Mosin nagant question?

Now consider that these guys were operating in a relatively sterile and quiet environment compared to the average infantryman.
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American European theater heavy bomber crews took the highest casualties per capital of any unit in the war IIRC. Also at 28 thousand feet and -30f one tends to not really recall things accurately. Personally I can't see how they hit anything under those conditions. Also if 6 gunners were firing on a 109 and it blew up, all six would make a claim confirmed usually by another gunner in their aircraft. I knew a 17 pilot with 34 missions when I was young, and he claimed that the flack got more 17's than fighters. And that a great deal of the losses were planes that had mechanical failures or pilot error. And that many just ran out of fuel on the way home.
 
carguychris, that was one of the more informative posts/summaries/whatever about WWII that I've heard in a long time. Really interesting -- awesome read. Kudos to you.

And to repeat what others have probably already said (I didn't read the entire thread), IF the rifle was used in combat, that soldier (or soldiers) probably had no idea how many rounds he fired, how many woundings/killings he had, etc. WWII at its worst was just a blaze of gunfire, especially with the mess they had. No telling if you shot the enemy or if the guy next to you did. Check for tally marks on the side of the stock, though. Maybe somebody got a lil cocky :).

I've got a Hungarian-made Mosin M44. Who knows if it saw action or not. I assume that it never did. I'd just appreciate the history of the gun, and maintain it well. It's a relic, now. I believe mine was made in 1951 or so, and it has plenty of scrapes and scratches on its stock. It's well-worn, but it was my first-ever gun -- purchased by my parents when I was 17 for like $70. That, to me, is enough to keep it around to remind me of the "greatest generation" and all that was sacrificed.

Plus, it shoots like a cannon, and that's always fun :). Still trying to get my girlfriend to try it out once...
 
I agree with a lot of the posters. I own my Mosin-Nagant for its historical value, ungainly aesthetics and its significance to some people, such as Soviet conscripts who trusted every inch of their life to it. Just imagine: If you were in the middle of a hellish, dazing fight with the third Reich, and the only thing that you know that can get you out of it is your wits and the mechanical pipe with gunpowder in your hands. I'm sure a lot of praying occurred behind these guns.

And usually, a good way to tell if it saw action- if it looks like someone dug it out of the dirt after thirty years- then it probably did. :) if it still looks like a rifle, it probably didn't. :p

Oh- and my girlfriend loves my P/U Mosin... i'm so lucky :p
 
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