cauberallies
Member
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2009
- Messages
- 88
I paid $180 for my 1945 Izhevsk M38, in very good condition. It was clean, cosmoline free, with a perfect bore, an attractive stock, and it had my name all over it. It is the most comfortable and accurate Mosin I've ever had the chance to shoot(out of two others). The only issue I have had with it, was the extractor failing to grab the rim of the cartridge, preventing the bolt from entering its locked position the second time I took it out to shoot. A very thorough cleaning of the bolt and chamber solved that problem, and it's been fine ever since.
This past saturday was the first time I have ever had the chance to shoot at something more than 50 yards away(Yeah, I know. I'm relatively new to all this). Some friends and I went out to our spot in the woods where we go to shoot(since the local Elmer Fudd ranges strictly forbid semi-auto rifles, or steel cased ammo), and we cleared a 170 yard downhill stretch of saplings and brush, and set up a variety of small, awkwardly placed, and partially hidden items as targets, such as spray paint caps, cigarette packs, small water bottles, etc. and made our way up to the rock which we decided to shoot from. Since I had never had the chance to shoot at any real distance, I didn't know what to expect. I was sitting down, shooting my Mosin offhand with iron sights, and out of 9 targets, there was only one I didn't hit on the first shot. This required moving to different, and sometimes awkward positions to see targets around trees and other obstacles, and I only had a 6 foot wide rock outcropping on the side of a hill to make use of. We were trying to bring a little more realism to target shooting, and attempting to simulate situations you may find in battle, while making use of the things we had, and our surroundings.
Now, I don't know if that is anything to brag about, but I sure was proud of myself, and it made me respect my rifle in a different sort of way than before. I had much more fun shooting my Mosin, than I did my AK, my Mossberg 590, or my friends' Savage .270 and M1 carbine. I can't wait to do it again this weekend!
To me, at least, for what I paid, you just can't beat my Mosin. Even though it is an old, ugly surplus rifle that was a bit more expensive than your average Mosin, I feel like it is the best deal I've ever got on a firearm by far. Thanks THR! I didn't even know about them until I started coming here.
This past saturday was the first time I have ever had the chance to shoot at something more than 50 yards away(Yeah, I know. I'm relatively new to all this). Some friends and I went out to our spot in the woods where we go to shoot(since the local Elmer Fudd ranges strictly forbid semi-auto rifles, or steel cased ammo), and we cleared a 170 yard downhill stretch of saplings and brush, and set up a variety of small, awkwardly placed, and partially hidden items as targets, such as spray paint caps, cigarette packs, small water bottles, etc. and made our way up to the rock which we decided to shoot from. Since I had never had the chance to shoot at any real distance, I didn't know what to expect. I was sitting down, shooting my Mosin offhand with iron sights, and out of 9 targets, there was only one I didn't hit on the first shot. This required moving to different, and sometimes awkward positions to see targets around trees and other obstacles, and I only had a 6 foot wide rock outcropping on the side of a hill to make use of. We were trying to bring a little more realism to target shooting, and attempting to simulate situations you may find in battle, while making use of the things we had, and our surroundings.
Now, I don't know if that is anything to brag about, but I sure was proud of myself, and it made me respect my rifle in a different sort of way than before. I had much more fun shooting my Mosin, than I did my AK, my Mossberg 590, or my friends' Savage .270 and M1 carbine. I can't wait to do it again this weekend!
To me, at least, for what I paid, you just can't beat my Mosin. Even though it is an old, ugly surplus rifle that was a bit more expensive than your average Mosin, I feel like it is the best deal I've ever got on a firearm by far. Thanks THR! I didn't even know about them until I started coming here.