Pictured above are my Mosin Nagants, an M44 carbine and an M91/30 rifle. Not rare, not particularly beautiful, but simple, dependable, historically interesting, cheap to buy and cheap to shoot. When I got the first one, a 1943 91/30, last year, the only other rifle that I had was a .22. To satisfy my urge for a bigger boom I'd been shooting slugs with my shotguns. Fun, and certainly boom-worthy, but not exactly cheap plinking.
I was at Krogers with my wife one day and was killing time at the magazine rack when I picked up a copy of Shotgun News. There on the cover in the J&G Sales add was an old looking rifle for 69.95. 69.95? I could do that. But is it any good? I spent the next few weeks on the internet and found that there are quite a few of Mosin Nagants in circulation and plenty of information available. At the next gun show I bought the 91/30 for 119.00 out the door. Later I got my C&R license so that I could take advantage of the cheaper advertised prices. A few months later I ordered the 1947 M44 from AIM Surplus for 91.00 shipped. Having Big Brown drop off a rifle at your door is surely one of the simple pleasures in life.
Ok, so about the guns. The M91/30 was built in 1943 at the arsenal in Izhevsk, Russia. The receiver has the “chewed by beavers” machine marks typical of the guns produced during the the war years. In '43, German Field Marshall Paulus' 6th Army had surrendered at Stalingrad and the Nazis were retreating. The Russians were cranking out material at a furious pace and a few corners had to be cut. Final machining and polishing were among them.
Most, if not all of these rifles that you find being sold today are arsenal refurbished and the stocks are stamped to indicate that. I can't find any mark on this rifle that is a recognizable refurb mark, but I doubt that means a whole lot. One of the barrel bands bears the Izhevsk arsenal stamp and the other is stamped with the Tula arsenal stamp. One of the stamps on the stock is thought to be that of a training facility. Many of these rifles were counter bored when they were refurbed, but neither of mine have been. Of course it came with accessories, a bayonet, cartridge pouch, cleaning rod attachments, oil/solvent bottle, “multi-tool” and a “dog collar” sling.
The M44 is a 1947 model, also made at the Izhevsk arsenal, and looks to be in really good condition. It does have the Ukranian refurb mark on the laminated stock. Came with the same accessories as the 91/30, but of course the folding bayonet is permanently attached. After I cleaned this one up and before I ever fired it, I had a problem with the bolt. When cocked, it would get very hard to open. De-cocked, it worked fine. After I took the bolt apart for about the 10th time I noticed that the connector bar on the bolt seemed to be just slightly bent. I ordered another one from
Tennessee Gun Parts \for five bucks and was back in business. My theory is that the bent connector bar was allowing the bolt head to wobble around and bind, but who knows? M44's were used in many countries throughout the cold war and by the communists during the Korean and Vietnam wars.
Both of them are chambered for the 7.62x54r cartridge which has been in production on some form for about 118 years. Ballistics are said to be very similar to the 30.06. The cartridge has been used lately in rifles like the Dragunov sniper rifle and light machine guns like the PKM. Surplus ammo is still, at least for the time being, fairly cheap and available. No telling how long that will last. I prefer to use brass cased or copper washed steel cased ammunition. The lacquer coated steel case ammo makes the bolt hard to open after a few rounds. Must not have all the cosmoline cleaned out of the chamber yet.
Shooting either one of these is big fun. A couple of things. Common wisdom says that the guns were sighted in with the bayonets fixed or extended and will shoot closer to point of aim that way. That may be true but if nothing else, it's fun to snap the bayonet of the M44 out on the firing line. I've never shot the 91/30 with the bayonet attached so I can't say about that one. Then there's the trigger. Both of my Mosins have the longest trigger pull I've ever seen. You think it's never going to go off. It's also kind of mushy or “spongy” feeling. But it is consistent. That's something.
Huber Concepts offers triggers for milsurp rifles and they are said to be a great improvement. Last but not least is the bolt. Not the smoothest operating bolt ever made. It takes a fair amount of push to open. Both of mine work well enough as long as I stay away from that lacquer coated ammo. And there are things that can be done to get it a little smoother but otherwise it's just typical of the breed.
Which one do I like to shoot the best? Probably the M44 for pure fun. You know you've fired a rifle when you shoot that one. Some people complain about the recoil but I don't think it's any worse than say, shooting slugs out a a 20ga shotgun. And fireballs from the muzzle are cool. The 91/30, with it's longer barrel is just that much smoother, and has the advantage of the longer sighting plane.
As an inexpensive gun to take to the range or plink with, it's just hard to beat a Mosin Nagant. Starting at about 80 bucks if you have a C&R license, or around 120 bucks if you don't, it's hard to think of a reason not to have one. There are at least a few major variations such as snipers, ex-snipers, and Finnish Mosins. I can't imagine ever breaking one in any use outside of combat and if you did, you can fix it yourself. It's a very simple rifle. Ammunition prices have risen slightly over the past year, but not much at all compared to other calibers. There are plenty of resources on the internet and a good place to start is
7.62x54r.net.
