Educate Me on Mosins

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Newt

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So, I've had several suggestions, both here and another forum, to purchase a Mosin as my "Merry Christmas to Me" gift.
See this: http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=407643

I have to admit, that as long as I've owned/shot rifles, and been a member of THR, I don't have a clue about them.

What can I do with it? - Scope it? - Deer Rifle? - Plinker? - Ammo? - Accessorize?

You'll have to really fill in the gaps. I'm a true noob when it comes to them.
 
Well, I don't own one (yet), but I've done a good bit of research..

Deer rifle is a definite, the ammo is pretty cheap for plinking, although 7.62x54R has a decent kick, so you'd need a good buttstock absorber for a lot of target shooting...

They are scope-able, with the correct accessories...

Check out http://www.tickbitesupply.com/mos.html for some ideas on things you can "add on".

Tickbite also has several models for sale under "Firearms"

As for reliability, they are "bulletproof" heh, it's a soviet design, and known to be pretty indestructable unless you're trying to destroy it.

I've heard several people mention that some of them come with pretty bad barrels though, so it's best to "see" the gun before you buy, to check for a clean, still rifled barrel.


Hope this helps!
 
The 'carbine versions' do have a fairly big fireball when fired with some of the "heavy ball" ammo.

With soft-point ammo, they should be able to take down anything that could be harvested with a .30-06/.308 round.

The Mosin rifles do have a thick steel butt-plate, so an after-market reocil pad is a good thing. My M-44 is a lot easier on my shoulder with a <$10 Butler Creek slip-on pad.
 
I have several of them and they are great fun. The ammo is cheap, they are definitely powerful enough for hunting. Accuracy runs from poor to acceptable, depending on the bore, barrel, and crown.

On top of that they are a great piece of history that I hope you wouldn't bubba unless you get one already bubba'd.

Go to www.7.62x54r.net for all you could possibly want to know.
 
I've never hunted before, but at 23 and married, I got the itch. So I just picked up a 91/30 as a budget deer rifle. Maybe next season I can try my hand at it. Until then, I'm looking forward to practice with all the cheap surplus out there... (that is unless they ban imported ammo :barf:).
 
Heh heh...I've bought 6 since last February. There is just something about a 30 cal rifle to be had for 70 bucks that appeals to me.
91/30 hex receiver
91/30 round receiver
M38
M44
91/59
New England Westinghouse (Why yes, an American mfr. did make some Russian guns)
 
well there cheap and surplus ammo used to be cheap but is getting more expensive within the last year along with all the other calibers.
they dont have a functional safety and the sights will probably need some work just to be a decent deer rifle, accuracy varies greatly with condition.
the synthetic stock is a good investment if you are going to accesorize it recoil isnt bad with the aftermarket stock most of the scope mounts are not that great and usually require a very long eye relief and possibly bolt modification however a red dot may work well.
 
...they dont have a functional safety...
Click to expand...
:what:

I guess my Mosins must be defective:eek:. I will grant you that the Mosin safety may not be the easiest to engage/disengage, but all six of mine work as designed.
 
Basically, the Mosin is a very inexpensive, large-caliber plinker that happens to be a piece of military history.

You can scope them, but I don't think it's worth the hassle. If you want a scoped rifle, buy something like a Steven's or Marlin XL7.
 
...they dont have a functional safety.
Click to expand...

It might surprise you to learn that many MN owners have no idea that they even have a safety, A friend of mine had three of them, he gave me one of them and sold the other two because he didn't like the idea of NO safety.

After I had the one he gave me for about two days, I figured out the safety thing, I showed him , needless to say, he was a wee bit peeved.
 
The safety is awfully hard to work, though (especially if your fingers are wet).

My own preference is to close the bolt on a loaded magazine, chamber empty. I can work the bolt a lot faster than I can get the safety off.

On the other side of the coin, it is pretty much impossible for that safety to be accidentally disengaged, or for the rifle to go off with the safety engaged.
 
Dollar for dollar, they are the most economical full sized caliber rifle. The kick isn't as bad as everyone says. They can be very accurate or moderately inaccurate and everyone has a ton of history behind it, many of which have probably seen combat.
 

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There is an article in this months "Guns" about the Finnish Mosins. Now I kinda want one myself.

I'm in the same boat as the OP. I don't know the first thing about them. I do like the short barreled ones the best.
 
Educate Me on Mosins
Click to expand...

I will break the code of silence and tell you the awful secret of these rifles. They are powerfully addictive. Ask how many owners are actually multi owners. The percentages may surprise you :)
I bought my first one (91/30) about 4 months ago. I have recently added a M44 and a M38, both with all matching numbers and in excellent shape. And now I'm getting that twitchy feeling about a M39. My palms get sweaty, my breathing gets ragged, and I can't sleep thinking about finding just the right one. So do yourself a favor and don't listen to the people encouraging you to get one. You can never go back........
 
I own 2.. a 38 and 44.. wonderful little guys..

Mauser will probably be my favorite though..
 
Greatest bang for the buck.... Here's my first one
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And like they said you just can't have one. From the picture you can see the aftermarket scope and bolt modifications. Once I corked the barrel, the accuracy went to 1 moa.

Its fun to shoot with the bayonet attached, and the ammo is inexpensive by any but the home loaders account.

Just be picky looking for sharp rifle'ing. Don't worry too much about the barrel being dark vice nice and shiney. Although the purists will tell you not to clean up the wood work, I say make it pretty. Do the collector thing later on.

KKKKFL
 
I've got two M-44s. A Russian and a Romanian. Best bang for the buck rifles currently available.
Accuracy is improved by using present production factory ammunition. Current production is also non-corrosive. Unlike all the surplus which is corrosive.
Surplus used to be outstanding plinking ammo. Now it has absolutely skyrocketed in price and some are asking near insane prices.
For example, the Gander Mountain in my neck-o-da-woods is selling 7.62x54R heavy ball for $179.99 for a sealed tin of, I believe, 220 rounds. Same stuff last year was had for $39.95.
Un-freakin'-real.
But, anyway, it's still a helluva buy for a high powered .30 cal rifle. Like a poster noted above, it can take any animal you'd normally hunt with a .308 or a 30-06.

Happy hunting!

Hey! Nice hat Franco2shoot! Looks like you have the same scope mount I have on my Romanian.
What's the length on your scope? I had a 12" that I could not use as it was hitting the rear sight and I did not want to remove the rear sight.
 
Newbie here also.Could someone explain what these mean?
91/30 hex receiver
91/30 round receiver
M38
M44
91/59
such as;is one type of reciever better than another,and why?

thanks !
 
Hell even my M39 Finnish was pretty inexpensive. I just couldn't pass it up. Can't wait to shoot it, finally, and see if it is as accurate as claimed.

If I do scope it I'll probably do the S&K scout scope mount as I really hate to tap a Finn m-n for a scope (no qualms about a more common model). Or I may do a Mojo peep sight. I plan to go to The Boltman for the bolt conversion if I go that route. That seemed like the best option to me.
 
Mosins are like potato chips - you can't have just one. So far, I have a Finnish M/27, a Soviet hex M91/30 with a surprisingly nice trigger, and a Hungarian M44.
 
"The most fun in the bolt actioned rifle world. I love mine."


I love mine also ,but you want fun in bolt action shooting?, buy a Swiss straight pull (ex...K31,K11,G1911 )..cycles like butter and 3 times more accurate than most mosins.
 
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