Mosin-Nagant, good gun or not??

D

deepvalley

New member
I went to the gun show and was looking over the tables when an old gun caught my eye. It is an 91/30 Mosin-Nagant made in Tula, Russia. I bought it on the guns reputation alone for $105 and was wondering what others that have one thought of them. I have not shot it yet due to weather but it is clean and as far as I can tell, fully functional.
 
I have not shot it yet due to weather
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Those suckers are made to be shot in the winter. Germans found that out on the Eastern Front. Don't forget the "Winter War".

You can tell if it will shoot by looking at the bore. If you have a decent bore it will probably shoot. Assuming you have a good bore, the I believe the difference between a good Mosin and a bad Mosin is the shooter. If the shooter is willing to put in the time and effort, they are shooters.

One can learn to shoot the Mosin, like most guns, without spending a great deal of money. That being lots of dry firing. Get some stripper clips, load some dummy rounds and practice loading and firing (dry) in different positions.

That will also loosen (smoothen) out the bolt. Practice working that bolt.
Odd thing I've found about the Mosin is it seems to be easy to shoot off hand (standing). I think its the long barrel that helps dampen the movement.

I don't shoot surplus ammo out of my Mosin. I bought a bunch of Winchester factory stuff to get the brass and reload for it. I got mine to use in CMP GSM Vintage Military Matches. You only have to shoot to 200 yards so I load light.

Most Mosins shoot high, if thats the case with your rifle let me know, I'll tell you how to fix it while keeping it "as issued" per CMP Rules.

One reason I like the Mosin is its cheap (price wise), and will allow anyone to get into competition without breaking the bank.

They are fun to shoot and if one is willing to put in the effort, they can shoot very will.
 
had one and absolutely loved it. Mine was made in 1937 and could print 2 inch groups at 100 yards with the occasional flyer. Not bad in my opinion, for a rifle that was made pre WWII. 7.62x54 is a powerful cartridge.
 
That's not a bad price. They are a very robust rifle with a long history, going back to the 19th century. And they are still being used in places like Afghanistan and parts of Africa. After shooting this one you may get bitten by the bug and start acquiring more. I have four different models, and the one with the best trigger was built in 1942. The barrel still has lathe marks and the rest of it is rough, but the trigger is like butter and it shoots very well. Don't normally see that in mid-war production.
 
I've got one with a laminated stock, which has a dark bore but strong rifling.
Groups have been decent but high. I belive they're zeroed in for 200 yards and my outdoor range is only 100, which puts the grouping high. I put some shrink tube on the front post to lower the point of aim but haven't tried it yet.
It's a fun, inexpensive gun to shoot.
 
Most Mosins shoot high,
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I've been told that's because the Russian conscripts were taught to use the belt buckle as an aiming point. If a target presented itself at 100 yards, a belt-buckle aiming point would put the shot high, in the abdomen or chest cavity.

It extended the battlesight range of the rifle.
 
They are very good plinking guns for the money and the 7.62x54R is no slouch cartridge. They are great at the range and can certainly be used on deer sized game if you wanted a cheap hunting rifle.
 
Mosin Nagant

.

The Mosin Nagant action is an excellent action. Although considered
dated when compared to the mauser action, it is very competent.
Strong, reliable, and has proven itself so in combat conditions. Some
of the rifles may exhibit crude finishing, but they are well built and
can be very accurate. The 7.62x54R is a potent cartridge, having
comparable ballistics to a 30-06 or 308 Winchester. They were fielded
by the millions by Russia and some other eastern countries. The
91/30 is one of my very favorite rifles to shoot. There will be cheap
ammo available for these for many years to come.

Congrats on your new rifle !

dxr

.
 
The question was "Are they good guns?". Good for what? Good if you want to plink at the range. They suck to hunt with. Been there done that. Safety is unhandy, sucks to mount a scope. Changed one over to 30-40 Krag, changed bolt and moved the bolt handle behind the bridge, filled in the receiver bridge and mounted the scope on center, added Timney trigger. It was a fun project, but it just was not a handy hunting rifle and it weighed a lot. You want a good gun to hunt with, go buy a Mauser or Arisaka that some one stripped down to hunt with. Plenty around cheap and ammo available also.
 
I have 3 mosin nagants. With the right ammo they are accurate shooters. One of mine is a 91/59 that is very light for a mosin. I shot a big doe with it over 100yrds away with S&B that was loaded with 174gr. sierra bullets. It tore that doe up on the exit. Point is they are good rifles for the money and with good ammo and the right mosin they are effective hunters. So congrats, you will enjoy it.
 
Yes the Mosin is a good strong field rifle,
Very durable, and fun to shoot.
Ammo for them is still very plentiful,and reloading componants are available as well.
 
I had 3. A friend wanted one, so he got one of the 3 before any of them were shot. The two I ended up with would not stay on a sheet of paper at 100 yards. His would shoot 2-3" groups at 100. May have had something to do with stock contact with the barrel, or the bores may have been overly large for the ammo I had, but I got rid of both of them and don't regret it. If I had one that shot worth a darn, I'd probably love it. They are solidly built. Some of them just aren't accurate though. It's a crapshoot.
-Dan
 
Mosins are my favorite surplus rifles. I haven't shot a bad one yet. I prefer the carbines but the full-length rifles are awesome also.
 
Having had and shot many, I have also studied then extensively. They are brute tough and built "soldier proof".That being said they are for the most part pporly finished and difficult to operate. Sticky bolts are common. Like any wartime production arm, they are rather crude. As stated they can be hard to spoterize as the design doesnt lend itself to scoping. If you get the sights regulated properly they are amazingly accurate for a military gun.
 
got to love a gun whose ammo costs more than the gun! They are great surplus rifles, along as the bore is somewhat clean. Usually hard to tell from all the cosmoline.
 
I have a long barrel and two short barrel ones with bayonets. The only thing that limits them is the quality of the ammo. Lots of cheap surplus out there for plinking and accurate commercial ammo for hunting. Those steel butt plates are no joke though.
 
disagree

I'm gonna disagree with gun plumber - if you have an accurate Mosin, they are great deer guns. I have one of the long barreled jobs and I had the bolt turned a scope put on it by a gunsmith. It regularly shoots 2" at 100 yards with surplus ammo. I selected a rifle with a bright and shiny bore with very sharp edges and rifling at the crown. I bought mine back in '93 when they were just coming in. The importer had connexes full of them and a buddy and I spent 1/2 the day selecting ours. We paid $49 for them out the door.

With Sellier & Bellot (spelling?) 180gr SP rounds, mine holds just under 1 1/4" at 100 yards.

The round is on par with a 30/06 & is a bit stronger than a .308

The 180gr round makes for excellent deer medicine.
 
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