Mosin Standing Position

Have you tired taking the bolt out and just holding it up for a while every now and then during the day? Other than that, curls would help out your arm. While you are shooting, a quick way to get extra stability is to rest your forward arm's elbow into your gut.

Edit: Thats a pretty rifle, but I think all mosins are pretty. I think I have a sickness

The solution to your problem is called "practice"...........Mosin Nagnat rifles are not that heavy..........chris3

Honestly what helped me is shooting my SKS, which I bought after the Mosin. After shooting it quite a bit I realized how dramatically more the SKS weighs than the Mosin. I also wrap the sling around my left arm (right handed) for stability. Make sure you use your off hand for stability, and with your other hand hold the grip of the stock so it pushes the buttplate firm against your chest, couldn't hurt to do some more pushups. I'm in the same boat lol

It's an issue of length that's making it harder to steady. Just keep up the practice and long rifles will become normal.

One "shooting-specific" exercise i was taught was to take some dumbells, and hold them with your hands staggered in front of you as you would when holding a rifle at low-ready. Raise them up in front of you, level with your head, count five seconds, lower. Switch hands, like you were now shooting left handed. Repeat.

Do it til your arms start to ache every other day. After a while, extend the time spent in "firing position." Before long your rifle will seem much lighter, and you SHOULD find your aim steadier.

It was noted in a thread here or on another site that when put into a strained situation like this that there is a limited window of steadiness. It takes a second or two for the muscles to first calm down to the least amount of motion. Then they quickly tire and begin to shake. If you can't get the shot off within 5 to 7 seconds of shouldering the gun then likely you want to lower it to the bench or "port arms" and let your arms recover for a few seconds then try again.

I had never thought of it that way but once I read it the big light over my head lit up. The description pretty much hit exactly on target for my own standing "free style" shooting.

And of course the stronger your arms the longer the "calm time" will last. So the pushups, chin ups and weight training suggested above sure can't hurt.... And as much as hate to say it, since this includes me too, if "we" are having troubles holding the rifle up then "we" should likely get out and get more active all around in addition to the arm strengthening exercises....

I find at least a hasty sling essential for stabilizing Mosins off hand.

Just an FYI, due to the position of the forward sling slot on the stock, shooting with a sling as support WILL mess up your group sizes. Tension on the sling pulls the barrel down very slightly and the tension changes with every little movement, causing irregular groups.

Well yes and no. It can certainly pull the pencil barrel of a 91/30 a bit over, and it may effect your groups. But if you do it the same way each time it's a predictable shift in my experience and any increase in the random pattern falls within my margin of error for off hand. Put another way, I shoot worse off hand than any negative effect the sling has ;-) And the negative effect of hasty sling pressure (remember that's not a very tight sling arrangement) is made up for by helping to keep the rifle steady.

Also, FWIW the thick-stocked, thick-barreled Finns seem to be less effected by the pressure of the sling so if it becomes a problem you can just switch to an M39. It's heavier but in some ways heavier is easier to steady. Not sure why that is.