Need help identifying a rifle

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KS Plinker

KS Plinker

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I took my dad out shooting today and he brought an old 7.62 rifle with him that he’d bought some time ago but hasn’t ever shot. My son and I shot a 4-5 rounds through it (I went first), and it did fine.

I got back in to shooting 2-3 years ago so everything I have are modern era rifles and pistols. I know pretty much nothing about old guns so I figured I come to where all the experts live (THR).

BTW...I’ve been a member here for several months, posted several times on existing topics but this is my first time starting a new thread. I’ve learned a ton from several folks here so thank you for that, I also like the fact that everyone generally speaking are pleasant to one another and the MODS do a good job of keeping things on track.

So back to the rifle, I’d like to know anything you can tell me about it. It’s old but is it worth anything ? Is it unique or rare in any way or are there a lot of them out there?

I took several PICS to aid in the discussion, any information provided would be helpful. He’s not looking to get rid of it he’s just interested in knowing more about it.

Thanks A79C27A8-E4F4-48B9-B151-1D14E5B6F200.jpeg 3E696F84-0E0F-4B97-9AB2-9F1BA45B129B.jpeg 1785B1E8-F31A-4799-857D-8619794E5545.jpeg 4AF8B32E-6DB0-4FCE-BCA5-F69E29C50F89.jpeg D92B0F56-DA2F-4B3F-B360-36326434FF0B.jpeg 4EB64B62-E761-4B15-8AA6-3495E5E6B813.jpeg 81BFC617-6EB7-4677-AA0A-D502C7ED9543.jpeg 73C772A2-364B-43BA-B3C2-177BDF76604B.jpeg 0C0CAE95-FCCD-4651-AF15-0BC13687955A.jpeg
 
As long as it shoots acceptably, the Mosin Nagant is a great rifle just to "keep around". Ammo is available for reasonable price, is powerful, and the gun's design is about the most rugged in history. Find a load it likes and pick-up a case and or two for a rainy day.
 
Thanks for all the info / quick replies back, mich appreciated.

I need to figure out how to operate the sight, no idea what the numbers slide mean.
 
As everyone points out, that looks like a 91/30 Russin Mosin also called Mosin Nagant after two inventors involved in the design.
91/30 Series of 1891, standardised model of 1930.
I paid 129.00 for mine in 2008 and have shot it in the vintage rifle matches.
Locally used prices for one in good condition are currently triple what I paid.

I will concede that I keep my sights at a more modest 100 setting. As a wise man once said, "A man's got to know his limitations".
 
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Carl N. Brown said:
As everyone points out, that looks like a 91/30 Russin Mosin also called Mosin Nagant after two inventors involved in the design.
91/30 Series of 1891, standardised model of 1930.
I paid 129.00 for mine in 2008 and have shot it in the vintage rifle matches.
Locally used prices for one in good condition are currently triple what I paid.

I will concede that I keep my sights at a more modest 100 setting. As a wise man once said, "A man's got to know his limitations".
Click to expand...

Yea, I think I remember my dad saying he paid like $200 for his or something like that, I’ll have to ask him next time I talk to him.
 
LoonWulf said:
With the sight set at 800 arshins?
Click to expand...
Meters. The soviets adopted meters shortly after the Revolution, they got around to changing the sight to meters when they replaced the Konovalov sight in 1930, with the change to the M91/30 variant.
1943 Ishevsk M91/30, the most common year/variant.
The number on the sight are in Meters. You slide the sight by pushing the buttons on the side in, and setting to the range you will be shootingat. Meters are close enough to yards in this case. I set the sights on my 91/30's to 300 meters when shooting at 100 yards. Give that a try. Also the sights were adjusted by the Armorer at the factory, with the bayonet on the gun! You may have to adjust the windage. (tap the front sight. Restake it when it is on.)
When shooting surplus ammo, be sure to clean the rifle right away with something that will neutralize the corrosives in the priming compound. HOT! water (as in cleaning a Black Powder gun) or Sweet's 7.62 solvent are what I've used with excellent results.
Enjoy, but beware. Mosins can be addictive. (just ask Gunny!)

Another excellent forum dedicated to the Mosin Nagant is https://russian-mosin-nagant.com/index.html I go by the same username on there, too.
 
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KS Plinker said:
I didn’t even know that’s what the “sight” was called.

Is it easily explained or maybe I’ll do a quick search on YT and see if I can find something.
Click to expand...
Arshins are the unit of measure the sights are marked in, its not meters or yards....but for the life of me i cant remember the correlation.

you actuall adjust the front sight to "zero" the gun at a particular setting, then use the slide for range compensation.

Theres actually a lot of very knowledgeable guys on the forums, so ill bow out here.
 
entropy said:
Meters. The soviets adopted meters shortly after the Revolution, they got around to changing the sight to meters when they replaced the Konovalov sight in 1930, with the change to the M91/30 variant.
1943 Ishevsk M91/30, the most common year/variant.
The number on the sight are in Meters. You slide the sight by pushing the buttons on the side in, and setting to the range you will be shootingat. Meters are close enough to yards in this case.
When shooting purlus ammo, be sure to clean the rifle right away with something that will neutralize the corrosives in the priming compound. HOT! water (as in cleaning a Black Powder gun) or Sweet's 7.62 solvent are what I've used with excellent results.
Enjoy, but beware. Mosins can be addictive. (just ask Gunny!)
Click to expand...
See, listen to that guy!
 
entropy said:
Meters. The soviets adopted meters shortly after the Revolution, they got around to changing the sight to meters when they replaced the Konovalov sight in 1930, with the change to the M91/30 variant.
1943 Ishevsk M91/30, the most common year/variant.
The number on the sight are in Meters. You slide the sight by pushing the buttons on the side in, and setting to the range you will be shootingat. Meters are close enough to yards in this case. I set the sights on my 91/30's to 300 meters when shooting at 100 yards. Give that a try. Also the sights were adjusted by the Armorer at the factory, with the bayonet on the gun! You may have to adjust the windage. (tap the front sight. Restake it when it is on.)
When shooting surplus ammo, be sure to clean the rifle right away with something that will neutralize the corrosives in the priming compound. HOT! water (as in cleaning a Black Powder gun) or Sweet's 7.62 solvent are what I've used with excellent results.
Enjoy, but beware. Mosins can be addictive. (just ask Gunny!)

Another excellent forum dedicated to the Mosin Nagant is https://russian-mosin-nagant.com/index.html I go by the same username on there, too.
Click to expand...

I will definitely try what you suggested above on the site setting and see what happens. Thanks for that tip as well as the additional info on the sites u provided.
 
The pre-Soviet "arshins"... IIRC, 1 arshin = 28". Somebody around here posted it in another thread. The Soviet era change to meters... I looked it up... 1meter = 39.37". It's a pretty big jump from 28" to 39.37".

Take our 36"/1yd and add 3.37". As you figure to shoot increasing ranges, you start noticing how the disparity between yds and meters increases. A 300m battlesight zero is 327yds. Anything within that is generally close enough it don't matter.

Raising elevation to 800m to shoot 100yds... that's pretty high. I'm not discounting the 300m suggestion, and at some point I might use that method too. However, depending on the size of the target at 100yds/m, I'd usually set it for 100m, see where it hits, and elevate as needed.
 
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Start with a large close target and adjust as you extend.

Change in scope and mount left me with no idea of my zero last week.
But a 30" target at 25 yards caught the first shot, adjustment put me close to center, verified at 50 yards, then the ballistics chart for a known load got me a first round hit at 100. Longest shot on that field is only about 240 yards, just a few lines down on the chart and a twirl of the knob will handle that.

Iron sights graduated in metres will call for compromise, but you can get on target. Don't worry when the surveyed range doesn't agree with the numbers on the sight.
Russian assumption that the bayonet will be fixed and changes in ammo spec with time will move things around.
 
mustanger98 said:
The pre-Soviet "arshins"... IIRC, 1 arshin = 28". Somebody around here posted it in another thread. The Soviet era change to meters... I looked it up... 1meter = 39.37". It's a pretty big jump from 28" to 39.37".

Take our 36"/1yd and add 3.37". As you figure to shoot increasing ranges, you start noticing how the disparity between yds and meters increases. A 300m battlesight zero is 327yds. Anything within that is generally close enough it don't matter.

Raising elevation to 800m to shoot 100yds... that's pretty high. I'm not discounting the 300m suggestion, and at some point I might use that method too. However, depending on the size of the target at 100yds/m, I'd usually set it for 100m, see where it hits, and elevate as needed.
Click to expand...

Copy that, thanks for your input.
 
Jim Watson said:
Start with a large close target and adjust as you extend.

Change in scope and mount left me with no idea of my zero last week.
But a 30" target at 25 yards caught the first shot, adjustment put me close to center, verified at 50 yards, then the ballistics chart for a known load got me a first round hit at 100. Longest shot on that field is only about 240 yards, just a few lines down on the chart and a twirl of the knob will handle that.

Iron sights graduated in metres will call for compromise, but you can get on target. Don't worry when the surveyed range doesn't agree with the numbers on the sight.
Russian assumption that the bayonet will be fixed and changes in ammo spec with time will move things around.
Click to expand...

My dad told me he does have the bayonet so may have to try mounting it while attempting to site in to see if it helps.
 
There was also 2 surplus loads available. If memory serves me correctly ones 149 gr the other 178 gr.
I've shot vintage matches with surplus ammo and always had a few uncalled fliers. Started weighing and sorting loaded ammo. Fliers disappeared for the most part.
 
The video WAS funny. Two concerns though. He looked pretty remote but he was getting ricochets off the water. Second it was hard to tell the exact position of the truck when shooting at the steel plate, but I've seen strange ricochets off those too.
 
AFAIK, all the Mosins were intended for 147gr ammo, but one of my carbines shoots much better with 203gr heavy ball ammo loaded for machine guns. I shoot it at 100 yards and in, where POA is close enough to POI. Kicks like a mule but it's all worth it when it blows the hell out of a water jug.
 
mosins are a lot of fun. One of the few rifles out there that guarantee some history. Even the rifles that never saw use have the history of Russian civil war assets. Be careful about ammo, most is corrosive, and threes special cleaning procedures for it. Recoil is painful, and thats part of its charm, so if it hurts to shoot, don't feel like its you, its not, this was a time when people thought a soldier would shoot 30 round during an entire war, not in 2 minutes, as the trenches of 2 world wars, and a revolution made happen. They are very good, but by '43 you may need to load appropriately for it, most nations had extreme tooling variance at the time, and I have a Mosin collector friend who does bore slugging and some are approaching .319 (near 8mm), but they shoot well with the correct bullets.
 
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