Mosin Nagant

B

Brando1992

New member
Well, I have not used my mosin in about 6 months and got the kick and removed the cosmoline from the stock and then refinished it! I got this rifle a few years back and it seems impossible now to find surplus ammo, even tulammo for it has gone up in price! It seems like it isn't even worth shooting anymore. Any one else feeling the same way?
 
I looked in to getting one but decided not to because of this. It seems there is not really any surplus ammo of anything anymore that isn't currently being used by the military or law enforcement :(
 
I have a friend that has 2 mosin's and a dragunov(same ammo) he bought about 6 spam cans a year or so back for 50 bucks a pop. While they're nowhere near that cheap, United Nations ammo is selling 2 spam cans for about 300 bucks. That's 35 cents a round. You do have to drop 300 bucks on it though to get that deal
 
It's all resulting from Russian sanctions political unrest. 3 years ago I was shooting the snot out of my 91/30 then the word hit the net that all the ammo suppliers were having a really hard time importing ammo , hence panic ensues creating a huge demand, minimal supply. I reload and have been focusing my investing into reloading components instead of millsurp.
 
When you factor in the price of a Mosin, which is a steal in my opinion for what you get, how fun they are to shoot, the ballistics of the 7.62x54r round, yeh, for me they are still worth shooting.
 
$.40/round here, shipped:

http://www.unammo.com/#76

I don't get what the gripe is...unless you REALLY go back in time, it was $.25 round plus... so, you might drop ten bucks more than before.

At just $.15 round more than .223 or x 39, I don't see it as a dealbreaker- problem is, we were spoiled too long, by too cheap ammo.
 
Road_Clam said:
It's all resulting from Russian sanctions political unrest. 3 years ago I was shooting the snot out of my 91/30 then the word hit the net that all the ammo suppliers were having a really hard time importing ammo , hence panic ensues creating a huge demand, minimal supply. I reload and have been focusing my investing into reloading components instead of millsurp.
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That too. The ammo for the dragunov(sniper specific) is especially hard to get.

How do you reload the 7.62x54r? Do you modify the cartridge to take boxer primers or reload with the original berdans?
 
I don't get what the gripe is...unless you REALLY go back in time, it was $.25 round plus...
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What do you mean REALLY go back in time? I've been closely monitoring the price of 7.62x54mmR ammunition for the past 4 years. Only in the past 6 months has the price risen to what it is now. 6 months ago, it was indeed $0.25 a round everywhere online. Now, it's $0.40 and up.

PS: This round is currently used by the Russian military and many others in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. There is no lack of surplus, but for various reasons, the U.S. supply line for it has been drastically cut.
 
Reloading surplus 7.62x54R is not practical. It can be done, and some folks have converted fired cases to use Boxer primers, but there is some potential danger and I do NOT recommend it.

But if you are willing to spring for new ammo, there are several makers, including Prvi Partizan and Winchester, who make Boxer primed 7.62x54R ammo and there are also suppliers of new cases.

Jim
 
James K said:
Reloading surplus 7.62x54R is not practical. It can be done, and some folks have converted fired cases to use Boxer primers, but there is some potential danger and I do NOT recommend it.

But if you are willing to spring for new ammo, there are several makers, including Prvi Partizan and Winchester, who make Boxer primed 7.62x54R ammo and there are also suppliers of new cases.

Jim
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That's what I was wondering.
 
I've felt that way since I first started buying them. they just don't compare to a good springfield, enfield, mauser, or arisaka. the only reason they were ever considered a good buy was because they were cheap and ammo was cheap and common, now the ammos gone, it's about the same as most other ammo, despite being poorly manufactured, and the rifles have gone up in price significantly.
 
How do you reload the 7.62x54r? Do you modify the cartridge to take boxer primers or reload with the original berdans?
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Use boxer-primed brass.

My Mosin hasn't seen surplus ammunition in my hands. Although it did get fed about 8 rounds of re-branded S&B factory ammo, everything else has been handloads.

I bought the rifle for what it was - not for the cheap, inconsistent ammo.
I don't have a problem with other people buying certain firearms simply because there's an 'oversupply' of cheap ammo available. I simply made a different decision when it came to buying a Mosin. (And I wasn't actually looking for one. I just happened across an M38 that I really liked, and the price was more than agreeable.)


If you're wondering what exactly I see in that rifle...
It's a reliable brush gun that's suitable (in my opinion and with my handloads) for big game up to Moose. When I care to take out the least valuable rifle, because it's certain to have a hard day... It's M38 time! (Or the .444 Marlin H&R Handi-Rifle, but that's a different subject.)
The M38 sees very little range time and nearly zero plinking. It's for snap shots in thick scrub, at close range. And that's about it.
 
FrankenMauser said:
Use boxer-primed brass.

My Mosin hasn't seen surplus ammunition in my hands. Although it did get fed about 8 rounds of re-branded S&B factory ammo, everything else has been handloads.

I bought the rifle for what it was - not for the cheap, inconsistent ammo.
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Fair enough. My friend that has a few mosins bought them for nostalgia, not for cheap ammo.

Those berdan primed surplus ammo is corrosive so it's a good thing you don't shoot any(seems like you knew that buying the rifle)
 
I bought mine several years ago. Cabela's received a large supply for an upcoming Fathers Day sale.

I was on a road trip when I checked them out. Two days early for the sale. I whined like a yankee, crying that I wouldn't be in town for the sale. They felt sorry for me and let me pick one, and pay the sale price (some times it pays to be a whinny baby). Got it for $109. Again that was a few years ago.

I picked one based on the condition of the barrel and I picked right.

Anyway, I haven't and refused to, to this day shoot surplus ammo in my rifle. The only empty brass I could find at the time was Norma. I found out I could buy Winchester ammo cheaper then Norma brass so I bit the bullet (pun intended) and bought 200 rounds of Factory Winchester. I load for accuracy and not for speed, so I used moderate loads. I'm still loading that original 200 rounds and my gun shoots great. That is ones I got the sights fixed where they represent the marking on the sights instead of shooting the 8 inches high at 100 yards when I got it.

The Mosin is a good rifle, and if you learn to shoot it, and use GOOD QUALITY ammo, it shoots well enough to be competitive in the CMP GSM matches.

What I like most about it, it was reasonably priced, meaning someone with limited funds could buy one can be competitive in matches. Keeping shooting sports from being a rich man's game.
 
Honestly if you clean the rifle the right way and right after shooting, milsurp ammo won't hurt it.

Now for hunting, yeah, use new Factory ammo cause it's likely not to get cleaned right away.

For plinking use whatever is cheapest. My shooting partner uses his with wwII era correct scope to let the young men in our church youth group shoot. They enjoy shooting and they're unique, fun and they learn to shoot, and as a retired police officer and instructor is the force they learn correct shooting etiquette and safety. It's fun to see him bark at them for not taking their finger out of the trigger guard when they lower an arm.
 
Prvi Partisan makes great boxer-primed ammo, just buy some and shoot it.

Then learn to reload if you don't like paying for decent ammo.

If you thought surplus ammo was going to be cheap forever, join the .303 British, the Romanian 8mm Mauser, the Greek M2, and the South African 5.56mm, the Swiss G11, the Austrian .308, the Malaysian .223, and the US .30 Carbine club, lots of membership opportunities, it seems.
 
The Mosins are fun guns. Excellent stopping power at close range. With a bayonet, they are formidable weapons. They are best left in original military condition.

I have about 3K rounds of the milsurp that I bought back when it was a dime a dozen. With a blast of Windex down the bore, it won't corrode the rifle, and in my experience is plenty accurate.
 
"...converted fired cases to use Boxer primers..." Doesn't work for any Berdan primed case. Berdan primers, that you can't easily get, are not the same diameter or depth as Boxer large rifle.
Scroll down for dimensions.
http://www.dave-cushman.net/shot/berdan_supplies_dimensions.html
Vs.
http://ballistictools.com/articles/primer-pocket-depth-and-diameter.php
However, there's no shortage of boxer primed 7.62 x 54R brass. Midway wants $48.99 per 100 for Prvi. $89.99 per 100 for over priced Norma.
Oh and the days of 'cheap' milsurp ammo of any kind are long gone.
"...for big game up to Moose..." Any game in North America.
 
As mentioned above, the Prvi (PPU) brass is pretty decent.
The Prvi 7.62x54R brass that I have is nearly on par with Lapua for consistency.

S&B... :rolleyes: I try to avoid it, but it's the most commonly available case. It works and I have plenty. I just don't like it. The Prvi stuff is much better.


Note:
"Winchester" 7.62x54R brass is drawn by S&B, currently, and has been for about 10 years. However, some of the older "Winchester" brass was drawn by Prvi.
 
nhyrum said:
How do you reload the 7.62x54r? Do you modify the cartridge to take boxer primers or reload with the original berdans?
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No. Berdan primed brass while it can be reloaded is just WAY too much of a PIA to prep. I've bee buying up mostly PPU boxer brass over the past few years. Some new, some once fired. Same with X39 , got about 600 pcs of brass each. I also ocassionally buy Privi loaded ammo and then save the brass.
 
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