I have a 50dollar gift card , should I buy a mosin nagant 91/30?

[datruth]

50 dollar gift card to big 5,I dont know much abut them but I would only be out about 30-40 dollars but dont know much about then except they are chambered in 7.62x54R and they have been said to shoot better with the bayonet extended, what can you tell me about them, what do you all use yours for? good buy or just the gun enthusiast about to buy another gun for whatever reason I can tell my wife?this is the one , but i think the local big five has a m44 as well whats the difference?

 

[Arkie]

Well I just took my 91/30 out today and shot it for the first time. It was a hoot. I was shooting at 125 yards with Czech silvertip ammo off hand (I like standing up,,lol) with iron sights. Even got some on the paper. You have to put the bayonet on the 91/30, it comes off and there is no lugs on it to be able to unextend it.

The M44 is also nice to shoot but it has a little more recoil than the 91/30 does cause it's a lot shorter but it is also a fine shooter and with the bayonet extended out it's a little more accurate. The bayonet is attached to the rifle with lugs on the M44.

The M38 has no bayonet with some recoil like the M44 and it will produce about a 5 foot muzzle blast. Now that's Neat!!!

Here is a photo of all three of them together to get a better idea.

http://www.laray.net/toys/Mosin.jpg

 

[stubbicatt]

datruth, you must be looking at the M44 models. They are neat rifles for sure. I personally prefer the 91/30, it is longer overall than the M44. These are surprisingly accurate rifles for what they are.

I think about the number of times mine must have been dropped.

 

[TXj]

I think it's a good buy for the price. Picked mine up at Gander Mnt for the Big 5 sales price and I have really enjoyed it. I only use it for the occasional range session when I can find ammo for it locally.

 

[schnarrgj]

I have a number of M44 and 91-30s. They are a lot of fun to shoot. With the M44 or 38, the muzzle flash is very impressive and attracts attention. They also make very nice deer rifles. In the past few years, they have taken about 10 deer. When you handle them, you wonder about its history.

 

[azhunter12]

Look in the Sunday ads for a sale.

 

[GD]

Can't go wrong with a Mosin. Mine is pretty accurate. 1-2" groups at 110 yards.

 

[cleardiddion]

YES!

 

[verb0s]

I considered mosin nagants when I found my SKS. The upside is that ammo is really cheap, especially the surplus stuff. Sometimes even cheaper than 7.62x39mm. Watch for corrosive primers in the cheapest ammo. Its not a problem if you clean you gun after shooting. Clean alot and regularly.
And walmart doesn't carry that type of ammo. Big5 sells a box of twenty costs about 20$.

The 89.99 or 79.99 in some areas is the actual price of the gun. They charge some more money on top of that for the sale of the gun to you. Expect to pay 50 to 60$ on top of the gift card. The regular price of the gun is for stupid people.

Other than that, I don't really know that much about them. But again, I didn't know that much about SKS before I bought mine!

 

[Arkie]

I get a 20 round box of Czech Silver tip ammo at the gun shop I go to for 6 dollars a box. I pick up a box to two everytime I go there.

It's corrosive ammo but just make sure you clean it real good after shooting it.

 

[TauZero]

What's not to like?

The cheapest high-powered rifle you can find. Comes with history and the ammo is cheap too. It's even accurate!

 

[Matt-J2]

Probably my favorite bolt action rifle(s) on the planet!

Commercial ammo is available as well, but it's not cheap and seems to be getting more expensive. The local Gander Mtn is always more expensive, but yesterday went in and a box of 20 Winchester 180gr soft points was ~$30.
You can go to Fleet Farm and get the various Colour-X Bear ammo cheap still though, and very occasionally they get tins of surplus, so thats another option beyond scouring gun shows. Still sitting on ~300 rds of Czech silver tip and starting to reload though, so all is well.

 

[AZAndy]

A Mosin purchase definitely gets my vote. An excellent bang-for-buck value, so to speak. A tin of 300 rounds of perfectly usable surplus ammo can be found for less than 50 bucks. I'm thinking that you would have a lot of fun.

A.

 

[KaiserBen]

Wolf also makes several varieties of ammo for it, at reasonable (~.30/rd) prices. Mostly hunting-variety softpoints in the Wolf Gold (~$12/20) line, and mostly FMJ in the black box steel case line (~$6/20). Also watch out, Mosins multiply once you buy one. I started with an M44, and now I have 5

 

[Quickill]

Defiantly, I bought my 91/30 about two years ago and I have never regreted it! It shoots excellent, very accurate (considering it's about 70 years old and has been handled by who knows how many conscripts) and it's a piece of history you can hold in your hand.
I can't count how much time i've spent sitting and studying the dings and nicks in the stock wondering how they got there and how many skulls the steel buttplate has staved in.

 

[jdc1244]

Yes, get one by all means – be careful, they’re habit forming.

 

[George S.]

Take extra money and buy two They are a fun rifle and have a long history. They are still in use today in places like Afghanistan and Pakistan.

There has been some discussion about the level of quality of 91/30's tat Big-5 has but if the store has a good manager, he/she will bring out a number of them for you to inspect. Take along a bore light or get a Mag-Lite "Solitare" flashlight to check the bore. Lots of good information on Mosin's here:
http://7.62x54r.net/

When I bought my 91/30 at the local Big 5, I got a 1931 Izhevsk hex-receiver rifle that was in very good shape. I also got a bayonet, ammo pouch, take-down tools and a lube container. Don't know if these still come with the rifle or not but thery are available thru internet sources.

The 91/30 doesn't really need to have the bayonet mounted to shoot well (the M44 will shoot tighter groups if you extend the permanently-mounted bayonet). Like any milsurp, if the rifling is good and the crown is in good shape, a 91/30 should shoot 3-4" groups at 100 yds and 6-8" groups at 200 yards, That was the Soviet standard for their infantrymen. My 91/30 will shoot like that with just about any of the available milsurp ammo currently available.

I also sometimes wonder where my rifle has been. The cold and snow in Stalingrad? In Moscow waiting to fend off the Nazi hordes? Teaching hundreds of Russian peasants how to shoot to defend the Motherland?

 

[rr2241tx]

91/30s are habit forming. Buy all you can get in the car, then make another trip. The gas you save can be used to buy surplus ammo to shoot them.

 

[toivo]

(the M44 will shoot tighter groups if you extend the permanently-mounted bayonet)

Tighter groups, or just a different POI? I have heard that POI will change but group size will stay the same. But that's just hearsay.

 

[nwilliams]

Why not!

 

[RTFM]

Women have the "little black dress" shooters need their "Little Brown Mosin"

In a word - YES - Get one, you won't be disappointed.