So checking of the ChuckHawks table we got Mosin heavy ball at 15 and light ball at 13.1. Yes the other period military rifles were in the ball park, but seeing its 10-20% less with heavy ball and even more so with the common 150 grain light ball versus the standard US and German guns the *super kicker* label doesnt really apply.
I'd also consider plain vanilla 30-06 hunting rifles clock around 20, so once again its Mosin for the win!
Now I will readily admit the guns do have their own quirks and faults. Given the 1891 design period I think it came out fairly okay and probably was futuristic compared to arms of the generation before it.
That said, the question isn't how well it compares to a new computer designed, cnc milled rifle. It's are these now truly a respectable collector's arm.
Yes, they are a respectable collector's rifle. They rank at least with the Carcano, Arisaka, Yugo Mausers, and M95 Steyr Mannlichers.
One joker in the deck about Mosin's collectibility is how much Russia and other Eastern bloc countries still have and whether or not they can be imported into the U.S. If they still have millions, and those somehow make it to the market, then prices will drop.
One of the reasons for the German Mauser 98's rise in price during the 2000's was that these Mauser stockpiles vanished when the Russian and Yugo captures finally ran out. Parts values also increased due to small arms trade regulations shutting off the U.S. market. Similar effect on Garands and M1 Carbines when the CMP stocks ran out. There is also a fascination with WWII German weapons out of proportion to the rest of the collecting market.
Mosins are similar in price to Enfields (not the 1917 or P14 designs) for many of the same reasons---millions were made, they are quite functional weapons, and surplus ammo kept them cheap to use for shooters for a long time. The British .303 and the Russian 7.62x54r also have decent capabilities for sporting use (meaning some Mosins and a lot of Enfields were chopped up to make sporters). If cheap steel cased ammo dries up for the Mosin, then they will become less popular.
If you really wanted to collect Mosins, go for rarer subtypes--e.g. Dragoon rifles, ex-Dragoon rifles, hex receivers, genuine Sniper rifles, Remington or Westinghouse made Mosins, French made Mosins, WWI vintage, non-rearsenaled, Polish Mosins, etc. Learn to decrypt the arsenal markings so you can get a rarer one if the Mosins are being sold in a batch or appear on the gunshop/pawn store racks.
I suspect that the Mosin carbines and lightweight sporterized rifles are the source of the hard kicking rumor along with the straight stock-metal buttplate and its smaller surface area on the shoulder compared to other U.S., British, or German rifles. Muzzle blast on shorter barrelled carbines is also not to be discounted. I cheat when firing old military weapons and use a slip on recoil pad so I really don't find the recoil of most issue rifles very bad compared with lightweight 12 gage shotguns with slugs or buck shot.
If you really want to shoot them in competition, get a Finn Mosin or do to your Russian rifle what the Finns did to theirs. Same design but the Finns tweaked the Mosins to get the most out of them. Want to decrease their value--sporterize them.
As far as the design, it is simple and strong (see this for a rare Mosin kaboom
http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2011/03/22/mosin-nagant-kaboom/ ). I have a 1905 receiver that has seen hard use but shows no sign of lug setback nor rust-pitting type corrosion. Gunboards has a pretty interesting thread on Soviet era metallurgy for Mosins.
http://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?588977-Mosin-Nagant-metallurgy
The drawbacks to the design are the long barrels on the 91/30 and its predecessor 91 models, the magazine design combined with the rimmed cartridge is problematic, the trigger as issued isn't that good, and the sights are inadequate for precision work.
As someone who accumulates and restores milsurps, I have handled quite a few designs and detail stripped them, checked them for possible failures, etc. Every design has its weak points, no rifle design is exempt from poor workmanship/materials on particular rifles, but military rifles were generally designed to go bang in really poor conditions, using suspect ammunition, and designed for production en masse. There are some designs that I would personally choose over others due to my likes or dislikes but even rifles such as the carcano and krags have their particular charms and strong points.
