Your military rifle's past…

[Blue Brick]

Anyone here concerned that their rifle might have been used to take a human life? The reason I am asking is, because over dinner I was talking to my wife about my Mosin and she was concerned and sickened at the idea that I own a rifle that might have been used to take a human life or been used against American soldiers. I assured her that I don’t think that ever happened, but has anyone else ever had the same thought?

 

[68wj]

This seems like it came up recently too. My thought, it is an inanimate object.

 

[Gunnerboy]

Not at all. I had a Luger that came off an officer in the eastern front and most people know what happened in the ukraine and other countries there in the baltic, i have wondered though how many people have been killed with firearms that i own, i too own a few mosins and mausers etc.

 

[armoredman]

No, I don't worry about that. Tools are used by the user.

 

[N003k]

I've wondered about it, but I more often than not just wonder about the person that carried the rifles. Was my K98 carried by some young German kid that had no idea what was going on but got swept up in the idealogy of nationalism? Was my mosin carried by a conscript? Where did they fight? What units had them?

I know however they were weapons, and I'm fairly sure they were used in anger. However it wouldn't be THEM that killed anyone, it would be the soldier using it. I'd personally like to think my weapons were issued rather than just kept in a storehouse, not because I want guns that killed someone, but because I find it fascinating that this piece of wood and steel has so much amazing history behind it.

 

[41magsnub]

It is a distinct possibility for my Remington receiver Mosin, it was in Russian inventory through multiple wars and a revolution. Doesn't bother me...

Same for my 1917 Enfield.

Odds are my Garand did not unless the Greeks did something crazy with it.

 

[ball3006]

I would like to know what my rifle has experienced over the years. I have a couple Mosin Nagants that went through the Russian revolution, Great War, Winter War, and WW2. Same with a couple Great War dated Enfields. It doesn't bother me a bit to know if they killed or not. They are tools of war. Does anyone get upset when they realize their rifle killed Bambi? chris3

 

[451 Detonics]

My Mauser was a WWII gun, it is very possible it took a life or two, the SKS bring back I owned definitely did...never bothered me...the Israeli sideplated 1919 more than likely had taken it's share...

guns are inanimate objects...they aren't good or evil...only the people who use them are

 

[Float Pilot]

Drill
Brick
Rock
car
rifle,
chainsaw
pipe wrench
cell phone
computer key board
politicians podium,

All have been used to kill somebody, by someone. They are just objects and not responsible for anything.

 

[animator]

I don't so much worry about if my weapons were used to take a life, but I do often wonder if the previous owners of my weapons were hurt or killed while holding it...


I've got a couple C&Rs that could probably tell a few stories, and a handful of Bosnian civil-war AKs that seem to have lived a rough life.

 

[nathan]

I would nt worry one bit. It be nice to know what it did. Its what its made for ---killing.

 

[LoonWulf]

It dosent bother me. Both of mine are MY guns now, their history tho interesting and worth knowing are just that, history.

 

[DT Guy]

They are the weapons of my enemy. I defeated them and took them-no problem.


Larry

 

[LJ-MosinFreak-Buck]

I'm working on cleaning up a 1940 Turkish M1938 Mauser that I'm sure has seen some sort of action in it's time, and I own a 1944 Mosin Nagant M1944 which has five distinct burns in the stock under the bolt handle that I'm sure is a tally.

Doesn't bother me a bit, just makes me wonder.

 

[kozak6]

or been used against American soldiers.

Your wife probably should review WWII history. If anything, the Mosin was ...somewhat more likely to have been used to kill Nazis. Does that make a difference? Why or why not?

Drill
Brick
Rock
[etc]

All have been used to kill somebody, by someone. They are just objects and not responsible for anything.

While that may be a valid point, it might also be noted that these rifles were actually manufactured for the express purpose of killing people.

It's entirely possible that my Mosin was used to take human lives. It's a weapon that took place in a World War and is to be expected since that is what it was designed and built for. I have more to say, but it's difficult to express without sounding even more callous. Hmm.

 

[Stavrogin]

I often wonder about my Mosin. It's nearly a certainty that it saw action in WW2. I don't take any particular joy in the idea that it quite probably took lives, but I do hold the rifle in some awe. The M91/30 is iconic; with that rifle, the course of history was wrestled out of the hands of evil men.

I realize not every German soldier was a Nazi at heart, and many "got swept up in the idealogy of nationalism" as NOO3k put it. But the necessity of bloodshed has, at times in history, been a sickening reality.

I posted this in another thread, but I'll repost it here. When I got my Mosin, I had a chance encounter that solidified my feelings for the rifle. You can read about it here.

 

[nathan]

Mosins had a lot of history in them, but the many scars of battle were erased once rifles were sent back for refurbishment. If you can get hold of a war bringback either a mosin, SKS, M1 carbine, tokarev from WW 2 or Nam, the better.

 

[USAF_Vet]

I have a used hammer. Never once have I given thought to how many nails it has driven or thumbs it has smashed.

My milsurps in all probability have been used in a war. One of them in all probability was used against Americans. The gun doesn't care, and I have better things to occupy my time.

 

[303tom]

Don`t Know & Don`t Care !!!!!!!!

 

[nathan]

I worry more on the availability of surplus ammo to feed these old warhorses. Stock up now.

 

[Skribs]

While all of my weapons were bought by me NIB, I thought about it for a second from the perspective of if I had one. If it were a hammer or a sword, I would probably feel more uneasy (but still able to use it, understanding its just a tool), because the weapon contacted the enemy when it took the life, and that would some how make it feel more real that it had been used as a weapon.

On the other hand, the rifle would have most likely never touched the enemy. It would have been used to push the bullet, which touched the enemy. Sort of the idea from the movie Air Force One. "You think it's any different because he does it from thousands of miles away with a telephone call and a smart bomb?" It is different, psychologically speaking.

 

[easy]

It's just a gun. If used by a soldier in the execution of his duties, so be it. Did the hammer that buit your home get used by someone other than a carpenter?

 

[M91/30]

Guns don't kill people. People may use them to, But that could apply to anything. Don't like it? Sell it, there are tons of other people who don't mind what it WAS used for. Not to mention its hard to say a gun kills... think about it. (mosin view) A person pulls the trigger, the trigger released the firing pin, hits primer, ignites powder, propels bullet out of barrel, bullet wounds person. Hard to say the gun killed them when you look at all the individual actions.

 

[toivo]

One of the attractions of milsurps to me is the sense of history. I know that these were battle weapons that may have been used in battle to kill. I don't obsess over it -- it just goes with the territory. There's absolutely no way of knowing for sure anyway.

A Mosin is less likely to have been used against Americans than an SKS, but it's not impossible:

http://blogripper.net/e107_images/newspost_images/RANDOM/031/025.jpg

(Photograph by Mai Nam, Copyright National Geographic Society)

 

[FlyinBryan]

ive had relatives that i know killed enemy in ww2.

one of them finished the war in west germany, and made it all the way home, he recently passed just this year. he was decorated including a purple heart received in west germany.

the other served in the pacific and was killed on the island of luzon.

i have 2 springfield m1 garands. one of them a 5.8 mil s.n., which places it near the end of production in the late 1950's, so im pretty sure it never saw combat action.

the other however is a 2.7 million s.n. which places it coming off the line and into service in early 1944, which was well into the pacific campaign, and just a few months pryor to D-DAY.

i cant say whether or not it ever killed anyone, but it could have. the timeline certainly suggests the possibility.

if it was asked to do so by its human, then i am sure that it complied.

it doesnt bother me at all. (im just glad im not required to speak german or japanese to possess it.)