Mosin Nagant: Should I Buy one?

[lmyer]

Don't bet on it, The Russians refurbed there Mosin Nagants a couple of times between WW2 and the late 70's. An original Russian MN is a rare bird to find, the closet eamples to be found are Finn captures, or SCW rifles.

Amen to that.

Nothing wrong with refurbs, but collectors don't particularly care for them as they are not as originally manufactured.

Here's how to tell if you have a Soviet refurb (NOT how to tell if you have an original rifle). If any of this (in the link) is true - then you have a refurb. However.... determination of an original Mosin takes some serious expertise, as there are many other variables that may come into play.

How to Tell if Soviet M38s, M44s, and 91/30s are Non-Original Rifles

Les

 

[Sniper 79]

Dont wast your time. Save your money and buy a nice Savage or something. I have seen folks wast so much time and money on gunsmithing these turds and still have a turd in the end. I helped a guy the other weekend sight one in after he dumped three hundred or so into it. I got him on paper and that was about it. It is what it is. A battle rifle. People try all the time to make them into something they are not and that is a target rifle or nicehunting rifles. My advice is this. If you appreciate it for what it is and will keep it stock then go for it. If you see the cheap price and want a project then pass and buy something else.

 

[lmyer]

Dont wast your time. Save your money and buy a nice Savage or something. I have seen folks wast so much time and money on gunsmithing these turds and still have a turd in the end. I helped a guy the other weekend sight one in after he dumped three hundred or so into it. I got him on paper and that was about it. It is what it is. A battle rifle. People try all the time to make them into something they are not and that is a target rifle or nicehunting rifles. My advice is this. If you appreciate it for what it is and will keep it stock then go for it. If you see the cheap price and want a project then pass and buy something else.

Why did he dump 300 into it - and what did he do to the poor rifle if he couldn't even sight it in himself? Sounds like the problem could be the shooter as well as the person working on the rifle.

It's easy to buy a new Savage. It's much more difficult to buy a WWII or older milsurp in good condition. Some are turds - some are not. Some are $100 - some are MUCH more. Bore condition is EVERYTHING!

I have some Mosins that will shoot with your new Savage.

 

[Giddaltti]

I' m sold on this one. With 6 kids this may be the way I can arm them all!

 

[Rayne]

I love my 91/30. I won't claim to be able to do this every time, but just yesterday I made successful shots on a steel silhouette target at 300 and 400 yards, iron sights only. Any gun that can do that with a large cheap caliber and still cost less than a hundred bucks is well worth buying in my book. I don't care how ugly it is.

This is what I was going to say, beat me to it.

I witnessed this 400 yard shot and his son also was hitting with the same gun at 400 yards.

 

[Atlas]

This is what I was going to say, beat me to it.

I witnessed this 400 yard shot and his son also was hitting with the same gun at 400 yards.

Did the same at 500 yards. Bulls-eye 3 out of 5. Twice in a row my first time out to the range with it, after warming up to the rifle for a bit at the 100 yards.

BTW, I always thought of Savage as a ''discount" brand name that did make some neat Enfields in WW2. Is it considered a real rifle maker nowadays

 

[newdumdum9825]

yes yes yes buy one!!!

if you need someone to clean it and refinish the stock ill be willing to do it all for 20

 

[newdumdum9825]

stock was stripped clean of cosmo and old shellac that was flakeing

color matches the original

 

[chibicascade]

Someone was saying that Dunham's has them on sale for Black Friday. If your still looking for one, then you might want to check that out.

 

[Excalibur]

Who wouldn't want to buy one of these babies? You can hunt with it, great target gun, last ditch gun. Cheap, plenty of ammo to find and powerful

 

[g3man]

It's a must have for any collection. Most people could blow off going out to eat for 2 weekends and buy one of these. I started with an M-38 and then added a 44 and then 2 91-30s. We have consistently hit milk jugs with these at 200 yards with open sights and Milsurp ammo. If you haven't seen Enemy at The Gates, after watching it would probably put in the buy mode. All in all one of the best options for affordable, accurate, reliable fire power available right now.

 

[jiggypete]

I looked at one Saturday that was $130 at a LGS. What does it take to clean the Cosmo off the gun? I am really intrigued by the price and history. Where can you shoot long distances around the Indy area?

 

[1775usmarine]

I would love to get my wife more interested in mine so it would give me an excuse to buy another one for "her". I love shooting mine and that i can get 880 rounds for less than 200. Well worth the buy for anyone looking to get into collecting WW2 rifles.

 

[roadrunner681]

sure just dont expect a 1moa gun i have one that looks brand new i don't even think it had been fired until i shot it by the way the bore looks on it, mine when its in a good mood will some times do 1.5 to 2.0 moa group some times better but that's 3 shots it opens up if it gets more than three (it was in a good mood that day) its also modified a bit.

 

[ssblair]

A sturdy rifle platform that fires a cartridge with nearly the ballistics of 30-06, for around $100.

What's not to love?

+1

The short answer is: "Yes"
I don't think you can buy a centerfire rifle for the same price you can get a Mosin for, much less one that's durable or reliable. And since most of them come with the bayonet and accessories, it doubles as a spear when you run out of ammo!

But you won't run out of ammo, because the 7.62x54R cartridge is the longest serving military rifle cartridge ever--its been in service since 1891 and continues to this day to be issued for eastern block GP MGs and light sniper rifles. The surplus ammo that everybody is buying right now because its so cheap was made in the 60s and 70s. When that stuff runs out, we'll see ammo that was made in the 80s and 90s as the eastern bloc countries turn over their inventory and sell off their "old stock" as surplus when they need money.

Pricing should be $100-120 these days for a rifle in good condition (side comment--they go for 3x this price in Canada). The most common rifles were made by Tula or Izhevsk; Tula manufactured rifles (have the big star & arrow logo on top of the receiver) are a little more desirable than the Izhevsk arsenal rifles (arrow in small triangle logo). Rifles made by somebody other than those 2 are very collectible. Also, "hex" receiver rifles (generally manufactured before 1930) are slightly better made than the "round" receiver types, though the differences are largely cosmetic/"fit & finish" type. Rifles made during WWII are going to be noticeably cruder in finish and machining, but are still just as capable. The Finns captured and rebarreled a number of Mosins and made them into the M28s and M39 rifles, those cost quite a bit more ($2-500), but they are reputed to be very accurate. They also use .308 bullets instead of the .311 bullets that the Russians use.

Look for a good bore with strong rifling and a good, clean crown. "Sewer pipe" bores can still shoot great, but they're more of a pain to clean. Triggers will tend to be far from target grade, but there are things that you can do, and Timney even makes a drop in trigger unit if you don't mind butchering the stock or putting a new stock on the rifle.

Also don't be surprised if you get one and the rifle shoots 4" to the left at 100 yards or something--they were all zeroed at the arsenal with the bayonets attached, is what I'm told. Recoil really is not bad on the M91/30s--just a little pop & 'bump' with a good cheek weld in prone. The M44 carbines are a different story, however (they will put hair on your chest, but they are oooh so handy sized!)

They're great, durable rifles, and as a testament to their greatness, the Finns were using Mosin-Nagant M91/30 actions in their sniper rifles until just recently (the M28/76 series target/sniper rifles).

For the price they are and value they offer, everybody should own one.

 

[ssblair]

I looked at one Saturday that was $130 at a LGS. What does it take to clean the Cosmo off the gun? I am really intrigued by the price and history. Where can you shoot long distances around the Indy area?

Mineral Spirits and a rag worked well for me. Q-tips for the narrower spaces. Plenty of information on them can be found at surplusrifle.com too (a great resource)

 

[ricochet22]

Now I'm all messed up. I was just going to go with a Savage as my entry level but there is a lot of persuasion to go with a Mosin.

 

[chibicascade]

Mine is seems to work fine. The stripper clips are a pain and I've had the rims cat each other. The bolt is pretty rough and the thing is heavy.
On the other hand, I got the gun for less than $100 and it hits hard.

 

[Collector1911]

not a name brand but excellent for the money i love all of mine...

 

[indiucky]

Here is my take on the Mosin Rifle...If that firearm was made today in the USA with union labor the cost would probably be around $500. Maybe more...The question should be why you do NOT have a Mosin...You know the guns have "been there."