Which Mosin type?

[ds92]

Hello everybody,
Very excited here, just got the green light for a new mosin, but im having trouble deciding which model. Im willing to shell out a little more for one with a nice bore and no rust. In case it matters, ill be using it as a truck gun/beater. The 91/30's are nice but they're also much longer than the m44's or other carbine variants...im hoping to maybe put a scope on it so thats a plus for the 91/30...
are there any significant differences in the different mods other than the size? Im totally new to the mosin world and have little experience other than handling a few here and there at the local gunshop, so ANY (and i repeat ANY) advice is appreciated!!

 

[gidaeon]

Tons of good threads on those. Many will answer in great detail I suspect. Oh and lots of good MN devoted websites out there someone will point you too.

I'm still quite new to MN's myself. A basic Mosin 91/30 can still be had < $80 at retailers sales.. then you can go into many retailers and find a shortened 91/59 for say $130 (at least on sale around here). It sounds like your not collecting it, but wanting a working gun so maybe don't pay a big premium for the desirable 'collectibles'. No true snipers, no Tikka.. but get whatever you want its your gun.

If you want a little shorter length, I see chains like Dunhams around here have 91/59s for like $139? I couldn't justify the price jump myself for getting a cheap gun just because.

you already know I'm sure - but if buying local bring a bore light and check for counter boring (real common on these) and examine for sharp rifling, and crown wear on these old guns. Funny things can get through arsenal refinishing sometimes. Mine was a good barrel inside rifling, real clean, not counter bored, but the crown is um ehhh.. what crown?

 

[ds92]

i've heard the term counter-bored before but i never found out what it is. what exactly is it and what are its effects? also what does it look like?
Thanks,
DS

 

[PurdueRifleman2008]

I like my M44 over my 91/30 since it's a bit more handy and believe it or not, it's also slightly more accurate. Of course, my 91/30 may just be a poor specimen. If you get the M44, you'll probably find it shoots better with the bayonet extended.

 

[akolleth]

i've heard the term counter-bored before but i never found out what it is. what exactly is it and what are its effects? also what does it look like?
Thanks,

They would counterbore a rifle that had damage to the crown area of the muzzle. What they did is actually drill out a little bit of the muzzle to a larger diameter hole, taking the rifling back to an undamaged section. This had the effect of creating a new crown. By creating a new undamaged crown, if the rifling on the barrel was still good, this could increase accuracy back to the levels the rifle would of had with a nice undamaged crown.

You can easily see a counterbored rifle by looking down the barrel, it looks like the first bit is a smooth bore that is a larger diameter.

Here from 7.62x54r net you can see a picture of a counterbored rifle on the left, and a standard, not counterbored one on the right-

 

[Matrix187]

My brother has a 1944 mosin and it was counter bored. Shoots fine.

 

[Guitargod1985]

FWIW, the 91/30 isn't really any heavier than a M44. I was surprised to find this out as it seem counterintuitive.

 

[Olympus]

You can't go wrong with a M38. I just picked one up the other day and it's my first Mosin. I think I'm really going to like it a lot. I like the carbine length on a rifle that's going to be used as a rough handle gun. I almost got an M44, but didn't think the bayo was a necessity for me. It added unnecessary weight for what I wanted.