Is the Mosin Nagant still worth it?

T

TrueBlue711

New member
I've always had an interest in getting a Mosin Nagant, putting a modern stock on it and making it a budget hunting rifle. However, I don't feel like it's really a "budget" gun anymore. I remember when it was easy to find these for around $100. Now, it's hard to find one for less than $200. I can buy a modern hunting rifle (Savage Axis for example) for about the same price range! Ammo is another cost consideration. Doing a 10 second comparison between 7.62x54 vs .308 vs. 30-06 on ammoseek.com, there isn't a huge difference between the cost (for the steel cased ammo). So is the Mosin Nagant really even worth pursuing at its current cost? I'm leaning towards no.
 
Only if you're sitting on a large cache of 54R ammunition or collect mosins. I see mosins on the classifieds for $200-$350 in my area. At at the same time I can find multiple older Savage 10/110s (or a newer axis) for $300-$350 and usually they are including the tasco/simmons/bushnell scope in on the deal. I'm not a mosin fan by any stretch of the imagination so I'm buying the used savage every time.
 
Practicality? I don't really think so. If your into surplus military weapons, then yeh, of course you need one..:D
 
The MN used to be popular as a budget rifle not only because of the rifle cost, but also ammo costs. I'm not sure what the last spam can of ammo I purchased cost and I sold it when the price was up, but it is hard to find ammo for under $.50 now. Might as well be shooting 30-06 or 308.
 
It is absolutely NOT worth getting a Mosin Nagant just to turn it into a "budget hunting rifle" or such nonsense.

Have you checked the price on 7.62x54mm ammo these days? It is now MORE EXPENSIVE than .308 Win/7.62 NATO.

And, prices on Mosins has gone up a lot as well. By the time you buy the gun and a halfway decent stock, you're going to have blown $300 already at least. Add to that the lack of good scope mounts for Mosins, and you just WILL NOT get ahead doing that today.

If you want a "budget hunting gun" either use the Mosin Nagant as it comes, wood stock and iron sights and all, or get a modern budget .308 Win hunting rifle like the Savage Axis or Ruger American that will shoot circles around a Mosin all day long.

Several years to a couple of decades ago, this was a viable option. Now, it's the poorest option one could have if they just want a cheap hunting rifle.
 
Mosins are over-rated. As a weekend range plinker (whether carbine or rifle), it's fine.

But for more varied uses, including personal and home defense, there are, as iron-sighted mil-surplus long guns go, better options.

Some examples being: the Springer 1903, 1903A3, or M1 Garand.

Be an informed dudenal. Avoid buying junk.
 
A mosin may be fun to play with but if you want a real hunter adding a new stock, bent bolt handle, tapping for a scope mount and so on you could probably just buy something in the $500 range. And even then you don't know how accurate that random mosin will be. It could be perfection on a stick or a hot mess.

Go new and be happy.
 
My gunsmithing "niche" is this platform.
For your purpose- a "budget" hunting rifle- I concur with the others that say "nay" unless you can pick one up on the "cheap".

I have a safe full of them from customers that want a customized rifle that's something different. I won't get into the typical internet back-and-forth bashing with those that call them "junk"- I've had more pass through my hands than anyone else on this forum and I can tell you that some (typically wartime) were poorly manufactured from a machining perspective, others are of much better quality. Those can make for a great project rifle, and starting from the ground up off a bare receiver can produce a rifle as accurate as anything else for the same dollars.

But if you're just looking for a production rifle suitable for hunting, look at the Ruger American.
 
I bought my Century refurbed 91/30 back in 2013 and payed $189 at my LGS. At that time millsurp ammo was at about $80-90 per tin, as there was not the political russian tension that there is now. I got bought a crate of x54R for $185 shipped I also have been purchasing x54R reloading components here and there so i'm positioned well to shoot for many years. The Mosins are crude and shoot about 3 moa realistically with millsurp, and you might get it down to 2 moa with tuned match handloads. I like my Mosin, no hardcore warm and fuzzy feelings towards it. I definitely would not buy one in this current expensive and ammo uncertain environment.
 
There are too many better budget hunting rifles out there, Ruger Americans, Remington 783's and such. Many can be found on sale cheaper then a good un-modified Mosins.

However I don't believe that to me is a reason not to get a Mosin, but I like Mosin's for a different reason.

Vintage Military rifle shooting and collection is popular these days and growing.

The CMP Rules require these rifles be "as issued" or unmodified. One of the main reasons I like the CMP Games is one can get into competitive rifle shooting relatively cheap, meaning its not a rich man's game like so many other shooting sport games.

Lets say you have to pay $300 for a decent Mosin. That's certainly cheaper then a Garand, Springfield or others.

If one takes the time to learn to shoot the Mosin, it can be competitive. In the first CMP GSM match I conducted after becoming a CMP MI, a guy from our club went out the Friday afternoon before the match on Saturday, bought a Mosin and some cheap surplus ammo. First time he fired it was at the match. He won.

I'm not saying the Mosin is better or as good as a Garand, or Springfield. It doesn't have to be, its not used in the Garand of Springfield category.

I think everyone should have an un-molested Mosin in their collection.

But again, if one is looking a low cost hunting rifle, there are better options.
 
I am a big fan of Mosins, but for the historical artifact that they are, not because they are awesome rifles. They are generally not all that accurate by modern standards, the split bridge makes scope mounting more difficult, and the ammo is about the same price as .308 any more, the days of $40 440 round spam cans are gone.

The Mosin supply has dried up considerably, and bottom of the line 91/30s are going for ~$250 these days. If you add the price of a sporter stock, scope mount (plus the labor to install it) and any other stuff you want to do, you will be well over the cost of the a Savage Axis/Ruger American/Rem 783, and the Axis/American/783 will be a better rifle in pretty much every measurable way. Manufacturing has come a long way in the past 70 years.

It will be lighter, more accurate, have a better trigger, be set up for a scope from the factory, and will shoot a caliber that ammo is available off the shelf at your local sporting goods store/Wal mart.

The days of modifying a military rifle to a sporter as a more economical way of getting a quality hunting rifle are gone. This made a lot of sense when they were a fraction of the price of the bottom of the line Remington or Winchester, and could be found by the barrel full in the local hardware store for $10. Those days are long gone.
 
There's no way milsurp can compete with the pretty decent el cheapo bolts out there like the Ruger American for just making an inexpensive hunting rifle.

If I was going to use a stock milsurp as a hunting rifle, I wouldn't touch a Mosin. I'd go 1903A3 for the sights. If that was out of the budget, I'd go M96 for the accuracy and cheap ammo.
 
"...I remember when..." So does everybody else over 40. Probably over 50. snicker. Paid $175Cdn each for my M1 Rifle and my 1903A4 35 + years ago.
"...still worth it?..." Isn't very long ago(35ish years) that there were lots of Mosin's around in decent condition but the only available ammo was from Norma. (That's also why those morons at Globe Co. ruined a pile of SVT-40's by trying to convert 'em to .303 British.) Lots of rifles, but no ammo.
Anyway, all pre-W.W.II and W.W. II vintage battle rifles have always been in a finite supply. The remaining available rifles will be in lousier condition and cost more. It's simple economics. Supply and demand rules.
"...I like Mosin's for a different reason..." Or Lee-Enfields or M1 Rifles or K98's or Arisakas etc, etc. Commercial hunting rifles are all the same.
 
Other than as a historical relic, I don't think the Mosin is worth it anymore.

All of the interest in the rifle has solely been due to the previously low price of the rifle and ammo.

As a rifle, it's fairly crude and primitive.

Now that Mosin prices are approaching modern budget sporters and that ammo costs about as much as .308, the Mosin is suddenly a lot less interesting.

Also, once prices get that high, other options start opening up. Hit the pawnshops and gun shows, and you will see all kinds of interesting rifles out there. The Evil Pawn Shop near my house has a scoped and sporterized Springfield for $250, and that's before talking them down! Other gun shows I've been to have had piles of Swedish Mausers, Persian Mausers, and all kinds of stuff.
 
I have to agree there's very little interest in Mosins except that they're a big centerfire that's cheap. Now that they're not cheap, the formula's sort of blown. I guess they're a decent starting point for rimmed cartridge conversions too, but Siamese Mausers are probably preferable.
 
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