htm
a comparison of the AR-15, AK, and MN 91/30
Enjoy!
Don’t consider even loading one until you have completed a headspace check. Mine passed :)
You can borrow a gauge...
http://russian-mosin-nagant.com/mambo/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=105&topic=10864.0
Nice picture. They kick like a mule. If the barrels good they are pretty good shooters accuracy wise. Check the ammo you use and watch out for ‘corrosive’ stuff. Follow directions for clean-up if ya do.
Happy shooting.
I can't say what condition yours might arrive in of course, but mine was what I would call "service grade". The wood was more that just a bit dinged up.
The action and barrel were coated in Cosmoline which required quit a bit of work to clean up. It had obviously been in storage for quite while.
It took a couple of hours with Simple Green to get it all out. The I looked down the bore.
Mint.
I had it checked by a gunsmith who told me it had most likely never seen 100 rounds through it.
A friend of mine scared up a drill stock and sent it to me, so I spent a few hours cleaning that up. It looks pretty nice if I do say so myself.
The longest range I've been able to fire it at is 400 yards. As I said I can hit a ten inch pie plate at that distance with the iron sights which appear to be graduated out to 800 meters. I'm sure that's pretty optimistic.
I got mine several years ago when Navy Arms MSD was bringing them in and selling them for $120 a copy or so. IIRC I paid an extra 10 to have it 'hand selected'. The serial numbers all match.
I picked up a second one a while later and found a synthetic sporter stock for it. Pretty much the same thing. Wood beat up pretty good, but serviceable and the bore shiny and bright once cleaned up. I had a scope mount put on that one.
Now it's a perfectly serviceable deer rifle. All the work on it set me back about $200 or so I think.
Sorry to be so long winded, but on balance I think if you're in the market for a nice surplus bolt action rifle this is definetely one to pick up.
It gets big bonus points in my view as it's a US standard caliber.
Not bad if you ask me.
Hope you and yours are well.
L
I just bought a 91/30 (the long version) at a sporting goods store today off the rack for $99 plus tax etc. I pick it up on the 22nd. It was in new, never issued condition and looks like it was manufactured in a hurry in about 1945 and stuck in an warehouse for 60 years. I figured at that price why not. What else can you get for $99 bucks that can drop an elk at 500 yards? Outside the California you should be able to beat that price.
I have a friend who has the Model 44 carbine version. His grandfather carried one into Berlin in 1945 but until he immigrated to the US he could never own or shoot one. It’s now one of his prized possessions. Buy it as a fun gun to shoot at long range targets and as a piece of history that helped save human civilization from the Nazis.
I’ve fired the Model 44 and kicks worse than my old Springfield. Despite the cheap price it puts the slug where you point it. Even I was still able to shoot a six inch pattern at 250 yards from a sitting position. The site adjusts out to 2000 meters but I figure that was just for indirect fire.
Ammo should not be a problem. This thing was used all over the communist world for over fifty years and there were billions of rounds manufactured from Russia to Yugoslavia to Cuba to Vietnam and a lot of that seems to have been imported in bulk into the US. Span cans were going for $115 for 450 rounds at last week’s gun show.
Come to think of it, I have need for *both* versions. :-)
Way cool. Did ya know they made Pederson devices for the Mosin-Nagant?
They were $100 at Big 5....that may have changed. They get a good assortment of years and makers.
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