Mosin-Nagant as a first rifle?

[lonniemike]

I say go for it. With my chore and yard work money, I bought my first shotgun(a 410 single shot) at age 7. My first high power centerfire rifle purchase was bought at age 9 in 19and 57. I gave myself a Xmas present that year. A sporterized Russian Mosin Nagant rifle(lessthan$10w/100milballrounds)bought from the Sears mail-order book, with my parents permission of course. It was a Finn war capture. InterArmCo in VA probably reworked/sporterized thousands for Sears and others. I have had years of fun with that "7.62R-commie gun". I bought plenty more ammo through Sears, until I found Norma, Lee, and Load'n. best-o-luck

 

[Coal Dragger]

I would go for an Enfield over a Mosin-Nagant if one can be found for a reasonable price. I also really like the K98 although they are more spendy and even the M-48 Yugoslavian Mausers are not really what one would call cheap.

My favorite surplus bolt gun is probably the K-31 Swiss, in fact I shot one again today that belongs to a friend and I am lusting after one pretty hard. Good trigger, slick strait pull operation, very well made, good fit and finish, highly accurate, and even though I prefer apperture sights the ladder adjustable rear sight is still quite good.

My father has a Mosin (M44) and frankly I find it to be fairly worthless. The trigger sucks, the sights are lackluster, and the stock to action fit is so sloppy that the damn thing rattles. Not exactly a great recipe' for good accuracy or shootability.

 

[WEJTWO]

Do it. If you can inspect a few before buying, great. If the bore is free enough of grease to confirm it is bright, all the better. My son is 13 and a Mosin is part of his Christmas present. He shot a fellow club member's M44 several weeks ago and loved it. (He's grown up hunting and competing with me and runs a .30-06 and AR, so did not seem to notice the recoil which I don't think is that bad IMO). I was at Ohio Gun Collector's Show and must have looked over ten or so and finally picked up a Polish 44, bright bore, matching numbers, etc. Looked at several with dark bores and cosmetic issues I didn't like. Saw enough bad that makes me little nervous about buying without inspecting first. But if you must order, talk to the guy who's selling it to you and tell him what you want and what you don't want. Great CF rifle to shoot. Ammo is cheap for CF. Corrosive stuff will teach him to keep the weapon clean. You can pick up half a case (440 cartridges) for $70 to $80 bucks without looking too hard.

 

[Rifleman 173]

Get him a good scoped Savage rifle in .308 caliber. That is a good, high quality rifle that shoots well right out of the box. The .308 caliber is an excellent all-purpose caliber that he could use for hunting medium sized game, sports shooting and personal protection as needed. And the ammo is made here, not imported or subject to import restrictions.

 

[Mp7]

.. buy a Mosin and buy a spam-can.

He´ll have a happy smile on his face on Xmas eve.

 

[lobo9er]

Would be a great future hunting rifle for him too. I wouldnt mind one with a scout scope.

 

[Jeff Holt/]

Here two places to go (where I bought mine): www.classicfirearms.com and www.gunsnammo.com
You can order some very nice guns that you won't have to worry about the gun being a mongrel. They still have some nice Hex receivers (prewar) w/matching bayonets. I did a hand select (10.00) to be sure someone took some time and looked the gun over before shipping it out.

I don't think either company will disappoint you.

 

[Konstantin835]

My first center fire rifle was a Mosin and I love it. Sounds like a good idea. If its a christmas present I would definitely go for the $10 extra and get hand select on some of the websites the sell them.

 

[Ash]

Mosins are a third the cost of a Mauser or an Enfield these days. They are great rifles, as accurate as most Enfields or Mausers (yeah, they really are), and the sights are no worse than most K98k Mauser rifles.

I have owned GEW98's and K98K rifles that shot fine, but no better than a decent Mosin. I have Mosins that smoke my K98k (my m28/30 out-shoots all other milsurps I own).

As to slop, that is fixed by screwing down the action screws. When tight, there is no way for the action to be sloppy. The floorplate could rattle if worn, but not the stock-to-action fit. At my height, I owned 60 Mosins so I am familiar with them. Now, my collection is much, much smaller and more selective. But they make a great 1st gun if the recoil isn't an issue. For $200, you can have a rifle and 440 rounds of ammo. You can't reach that with any other center fire out there these days.

Of course, if you spend a bit more money, you can get some very nice Mosins.

 

[fpgt72]

If you have decided on the 91/30, and with what you said about the boy I think it is a great choice for starting a history buff's collection.

I would also think you may want to look for one that is still...ahh...fresh for lack of a better word. Having to spend the time all together cleaning the cosmo off the thing, will get him knowing what is what with the rifle...give him real ownership, and also some good father/uncle-son time. It can be kind of fun too.

Some of the other stuff you can discount, don't worry about the recoil...yes they do hit hard, I am 5'8" 155lbs with 5 bits of titinum in my spine and I shoot the thing, and if I put on a slip on recoil pad I can shoot it all day. This kid is 6 feet....and has shot large centerfire already....dont think there will be any problem.

I don't remember what the budget is, but you may want to see if you can find a repro sniper, if you have your C&R they are ~350 from SOG, don't know if that is in the budget, as it is quite a bit more then the ~100 but it is something that has a pretty big cool factor...and everyone that I have talked to has had a very straight shooting rifle, with a pretty darn nice bore....I have one and like it quite a bit, the repro optic is very nice and clear, nice crisp bore...best shooter in the 4 91/30's that I own.

 

[Dr T]

Given the criteria, my primary argument against the Mosin is the SAFETY. It is so difficult to put on safe that the safety is apt to be neglected. And, if it must be a Mosin, it should probably be a M-39. The weight will take the sting out. If he is a history buff, you can get a M-39 built on an antique receiver (without a FFL) at http://www.gunsnammo.com/ .

And, headspace it before you shoot it.

 

[fpgt72]

I don't have problems with the safety, and part of my problem (that required all the metal in me) is a greatly weakend arm strength....it is very hard for me to shoot from anything other then a rest. I just have trouble holding the rifle up and steady.....anyway.

The safety is one of those pull the round pull and turn arrangements...they are indeed stiff...but I don't have trouble with it, so I would think a 6 foot tall kid would not have issue putting it on safe.....I have seen an outfit that makes the round deal that you pull on a little more easy to grab...I would think if you don't suffer from something like arthritis you will not have issue with it.

I think it would be safe to say that I am pretty active in the old wood and metal military type rifles...it is about all I collect. They are all great fun and just scream history. I also use my rifles. I have yet to come across one that was unsafe to shoot.

As far as headspace goes you got three things to check if you want, GO, NO-GO, and Field. They all run about $30 a pop. I personally have yet to see one fail...I think before they went into storage they were all tested....remember every 10yr old in the Warsaw Pact was going to be shooting one of these at the imperlist hords and those 10yr olds are expendable, they all needed to go bang....I think if you get one fresh from the crate, and not something that bubba has messed with you will be fine...but it is a surplus firearm and it should be checked.

They are very fun guns, have very few problems...you know our media...in the quanity that these things sell in do you think it would not be on every channel if there was even a hint of a problem....remember Remmington?

Go and shoot the thing, don't worry so much and have fun....that is what it is all about.

 

[courtgreene]

Great rifle, great bargain, great idea. My only concern would be the sights. Working with teenagers has shown me that patience is not their strong point. You said he had plans to modify, so to save him time and money, a scout scope is a great remedy for the fact that they shoot high, and while they do make rear sight replacement mounts that work, they often cost as much as the gun. What I did, and what others have done successfully, is get .22 rings instead of a scout mount, because good .22 rings (3/8" dovetail) are still much cheaper than a mount. take off the rear mount and use the dovetail on which it sat. Directions for how to do this are easily found on the internet. removing the front sight was the hardest part of the whole process for me, and that wasn't that hard... just took some effort because the SOB was REALLY stuck in there. Doing that makes shooting the rifle more fun and less frustrating at 100 yards, and doing it that way means you can easily take the thing back to its original condition. Ad a sporter stock from ATI and you have yourself a very nice, modern looking/feeling rifle for pennies on the dollar. Accurate too.
As to the trigger pull, it's a crap shoot. I know some are terrible, but one of mine is great (1942), the other (1925 hex receiver) is how i know that some are terrible.
I ordered mine for 60 and 79 dollars respectively from AIMsurplus, and both had real matching numbers, not electropenciled.
I hope my nephew gets more responsible or my nieces want to shoot, so I can be the cool uncle like you one day.

 

[Franco2shoot]

If you can inspect and select from a batch like at a gun show, pay attention to the stock. Look for the stamps indicating re-arsenel, and check to see that the stock wasn't broken or split and just re-glued. I usually find broken stocks at or near the heel where Ivan stamped the rifle down sharply on concrete. Next, about the barrel, take a pen light and check the bore. Shiney is NOT important. What you should look for is the rifle'ing. Pick one that has the stoutest grooves. Also inspect the crown. One of the indicators that the rifle has been roughly treated (or shot alot) is that the arsenal would redrill the last 1/4 inch. In other words, most of the barrel is drilled for the 7.62x54r cartridge/bullet, but the last bit has been drilled to be oversized. Here's a link that has lots of details about Mosins:

http://www.mosinnagant.net/

Lastly, one word of warning... I don't know anybody that just buys 1...
I got my 91/30 cleaned/corked/scoped which lead me to
my M44.... Cleaned varnished to drill status
bought my son a M44.... We just use this as a knockabout...

I always check the gun shows and love to see the prices rise, but also look for
that Finnish model that will expand my collection...

Highly recommend, especially if the .22lr is boreing The MN will excite.
KKKKFL

 

[Andrew Wyatt]

Get him a rifle with less idiosyncrasies, with good sights, in a more common caliber.

 

[AethelstanAegen]

A Mosin-Nagant was my first centerfire rifle and I think it worked out well. The recoil isn't that bad in a 91/30 (it'll kick but you get used to it or you can get a recoil pad to tame it a bit). It was simple (both to operate and clean) and a lot of fun. The ammo is cheap but often corrosive, so just give him a quick lesson on how to clean after corrosive ammo and it shouldn't be a problem.

I've seen various qualities of M-Ns but nothing I would ever call a lemon. I can't tell you what the quality of the Bud's M-Ns are but you can find the rifles from other online milsurp dealers (I've been very happy with Aimsurplus among others) and as they focus more on milsurps, you'll probably have a better description of condition than you might find on the Bud's Gun Shop site. They typically also have a pretty detailed description on their FAQ pages as to what the condition means (ie counter-bored or not, % blueing remaining, etc). In general, since the Mosins were rearsenaled, they tend to be functional and decent shooters (they're also pretty tough in general).

 

[CmdrSlander]

Going with a handpick from Classic Arms, 1926 Tula with Hex receiver.

 

[vellocet]

Buy the mosin and an insert that allows you to shoot .32 pistol bullets in the rifle. It will get him used to the action of the gun, and you can change him from .32 longs or whatever to the real rounds from there. Sportsmans Guide sells them, and buy at your own risk. The ones they sent me work fine. Good luck.

 

[MrSpiffy]

I purchased a Mosin 91/30 as my first centerfire rifle that I've shot, and I don't think it's that big of a deal. But I do highly-recommend a slip-on recoil pad. Cheap gun, cheap ammo, lots of fun! What's not to love?

 

[firesky101]

good call

great job on a great present. excellent choice to get the hand select. This rifle will be great for years and years. A word of caution, these rifles tend to breed on their own. I had to get a whole new safe just for my 7.62 addiction (svt-40 added this week hehehe). You are a great uncle. Oh make sure to teach him to clean it you can get a super cheap kit from wal-mart and he will get some great responsibility too.

 

[mortablunt]

A Mosin kicks like He#%! Start a new shooter with something that won't leave a bruise.

Agie, Curator. Debet ut doleret quod iajector disciet quam sustinere dolorem.

I see nothing wrong with getting him a Mosin. It's obvious that he's going to like guns and has gone through at least some basic instruction, so he can likely handle a man's gun now.

 

[ShawnC]

Mosins are fun, easy to take apart and figure out, and cheap with cheap ammo. There are so many options they're like baseball cards, and the simplicity of the design makes it easy to learn about basic gun workings. Great choice, and good call on the hand picked. Now he just needs a can of ammo to go with it.

 

[Sav .250]

The Mosin is a good first full power rifle. My first full power rifle was a Mosin. Sure, quality is a crapshoot, but I've seen and handles a lot of mosins, and I've never seen the sewer pipe barrels of myth and legend. They don't need to be sub MOA accurate. Minute of watermelon is fine. It's a great way to introduce newer shooters into the joys of recoil.

" minute of watermellon" Haven`t heard/seen that one before. Good one.

 

[fpgt72]

Get him a rifle with less idiosyncrasies, with good sights, in a more common caliber.

That is a bretty off base statement IMHO. Where can you not find 7.62x54R?....perhaps wal-mart, but that is about it. It is a VERY common caliber, and the rifle is about a claw hammer simple as it gets. Even if you don't want to shoot the surplus ammo factory ammo is out there for less then $20 a box...not bad for a full power centerfire rifle cartridge.

I also love the minute of watermellon...that is pretty good...but when you think about what the rifle was built for...that is all it needed to do.

 

[lobo9er]

QUOTEOriginally Posted by Andrew Wyatt
Get him a rifle with less idiosyncrasies, with good sights, in a more common caliber

^Ignorance is bliss.
Andrew Wyatt would you tell us your thoughts of the mosin or are you just trolling?