Mosin Nagant

Finnish sniper Simo Hayha is supposed to be the highest scoring sniper with something like 550 kills against the Red Army during the Russo-Finnish Winter War, 1939/1940. All in less than 100 days and all with iron sights.

Nicknamed "White Death" he mostly used a Finnish, Civil Guard issue Sako built MN/ 28-30 although also a Suomi SMG and sometimes in temps as low as minus 40 F!

The M/28-30 was known as "Pystykorva" after the Spitz dog because of the protective ears that stuck up along side the front sight.
 
I think I had 6 Mosin Nagants at one time. Bought them when they were less than $100 a piece. Had a LOT of ammo. Every time I saw it with free shipping I bought another case. Those crates are good to stand on to clean the roof of my truck! :)

I know I made some people mad, but one of them got cut short and I made it into a Carbine. Two others got the aftermarket stock which lets me have detachable mags, and yes, they work just fine.

For cheap guns back then, why not cut them up and make something cool out of them? I'm not from Russia, they have no value to me, like a Garand would.

Buy what you like and do what you like with it! :)
 
I know I made some people mad, but one of them got cut short and I made it into a Carbine. * * * For cheap guns back then, why not cut them up and make something cool out of them? I'm not from Russia, they have no value to me, like a Garand would.
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Some folks have 'standard' Garands, and some folks have "cut-down" Garand "carbines," called Mini-Gs.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XlYJacucucQ

The standard M1s are fun and accurate and obviously Match-legal, while the Mini-Gs are fun and accurate and handy in the woods, or as a "truck gun."

I have both types and they serve different uses, like having a bag of golf clubs.
 
This thread went crazier than the monthly AR vs. Mini-14 thread.:D The Garand and M-N are just two completely different rifles.

I should have bought a couple when they were cheap. My bud tried to talk me into doing that but I didn't. For the price asked for the rifle the OP found I would spend a little more and just get a Mauser 98. They can still be had for $350-500 on GB. I had one I bought from AIM surplus a few years ago for about $200 IIRC and bought a spam can of ammo.

And yes it kicked. A lot. I didn't like the weight either. It was not a gun I would have carried in the woods. At the range was fine and I suspect a M-N would be the same way for me. So I gave up on military surplus rifles.

But I do like the idea of a rugged, dependable gun in the military fashion because just in case there is some societal collapse I want a rifle that will last and not break down on me. I ended up with a Ruger MK II in 30-06 that cost me $425 about 4 years ago. And its a shooter. Is it military rifle strong? probably not but it serves the purpose I wanted it for.

But there is just something special about owning a gun that may have been carried through a war. Maybe saved a soldiers life. No matter what side he fought on. He didn't start the war. He was just a product of the stupidity of politicians.:mad:
 
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The M1 performed exceptionally well during the 'Frozen Chosin' Reservoir engagements which occurred in worse winter weather than you'd typically find in Siberia. Malfunctions, which were quite small percentage-wise (per # of M1s in action in Korea), were traced to lack of cleaning, not weather conditions.
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It did perform magnificently. I do have to point out that Chosin was unusual, Siberia and Russia -40 c/f is common and much worse on an off all winter long. We saw -50 and worse often in interior AK and Siberia is worse.

JS: Well the issue is when you need fire power, do you want to be struggling with a single shot or a very reliable Semi Auto?

Accuracy from an MN is a crap shoot. Accuracy from an M1 or a 1903 (or a 1917) was guaranteed to be no worse than spec.

The reason Russians armed huge numbers of troops with machine guns and semi auto was the need for fire power.

Make the tolerance loose enough and a semi auto does fine in -40 as well. Called SKS and AK-47. not that accurate. But they do throw a lot of bullets.
 
I spent about 20 years with the AK NG, a good deal of it as an XO then a CO of a Native Guard company. It often got to 60 below and colder. I jumped into Galena when it was 68 Below.

Its retavely easy to keep gas guns dry. On you keep them outside so they dont sweat going from the warm tent to the sub zero air.

Second you keep then totally dry. We use dry cleaning solvent to clean them, After a couple shots they warm up and you can add a bit of light oil (Law).

When the shooting is done you clean all the oil off again.

This goes not only for the M1 which we used for Sniper rifles but the M16s as well.
 
I spent about 20 years with the AK NG, a good deal of it as an XO then a CO of a Native Guard company. It often got to 60 below and colder. I jumped into Galena when it was 68 Below.
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Frankly I can't imagine that. I spent plenty of time outside at more than -40, but no wind. I think the coldest I ever could confirm was -72 (Northway) - we went outside for about 15 minutes just to say we did. The Military used to come down there from Wainwright to field test cold weather gear. Lots of fun for us.

The funniest one was one of the Airborne divisions (or part) jumping into Wainwrights.

The fellers were dressed to the max, it was warmer in Fairbanks than it was in (North/South Carolina?)

No one seemed to have thought to check the AK weather, good for -80 gear and we were in the 40s.

Pretty bewildered looking group.
 
Its retavely easy to keep gas guns dry. On you keep them outside so they dont sweat going from the warm tent to the sub zero air. Second you keep then totally dry. We use dry cleaning solvent to clean them, After a couple shots they warm up and you can add a bit of light oil (Law).
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Yeah, over the years I've become convinced that semis generally, and the M1 in particular, will run just fine in very cold weather if you've prepped them for it.

Plus, nowadays we got all kinds of special "arctic-rated" ultra-low-temp lubes for semi-auto rifles that weren't around even 20-yrs ago, let alone at the Frozen Chosin or the Bulge.

This goes not only for the M1 which we used for Sniper rifles but the M16s as well.
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Applies to your basic hunting rifle too if you have a season at deer camp where winter hits early. That happened to up once. We got hit with 3- or 4-days of hard snow fall, high wind, and wind-chill temps. Our rifles were already zero-ed so we left them and the ammo outside (and covered) but never brought them in. Only one guy had an issue and that was a failure to fire to due an oil-coated firing pin because he hadn't stripped the bolt and and de-lubed everything internally.
 
I’m from Finland and have shot in -30 degrees C many times. No problems. Ice melts. As far as the gun goes, summertime sand is a bigger problem. AK, SKS, AR, FAL - all work.

Ice or snow in the magazines is the huge problem!!!





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I feel old for saying this but I remember when $100 was the going rate.
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I paid $69 for one. Got my nice Finnish example for $75. It will hold 2" groups @ 100 yards with surplus ammo.

And the real sad part is that all that surplus ammo dried up after Russia went nuts in Crimea, and got sanctioned. It could be found anywhere for 20 cents per shot right up until that time. I saw the writing on the wall & got stocked up back then; I think the window of opportunity has passed.
 
I paid $1.50 (it might have been $10, I think my dad actually bought ti)

Beat up probably from the Spanish Civil war, still had a good bore though.

1960 or so.
 
And the real sad part is that all that surplus ammo dried up after Russia went nuts in Crimea, and got sanctioned. It could be found anywhere for 20 cents per shot right up until that time. I saw the writing on the wall & got stocked up back then; I think the window of opportunity has passed.
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I think there is more to it than that, and it had to do with timing. The last batch of imports, the spam cans were mostly dated 1988. Not going to be much newer than that in Warsaw Pact nations. Russia was still producing ammo, but I expect in lower quantities after the end of the Cold War.
 
I've bought Mosin Nagant rifles from $50 for a hand picked Polish M44 to $499 for an original 91/30 PU sniper.
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The reason the price is going up they are not importing them anymore. They are great guns but you have to be careful to choose the right one. Remember that most of the surplus ammo that has been shot through these guns is corrosive. If these guns were not cleaned properly they may have damage. A lot of them have worn bores some are worn bad enough to need to be back bored to get them to shoot better. If you can clean the bore & use a bore light to view the condition of the bore look for strong rifling all the way to the muzzle. The rifling in the muzzle usually shows wear first.
 
2011 is when I remember the $100 Mosin, unless it was something special. SKS was $300 for regular ones. I was going to buy one of each but ended up spending $425 on a AKM. Just to hear older people in my family say they remember when those were $100 for a good one.
 
Please guys, its always painful for me to hear you all saying that it was less than $100 a few years ago.

Times has changed and the political climate has a big effect on pricing as well. AK47's used to be $300 rifles, now they are $600+ for the cheaper models and $1000 for the good ones.

The cheapest Mosin 91/30 I bought about 6yrs ago was $140 and that was mismatching and not in the best condition. I sold it for $175 in a few months.

20yrs ago gas was 88cents/gallon; not its hovering around $3/gal. Its just not the same. INFLATION and Supply & Demand.

I sold an M44 in very good condition for $360 not too long ago. Locally they are almost impossible to find ( I checked ). I could've probably asked for $400 and it would still sell since no one else in my area was selling it locally.
 
Please guys, its always painful for me to hear you all saying that it was less than $100 a few years ago.
Times has changed and the political climate has a big effect on pricing as well. AK47's used to be $300 rifles, now they are $600+ for the cheaper models and $1000 for the good ones.
The cheapest Mosin 91/30 I bought about 6yrs ago was $140 and that was mismatching and not in the best condition. I sold it for $175 in a few months.
20yrs ago gas was 88cents/gallon; not its hovering around $3/gal. Its just not the same. INFLATION and Supply & Demand.
I sold an M44 in very good condition for $360 not too long ago. Locally they are almost impossible to find ( I checked ). I could've probably asked for $400 and it would still sell since no one else in my area was selling it locally.
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Price-conscious shoppers agree, if you snooze you lose. Prices over time generally tend to go up, whether it's something in the 'junker' category or the 'quality' category

Same with rifles.

Speaking of quality, I paid the CMP $950 last week for a certified 'Service Grade' Winchester M1 Garand. November '43 receiver; 6/54 barrel (with low TE/ME numbers); and a mix of in-spec USGI parts.

Put 70+ rds of HXP 30-06 ammo thru it today, and what a great shooter this one is!

Yep, you get what you pay for. :cool:
 
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Yeah, according to the inflation calculator, that $75 would be like $112 today. But I recognized that Finnish one was not commie junk. It has really nice machining and would cost a lot more to make today.

One of these days I aughtta try wringing it out with good ammo. If it shoots 2 MOA with cheap surplus, a tuned handload would probably turn it into a real tack driver.
 
The "Finnish one" or actually all the Finn M27, M28/30, M39s, etc, are made on Russian MN receivers, bolts, and floor plates. Usually the Hex receiver versions.

There are also rifles that were on hand in Finland when it was part of the Russian Empire or the thousands captured by the Finns during the Winter War, including both M91s and M91/30s These weapons, as above, were re-stocked (the "pot bellied" stock on captures comes to mind} and re-barreled and in the case of the M27 through 39 models were equipped with different sights to suit the Finns. Finn sniper rifles were still on hex MN receivers well into the 90s,

You can find minor differences as usual....it was even rumored that the bore diameters on these Finn MNs were altered somehow to confuse the Russians....I used to know how but it's been a while, can't recall exactly.
 
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