Joshua M. Smith
Member
Hello,
I feel the other poll really needs a response.
I am an unabashed lover of the Mosin-Nagant. No, it's not the only thing I can afford and have some much more interesting, rare, and precise rifles in my private lil' arsenal. However, when I need a long arm, the Mosin usually is grabbed. Why?
1. Tough, versatile, reliable, and simple: I'm simply not afraid of breaking it. I drop the Mosin, I check for bore obstructions and obvious damage then go ahead and shoot it.
I drop a 'scoped rifle, I go set up a target 100 yards distant, go prone, and verify zero. By the time I'm happy, my ammo load I carried out is usually expended.
2. It feels right: With a butt extending pad, the LOP is perfect for me. As well, I'm a lefty and the straight bolt is easy to reach over and work while keeping the rifle mounted.
3. Sighting options: Want a 'scope, Brass Stacker makes an excellent 'scout mount that will go on the rear sight while retaining the rear sight. PE and PU mounts are readily available too if you want to go to that expense. I make adjustable front sights, including fiber-optic. There is no shortage of options there.
4. Trigger pull is excellent: Lots of folks are saying "***?" on this one. However, after examining many examples, I've come to the conclusion that these were set at 12+lbs on purpose. Russian armorers knew who to lighten them and did so on the snipers. The Finns did it to dang near all their Mosins. Two quick shallow bends give you a 5lb trigger, and some will go down to 2.5lbs.
5. Solid lockup: Two rather large lugs on the bolt head and a massive safety lug attached to the bolt handle provide safety. Additionally, the bolt vents gas plenty well. If one of you smokers out there (I quit 6 years back) would like to run a tube into the muzzle (don't put the muzzle in your mouth!) and blow an lung full of smoke down the barrel and into the closed action, you'll see where it exits. (When was the last time you heard of a Mosin action failing..?)
6. Precision and accuracy: Yep. Properly executed with $5 worth of materials, these will shoot! The Finns regularly take medals with these. I personally have done sub-MOA but my average is around 2.5MOA (front rest only). This is with open sights and 20/40 vision. I consider myself average. There are much better shots out there.
7. Price to shoot: Though I handload, this is one of the few cartridges out there that handloading is a bit more expensive to load for! I prefer to tailor my ammo to my needs, but surplus is sufficient to shoot to most folks' abilities.
8. The action is smooth.: It's loose and designed to operate in extreme temps. If the bolt is polished to the extent of a Mauser's (many pre-war examples were), operation becomes heavenly with or without lube. My German rifles' bolts tend to get harder to operate if I let them go dry. Not so with the Mosin.
It's not all about money. I'd own one of these if the rest of the milsurps were in the same price range. I might choose a different "go-to" rifle in the form of an M1 Carbine, but only if I had complete faith in it and I had the ability to keep it up during an extended camping trip or similar.
The M1 Garand would be nice, and I do like them, but loading is overcomplicated, you can't load say, three, and most importantly, the thing becomes a single-shot if clips are lost or damaged.
The 98 Mauser and 88 Commission Rifle are right around the same precision as the Mosin with the Gewehr 88 having a slight lead due to the sleeved barrel. However, both are overly complex and the 98 is not as inherently precise due to the controlled-feed mechanism. I'll give the 98 an edge for extraction, though, due to its massive claw extractor.
For right-handers, the M1903 may have an advantage even though it is a controlled feed system. However, for me, the straight bolt is awesome. (I've often wanted a straight bolt on a 1903, though!).
Point is, these rifles are right up there. They're tough, acceptably precise to the point of being able to outshoot their operators, are powerful and just flat do what needs to be done.
They're also fun to shoot, as are most milsurps!
I simply can't think of a downside to the Mosin-Nagant that is not a downside to most bolt rifles.
Regards,
Josh
I feel the other poll really needs a response.
I am an unabashed lover of the Mosin-Nagant. No, it's not the only thing I can afford and have some much more interesting, rare, and precise rifles in my private lil' arsenal. However, when I need a long arm, the Mosin usually is grabbed. Why?
1. Tough, versatile, reliable, and simple: I'm simply not afraid of breaking it. I drop the Mosin, I check for bore obstructions and obvious damage then go ahead and shoot it.
I drop a 'scoped rifle, I go set up a target 100 yards distant, go prone, and verify zero. By the time I'm happy, my ammo load I carried out is usually expended.
2. It feels right: With a butt extending pad, the LOP is perfect for me. As well, I'm a lefty and the straight bolt is easy to reach over and work while keeping the rifle mounted.
3. Sighting options: Want a 'scope, Brass Stacker makes an excellent 'scout mount that will go on the rear sight while retaining the rear sight. PE and PU mounts are readily available too if you want to go to that expense. I make adjustable front sights, including fiber-optic. There is no shortage of options there.
4. Trigger pull is excellent: Lots of folks are saying "***?" on this one. However, after examining many examples, I've come to the conclusion that these were set at 12+lbs on purpose. Russian armorers knew who to lighten them and did so on the snipers. The Finns did it to dang near all their Mosins. Two quick shallow bends give you a 5lb trigger, and some will go down to 2.5lbs.
5. Solid lockup: Two rather large lugs on the bolt head and a massive safety lug attached to the bolt handle provide safety. Additionally, the bolt vents gas plenty well. If one of you smokers out there (I quit 6 years back) would like to run a tube into the muzzle (don't put the muzzle in your mouth!) and blow an lung full of smoke down the barrel and into the closed action, you'll see where it exits. (When was the last time you heard of a Mosin action failing..?)
6. Precision and accuracy: Yep. Properly executed with $5 worth of materials, these will shoot! The Finns regularly take medals with these. I personally have done sub-MOA but my average is around 2.5MOA (front rest only). This is with open sights and 20/40 vision. I consider myself average. There are much better shots out there.
7. Price to shoot: Though I handload, this is one of the few cartridges out there that handloading is a bit more expensive to load for! I prefer to tailor my ammo to my needs, but surplus is sufficient to shoot to most folks' abilities.
8. The action is smooth.: It's loose and designed to operate in extreme temps. If the bolt is polished to the extent of a Mauser's (many pre-war examples were), operation becomes heavenly with or without lube. My German rifles' bolts tend to get harder to operate if I let them go dry. Not so with the Mosin.
It's not all about money. I'd own one of these if the rest of the milsurps were in the same price range. I might choose a different "go-to" rifle in the form of an M1 Carbine, but only if I had complete faith in it and I had the ability to keep it up during an extended camping trip or similar.
The M1 Garand would be nice, and I do like them, but loading is overcomplicated, you can't load say, three, and most importantly, the thing becomes a single-shot if clips are lost or damaged.
The 98 Mauser and 88 Commission Rifle are right around the same precision as the Mosin with the Gewehr 88 having a slight lead due to the sleeved barrel. However, both are overly complex and the 98 is not as inherently precise due to the controlled-feed mechanism. I'll give the 98 an edge for extraction, though, due to its massive claw extractor.
For right-handers, the M1903 may have an advantage even though it is a controlled feed system. However, for me, the straight bolt is awesome. (I've often wanted a straight bolt on a 1903, though!).
Point is, these rifles are right up there. They're tough, acceptably precise to the point of being able to outshoot their operators, are powerful and just flat do what needs to be done.
They're also fun to shoot, as are most milsurps!
I simply can't think of a downside to the Mosin-Nagant that is not a downside to most bolt rifles.
Regards,
Josh
If the rifles are too long for your taste, try an M38 or M44 (I have both) and enjoy the fireworks as well. My biggest draw to them is the history though. I always find it entertaining to research the various stamps and markings on them. All that being said though, I don't count them as my "go-to" rifle. I have more modern designs that fit that bill. I guess the biggest complaint I have about them and the reason I don't select it for any serious business is the safety design. Yes, it's a very positive safety that is not going to go off by accident but it is also an awkward safety to use. Other than that, I love them.
