I Need An Answer To Why Is The Mosin Nagant Is So Popular ?

i really enjoy the comments guys, most are a "hoot" and i got a good laugh from them, the fellow who had a friend shoot near him had better pick better friends, i sure hope his hearing has returned to normal. all i can say is that you fellows have enlightened me about that rifle.

thanks guys :D
 
Love for the Mosin-Nagant

Yes, I'm fine and my hearing is okay too. Thanks for asking. Ben is a great friend, but a somewhat inexperienced shooter. I'm fine, though, and he's had a chance to see that video MULTIPLE times, since I posted it on facebook and tagged him. LOL

The Mosin-Nagant has a long and noble history. It has become the rifle of legends. I've seen numbers as high as 37 million for total production. The rifle was designed in 1891, and was manufactured in one form or another until 1946. It was used by snipers and by ordinary foot soldiers. The ammo is powerful, yet inexpensive, and the guns themselves can still be had as inexpensively as $80 each.

An entire culture has grown up around the Mosin-Nagant. And while some people regard them as ugly, I find them quite attractive.

It's a fun gun that just about anybody can afford to own three or four of and that just about anybody can afford to shoot.

What more could you ask for? LOL
 
You know those awful bumper stickers that say it's a Jeep thing. . . I want one that says it's a Mosin thing
 
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I grew up in the golden age of milsurp rifles, when wonderful old Mausers and '03s and SMLE's were abundant. So this recent obsession with one of that family's ugly sisters is perplexing to me as well.
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I am perplexed you are perplexed

Cool old gun at a fairly low price, replaces cooler looking guns that you can't get for a fairly low price anymore.

some of us missed the first round, may catch the second.

Probably had more to do with decimating the German army NCOs and officer corp than any weapon in the War, and maybe infantry as well.

Good enough to be used as a sniper. What's not to love? My dad gave me one when I was a kid. Still have it. Would be afraid to shoot it but not one of the ones I am seeing in the LGS now.
 
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As for the power of the round, somebody watched an old film where the rd. wounded a German soldier, went thru a brick wall and wounded a second guy who was crouching behind it.
 
Come on now let's be honest here. It's not a cool thing, it's not a power thing, it's not a history thing, it's not a fireball thing, it's a MONEY THING.

You take one of each of all centerfire boltguns ever made, mil-surp or civilian, put em on a rack priced at $100 each and except for a very few insane folk the Mosin would be near the bottom of the list.

LK
 
For a lot of people is IS a history thing ... it is for me and for many others who are milsurp shooters and collectors.

Tiki.
 
Come on now let's be honest here. It's not a cool thing, it's not a power thing, it's not a history thing, it's not a fireball thing, it's a MONEY THING.

You take one of each of all centerfire boltguns ever made, mil-surp or civilian, put em on a rack priced at $100 each and except for a very few insane folk the Mosin would be near the bottom of the list.
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How is a completely unrealistic, nonsensical comparison being "honest"?
The opposite argument could easily be made. Suppose the Mosin were not historically significant, suppose it fired some sort of uselessly anemic cartridge, suppose it didn't have any potential for accuracy, and to top it all off suppose it wasn't durable either, taking away all of these factors, would people still be buying them for $100 a piece?

Lots of factors go into a decision as to why people buy certain guns; price is a big one one; but to say that's the ONLY thing the Mosin has going for it is being either dishonest or misinformed.

Take for example the Chiappa 1911-22, it is a gun for which the ONLY real advantage over other makers of 1911-style .22's is price. Despite being the cheapest one available, it is neither popular nor well-regarded. Low cost is a deciding factor, but not the only factor most people look at.
 
"You take one of each of all centerfire boltguns ever made, mil-surp or civilian, put em on a rack priced at $100 each and except for a very few insane folk the Mosin would be near the bottom of the list."


Bingo!

They are popular because the world has run out of surplus 98 Mausers... it's just that they are available and "functional". Put them in a barrel with a bunch of 03 Springfields, Mauser 93's, Mauser 98's, Enfields, Arisakas, and Carcanos and in a day the Springfields would be gone, in a week the 98's would be all gone, the 93's would be mostly picked over with the good ones gone, most of the Enfields would be gone, the Arisakas would be selling slowly, and the Carcanos and Nagants would all be left behind. Nobody in their right mind would shoot a cock-on-close rifle with a split bridge and a bolt handle that must be the worst placed one in the world for a quick follow up shot from the shoulder if they had another choice.


And yes I own a few... as well as a few of each of the others.


Willie

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Let's see...
Nobody in their right mind would shoot a cock-on-close rifle with a split bridge and a bolt handle that must be the worst placed one in the world for a quick follow up shot from the shoulder if they had another choice.
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BS...

The infamous and highly accurate Enfield is cock on close...

The M96 Swedish Mauser- which will outshoot ANY K-98 ever built- is cock-on close...

The M28 MOSIN is regarded as one of the most accurate bolt action military rifles produced. Yep, cock on close. Just Google Simo Hayha...

The Mosin bolts are different than the Mauser in that the bolthead rotates with the bolt and lugs. Frankly, I like the system. Much like the Savages I own, swapping out a bolthead if needed is a piece of cake- and I don't need an entire new bolt.

Nothing against the Mauser action- they're proven- but your distaste for cock-on-open actions is unfounded in fact.
 
"Nothing against the Mauser action- they're proven- but your distaste for cock-on-open actions is unfounded in fact"


Actually... I have a collection of rifles with some 50 examples of cock on close military bolt actions... mixed in among about 200 examples of 20th century military rifles. You forgot the P14 Enfield BTW... one of my favorites.

The Nagant has a few challenges though... the bolt handle position on the bolt being among them. The Swedish Mauser might be cock on close, but you can do a "salute" opening using your index finger and a closure of the bolt with your thumb without unshouldering it. Good luck doing that with a Nagant. But I digress:

The point I was trying to make is that the Nagant is hardly the creme-de-la-creme of military rifle designs. It just happens to be the surplus "we have a barrel full of 'em" de jour. People buy what is available. I've bought a few too... I just place them towards the bottom of the "interesting" list. Aesthetics are part of rifle collecting: Mom Nagant, I have to tell ya... your baby ain't pretty... :o Strong? Yup. Reliable? Sure. Accurate? Uhh... yeah. Pretty? Nope, sorry... not pretty. Oh well.

If there was a selection of other designs for a similar price, it would likely be the one that was picked towards the bottom. The fact is that there are no other designs available for a similar price any longer... thus the interest in them.

For the old timers who remember mixed barrels of K43's, Kar-98's, Enfields, and Arisakas, these are thin times for surplus rifle collectors. But it is what it is... enjoy the hobby. You'll never regret buying a rifle.. you'll only regret the ones that you didn't buy and still remember 30 years later. I *really* ought to have bought that ugly Garand with the funny gas cylinder... yeah, the one from 1937 that I passed up because it looked strange... :(


Best,

Willie

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The opposite argument could easily be made. Suppose the Mosin were not historically significant, suppose it fired some sort of uselessly anemic cartridge, suppose it didn't have any potential for accuracy, and to top it all off suppose it wasn't durable either, taking away all of these factors, would people still be buying them for $100 a piece?
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Hell yes. Any centerfire shooting an affordable cartridge will sell for $100. Heck, it doesn't even have to be an affordable cartridge, look at the Nagant revolvers. But make them $250 and you'd watch em rot. This is an capitalist/economics thing. If they could get more than $100 for em they would. They can't so they don't. If they couldn't get em here and sell em for a profit while still keeping them dirt cheap they'd still be in boxes in Moscow.

LK
 
the mosin nagant is quite possibly the most manufactured rifle in the world(I'm not talking about clones of other rifles), there are literally millions of them.7.62x54R is the most economic rifle cartridge around(not counting light carbine rounds like 5.45x39). and they are the only bolt action rifles you can buy for under $100. they are so popular because even the most budgeted gun owner can get one and shoot it regularly. they are far from the greatest battle rifle ever made but they still bring a lot to the table. I do think that luger pistols might be a question for another thread in another forums(they do have handgun forums here)
 
Hell yes. Any centerfire shooting an affordable cartridge will sell for $100.
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I sincerely doubt it. If it lacks any historical interest, fires a useless/weak cartridge, is wildly inaccurate, and is prone to breakage with all but the most gentle and infrequent use, then low cost alone wouldn't make it worthwhile, plain and simple. Would some people still buy it? Maybe a few, but it would be a small fraction of those that have and do buy Mosins at present.

How many people buy and like RG revolvers these days? You can probably get one for under $50, and the ammo is as cheap as imaginable in today's economy, yet they don't enjoy any degree of popularity. How did all of those "ring of fire" manufacturers ever go out of business? All they ever did was make dirt-cheap guns firing the most widely available and lowest cost cartridges... isn't that the recipe for popularity and a high volume of sales?

But make them $250 and you'd watch em rot.
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Wrong again. M38's and M44's used to be under $80 a piece anywhere you looked just a few years ago. These days people jump on them at twice the price. AIM Surplus a few months ago got a batch of M44's and offered them up at $250 a piece, some said it seemed a little steep in light of how inexpensive they were to buy a few years ago. AIM has sold out of them long since.

If they could get more than $100 for em they would. They can't so they don't.
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Give it time, they can and they will. It happens to every single military surplus firearm out there, it's already happened to the Mosin carbines.

They're inexpensive now because they're in such plentiful supply, there are literally tens of millions of them out there... as availability decreases prices will go up, and yes, people will still pay for them. People pay 4x what they used to for an an SKS, don't they?
 
I actually researched them a lot before deciding to own one. There are other cheap firearms that I looked into and passed due to reviews.

So cheap is only part of it.
 
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