Mosin Nagant... school me, please

[Chris]

MGS, CTD, and Cabelas usually have several 91/30s on the racks. I think I'd be considering what all it comes with in a purchase. Most of them will come with the oil kit, the stripper clip case, a sling, and a bayonet. Some stores will take those items and sell them separately, some rifles may simply not come with that stuff. That's really all you have to be mindful of; just know what you are getting with it. AIM has several going on sale next week.

They are fun rifles, but aren't near as accurate as some of the other WWII rifles.

[rthillusa]

Range report:

Fired our two newly acquired Mosin-Nagants at the range today, about 30 rounds each. My 12year old grand-son was able to handle the recoil just fine.

They both shot extremely high at 100 yards. To get on the paper we had to aim at the target below. The guy next to us had a Nagant he had put a scope on. He said his iron sights shot a foot to the right at 50 yards and with no windage adjustment he had no way to correct, so he mounted a cheap scope, adjusted and problem solved.

On about the 30th round my grand-son's bolt stuck. Had to beat it open with a mallet, Thought it was the brass jamming in the receiver, but after further inspection we determined there is some sort of problem with the bolt. Even with an empty chamber it is near impossible to pull the bolt back if its not already cocked. Will need to get a gun smith to look at it. Any recommendations in the Collin county area?

My son also came along today, and fired a few rounds thru both Nagant's. Now my wife is buying him one for Christmas too, I guess Mossin-Nagant fever is sweeping Collin County from the way they were being pulled off the racks last night at a local big-box outfitter.

Definitely a historical piece, lots of fun to talk about, fiddle with and shoot occasionally for grins - but not something I would want to take hunting. Rifle technology has come a long, long way in a 100 years.

[sookandy]

91/30's were sighted in with the bayonet attached. It was standard practice to use the bayonet except when in a vehicle. I fired a 44 with and without the bayonet folded out and it made a huge difference Sticky bolt is pretty common with these. Might night have got all the cosmoline out of it. a common joke is that you have to use a 2x4 to get the bolt open.

[steve817]

I finally fired mine but was only shooting at a distance of about 50 feet. It was pretty funny though, the indoor range needed to be swept in a pretty bad way, pieces of paper target were all over the place. By the time I shot 20 rounds there was not a single bit of paper in my lane for about 15 to 20 feet out. The muzzle blast cleared it all away.

[goofygrin]

Get a butt sleeve. Looks ugly, but it makes a huge difference. And mine shoots really high as well. At 100y, I'm having to aim at mid chest to hit the head on a 17" target. But I was able to keep them all on the paper with iron sights and no sandbags.

You can adjust the windage on the front sight. You simply use a punch on the bottom of the sight; its in a dovetail.

[A-R]

All of that said, a Mosin sounds like good clean fun for not too much money.

From what I've read of Mosins the highlighted word seems inaccurate

[RECIT]

All of that said, a Mosin sounds like good clean fun for not too much money.

From what I've read of Mosins the highlighted word seems inaccurate

Do keep in mind its a battle rifle that is almost a century to half century old. I don't think MOA grouping was the standard at that time. They are combat accurate at best in my eyes. But you do get what you pay for.

[Chris]

Probably cheaper to throw the sticky bolt Mosin away and buy another, than have a gunsmith fix it. I'd dab some cheap paint on the bolt, let it dry, then work it and find out where the paint is rubbed off. Use some emery cloth to clean it up, and alcohol to remove the paint.

Most of the WWII rifles were zeroed for a couple hundred yards. I have an 03A3 that's sighted for 300 yards; most are for 200. The distances they fought at were pretty far.

[markthenewf]

My Mosin was a bit fussy as well, but I went along to the do-it-yourselfer's friend (YouTube) and looked at a bunch of videos by user Iraqveteran8888. See an example here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXC_PQkLkNA

I did a few things as suggested there and now it's a slick as anything and it doesn't stick. The guy knows his Mosins.

[NcongruNt]

Range report:

Fired our two newly acquired Mosin-Nagants at the range today, about 30 rounds each. My 12year old grand-son was able to handle the recoil just fine.

They both shot extremely high at 100 yards. To get on the paper we had to aim at the target below. The guy next to us had a Nagant he had put a scope on. He said his iron sights shot a foot to the right at 50 yards and with no windage adjustment he had no way to correct, so he mounted a cheap scope, adjusted and problem solved.

On about the 30th round my grand-son's bolt stuck. Had to beat it open with a mallet, Thought it was the brass jamming in the receiver, but after further inspection we determined there is some sort of problem with the bolt. Even with an empty chamber it is near impossible to pull the bolt back if its not already cocked. Will need to get a gun smith to look at it. Any recommendations in the Collin county area?

My son also came along today, and fired a few rounds thru both Nagant's. Now my wife is buying him one for Christmas too, I guess Mossin-Nagant fever is sweeping Collin County from the way they were being pulled off the racks last night at a local big-box outfitter.

Definitely a historical piece, lots of fun to talk about, fiddle with and shoot occasionally for grins - but not something I would want to take hunting. Rifle technology has come a long, long way in a 100 years.

Windage can be adjusted, but you need a punch and mallet to drift the front sight in the dovetail.

If you'd like to improve the sights while still keeping them irons, you might consider getting a set of Mojo Sights. They are drop-in dual aperture sights, and they work wonders for accuracy. I have the SnapSights set on both my Mosin-Nagants, and I wouldn't go back. For the 91/30, get the MN91MCSS part. I'd recommend getting the aperture pack as well (smaller apertures than what comes stock - put the smaller one on the rear), as they make for more precise sighting.

http://mojosights.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[lonewolf]

I really enjoy my Mosin M44 Carbine. Iron sights are excellent. I wouldn't mind owning the sniper version, but would like an original rather than a conversion with the appropriate scope set up. As said previously, shooting these guns is a lot of fun, and putting a really soft pad on the shoulder makes it even better! That steel butt plate on the already short stock can be a real shoulder bruiser!!

[sookandy]

The only verified true snipers are sold by RGUNS. They will have their mark on them. There may be one new source coming soon. They are trying to verify that they are authentic before the list them for sale. Rumor is that they will be about $550 compared to $800 at rguns.