Mosin-Nagant 91/30
(7.62 x 54R)
Developed in the 1880s by Russian army Captain Sergei
Ivanovich Mosin with contributions by Belgian arms
designer Leon Nagant, this rifle was initially adopoted in
1891 as a general issue service rifle for the Russian military
and served for four decades before being updated in 1930 and
reissued as the "Rifle Model 1891/30". During it's
estimated 60 years of service with the Russian military and
perhaps an additional 25 years in various capacities with
Eastern Bloc countries as well as China and others in
Southeast Asia, the Mosin-Nagant has seen service from World War I,
the Russian Revolution, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and has
even been seen by U.S. troops in use by locals in
Afghanistan.
It was only the obvious need for a semi-automatic weapon
combined with the increased frequency of close quarters combat
such as the street battles of Stalingrad necessitating a
shorter rifle that sounded the death nell for this great
military arm, ushering in the short-lived era of the SKS
rifle which, ironically, was already obselete at the time of
its introduction thanks to Mikhail Kalashnikov's AK-47.
The author sighting in his new prize on a chilly December afternoon
By the time the last Mosin-Nagant rifle left the factory, an
estimated 17 million had been produced world wide. By
contrast, one the most widely produced U.S. arms of WWII, the
M1 Garand, only saw a bit shy of 6 million units. It is quite
likely that the Mosin-Nagant's production figures have only
been exceeded by the AK-47.
During it's unusually long service life, this rifle was
manufactured by a host of arsenels from a multitude of
countries under license from Russia and the Soviet Union,
and issued as part of defense agreements to still others. Even
Remington got into the act during WWI. The American production
Mosin-Nagants are a somewhat interesting story in themselves.
Remington and New England Westinghouse combined to manufacture
around 1.5 million of these rifles. However, due to the Bolshevek
revolution, only about 350,000 of these were delivered to
and accepted by the Russian government. The balance of these
rifles were purchased by the U.S. government. These rifles were
issued to U.S. troops as training rifles and state militias.
After WWI ended, many of these weapons were sold to other
countries or to the public as surplus. A number were sold via
the Director of Civilian Marksmanship Program (DCMP) and still
others were converted to the American .30-06 round (although
modern safety standards hold that these conversions are risky
at best.) [Editor's Note]
For those interested in a deeper history of this weapon and
details about identifying the various
models, 7.62x54r.net
has an excellent collection of information suited to
Mosin-Nagant collectors. This site lists over 100 major and
minor variants on this design. More than enough to keep any
dedicated collector busy for some considerable period of
time.
My Mosin-Nagant
I am not sure what spawned my interest in this rifle but I
don't think I could have picked a better subject to add to my
collection. The Mosin-Nagant has been an important part of military
history and well worth a place in my display. Anyone who is
interested in martial arms should consider adding at least one
of these to their inventory. With the production numbers on
that scale, finding a good rifle isn't
difficult. J&G Sales of
Prescott, Arizona, where I picked up mine, will happily pick
one out that's got a better than average bore and seems in the
best overall condition (for a small additional fee, of course.)
The Mosin-Nagant with fixed bayonet
After getting my rifle home, the first order of business was
to clean off the litterally mounds of grease from the rifle and
out of the bore. While great for protecting the rifle during
long term storage, that's about all it's good for. Once the
cleaning was done, it was time for a thorough examination and
inspection. The first thing I noticed was the importer's mark
on the side of the barrel. Required by U.S. law on all imported
arms, this marking has a "dot matrix" appearance and
consists of two lines designating the model and caliber as
well as the serial number assigned during import. Some makers
simply use an electric engraving pencil to scratch this on and
some do so quite lazily, even to the point of obliterating
proof marks and other important features. My compliments go to
Century Arms for going to the trouble to do this quite
tastefully and in a way that does not detract from the piece
as a whole.
It didn't take long to determine that my rifle seemed to be in
as-issued condition minus a couple of obvious repairs done at
the arsenel such as the
floor plate and barrel bands on the front hand guard. All the
serial numbers I could find matched up (except for the one on
the bayonet but that's pretty minor to me.) The barrel is
stamped 1930 with markings from the Izhevsk arsenel and has a
hex receiver, indicating that this is among the more common
rifle variants out there. Since my immediate interest is in
the specimin, not a super-rare, ultra-hard-to-find version,
this will suit me just fine. I'm accustomed to older arms
having undergone at least one refit or even being nothing
more than a collection of spare parts so to find one mostly intact
is actually something of a treat for me.
When I was in the shop and got my hands on this rifle for the
first time, it was immediately obvious that this thing was a
monster. It was so long that there was a real question of
whether my safe was actually tall enough for this critter. By
itself this rifle is a full 48 and 1/2 inches long. That's just
over four feet! Shouldering this rifle with the bayonet
attached threatened to poke a hole in my ceiling. Truely, not
an indoor rifle.
Type: |
Bolt Action Rifle |
Caliber: |
7.62 x 54R |
Capacity: |
5 |
Barrel Length: |
30 in. |
Overall Length: |
48 1/2 in.
(66 in. w / bayonet)
|
Weight: |
apx 8.5 lbs. |
Sights: |
Tangent Rear, Post-And-Globe Front |
Finish: |
Blue |
Market Price: |
$70-$150 |
One of the first things you're likely to notice about this
rifle is the grooves cut in either side of the stock. These
are positioned to allow a place for the fingers and thumb of
the left hand in order to give more purchase on the stock when
firing. Personally, I don't like them. My hand is much more
comfortable going forward to the dimples positioned at the
first barrel band. Note that these are part of a later stock
design change. My stock is a pre-WWII stock but has been
altered and patched into a post-WWII pattern. This was
probably done in the '60s or '70s prior to long term storage.
Examination of the bolt reveals a pretty interesting safety
design. Unlike other rifles which use a catch to lock or
disengage the trigger, this rifle goes in a different
direction. To engage the safety, pull back on the cocking knob
at the back of the bolt and give it a counter-clockwise
twist. This brings a hook forged into the bolt into line with
the receiver. Releasing the knob at that point brings the hook
to rest on the receiver. In this position, it doesn't matter what
happens to the trigger because the firing pin cannot be
released. One potential problem here is that if the knob is
released carelessly, it is conceivable that the mechanism
could give, releasing the bolt, and discharging the rifle so
one must be careful.
Another odd item to us Westerners is the sling. Notice the
through holes in the stock. The sling is attached to the rifle
by use of leather straps through the sling and the rifle
stock. This "dog collar" sling attachment is not
unique to the Mosin-Nagant but it is certainly unusual to those used
to seeing sling swivels instead, and is the first time that I
have personally seen this design.
Yet another interesting choice is the design of the bayonet
itself and the Mosin-Nagant was issued with multiple designs.
Bayonets are a field unto themselves for collectors
and much has been written about them and the various designs
and productions through history. A quick search of the web for
"bayonet identification" shows 176 thousand results
in one engine and 496 thousand in another. The topic is most
deffinitely not a small one.
Many countries producing bayonets have typically opted
for bladed designs and in some cases even using double edged
blades. The U.S. M1905 bayonet was a 16 inch bladed affair
that could almost double as a sabre if it had to. Perhaps the
most common of the other common design was the straight spike
which is little more than a pointed length of steel. Designed
with a flat tip sharpened to about the shape of a flat bladed
screw driver and only slightly sharper, the main body of my
bayonet is a cruciform design, intended more to
pierce, dislocate, tear, and compress tissues rather than
cutting through them.
On the surface, this is logical enough and superior to the
straight spike. The point of the bayonet will pierce anything
in its path, leaving the main body of the bayonet to basicaly
push and tear the tissue apart. However, it could be quite a
debate as to whether this would ultimately inflict more or less
damage than a blade. Add to this the fact that with a blade,
you have a weapon that can be used quite effectively separated
from the rifle (and in more recent years, the bayonets have
become shorter and doubled as fighting knives, eliminating
the need to issue another piece of equipment to each soldier
while subsequently lending even more utility to their design)
and I think that the blade probably wins out but the Russian
design is effective, nonetheless.
Mosin-Nagant accessories
Naturally, no martial arm is complete without various
accessories. Thanks to the importer, a collection was gathered
and placed with the rifle as it was boxed for sale. These
included a screw driver that doubles as a bolt tool, a
magazine pouch (this one of later Soviet manufacture), an oil
and cleaner combination bottle, the bayonet, and of particular
interest are the parts necessary for the cleaning rod. The
sling shown in the pictures was part of this kit and is again
of Soviet manufacture.
Accessories for the Mosin-Nagant 91/30
If you look beneath the front of the barrel, you will see a
rod protruding from the stock. This is actually the cleaning
rod. Unscrew it, attach the muzzle guard, jag, and handle
pieces and there you go. While I'm not sure how well this
worked in practice, it certainly is a novel design. There is
certainly something to be said for making it easier for the
soldier to keep track of such an important tool but I
personally have to think that
a collapsible rod probably would have been cheaper to make
since you had to carry the rest of the parts in a pouch
anyway. It also would have slightly simplified the construction
of the rifle. I can see that rod getting caught on all sorts of
brush and ending up bent all to heck. However,
given that this one survived quite intact, it is quite
possible that this scheme worked better than I suspect it did.
The combination bottle for lubricant and cleaner is an
interesting design in itself. Over time, this was produced in
many different forms, the one shown being one of the earlier
designs, and was included in the parts made under license from
Russia and the Soviet Union by those who also produced the
Mosin-Nagant rifle. I'm not sure how well such a design would
fare now that plastics have taken over, especially as such
items tend to be presently designed to be disposable but it is
not without merit even in today's world.
"Right Shoulder, Arms!"
After all that cleaning and examination, the real
question is, "Just how well does it shoot?" The
tangent sight is graduated to an optomistic 2,000 meters and is
actually quite difficult to see when set anywhere near this
point. My initial perception of this weapon was that, in
practice, given the relatively loose tolerances of
most Russian and Soviet designs, for the raw recruit fresh
from boot camp, I would think it would not be expected that
they would be effective beyond about 150 to 200 yards. For the
average soldier with good training and shooting experience,
that distance is naturally much further, but I would still not
expect this rifle were effective beyond about 400. Of
course, in the hands of an expert marksman, who knows? 1,000
would not surprise me. Still, for your day to day target
shooting, I think 300 yards is optimistic. Experience is such
a great teacher, isn't it? All it took was a hands on lesson
to realize just how wrong that impression was.
Members of the extended .30 caliber family, all delivering about
the same punch. Left to right: .308 Win, .30-06 Sprg, 7.62x54R,
8x57mm JS (aka 8mm Mauser)
Let us not forget that the Mosin-Nagant is perhaps best known
as a sniper rifle and, when suitably modified for a scope
mount, can be quite effective in that role. Nothing
illustrates this more than the events surrounding famed
Russian sniper Vassili Zaitsev during the battle for
Stalingrad. In about 3 months, Zaitsev recorded over 500
confirmed kills using this rifle. Zaitsev also recorded kills
using other weapons during this period and was not the only
Russian sniper active during this campaign. When the Germans
met up with soldiers well trained in how to handle their
Russian Mosin-Nagant rifles, it cost them dearly.
With that kind of history, when I was examining this rifle and
conducting my research into the production history and so
forth, it made me really wonder just what
I could get out of it. Although it can be had, 7.62x54R is not
the most common cartridge out there and one has to look in
order to find it. In my town, the major suppliers don't carry
it except for Cabella's which is a 45 minute drive for me and,
in my oppinion, has too high a markup on these boxes. My local
shop does happen to carry these but they are of the corrosive
variety and must be used sparingly unless one is miticulous
about cleanup. My weapons always get a good scrub straight
away but cycling such rounds through pieces with intrinsic
value beyond their purchase price is not something I want to
do regularly. Consequently, if I intended to shoot this a
lot, my best bet would be to order in quantity from an online
dealer.
In evaluating the performance of this rifle, my first priority
was to determine just how precisely this rifle was
made, not to mention making sure it was safe to fire in the
first place. Slugging the bore revealed a groove diameter of
exactly .313 inches and a diameter of .298 on the lands. This
is almost exactly what should be expected for a 7.62x54R
chambered rifle. (The Finnish versions of this rifle actually
use a slightly smaller groove diameter, closer to .308)
The bolt operated cleanly and the firing pin impacted
with substantial force just where it is supposed to.
With these reassurances, I packed up my rifle, a jacket that
should have been thicker for the sort of cold day it was,
grabbed a couple of boxes of factory ammo and headed out to
the range to give it a try. Not wanting to trust my eyes
against the Mosin-Nagant's iron sights, I set up a somewhat
larger than necessary target out at 50 yards in order to allow
myself to get used to the rifle and find my zero. The first
impression I had on firing my Mosin-Nagant was, "Ow!" This
rifle, for all it's length, is a bit of a lightweight built
before the days of recoil pads and the 7.62x54R is a
powerful cartridge. The particular ammunition I was firing was
Sellier & Bellot 180 grain JS (jacketed soft point.)
Being accustomed to my heavier .30-06, the kick on this
thing surprised me. The manufacturer reports this round
clocking in at 2624 fps and building muzzle energy up to 2761
ft-lbs. That is on par with the .30-06 and meant my
shoulder was in for a good day's pounding. Oh well, such
is the price to be paid by those who enjoy collecting and
shooting rifles.
One item of particular concern to me before arriving at the
range was that I do not have a set of headspace gauges or
a bore scope. On any older or well-used rifle, especially
military rifles, detailed examination of tolerenaces and condition
should be
the order of the day wherever possible. If you're going to
find a problem with a rifle, this class is where it will most
likely be seen. Without these tools, that left one real safety
question which could only really be answered by carefully
observing the loading of several cartridges and, after being
reasonably sure that things are as they should be, carefully
inspecting the first couple of fired casings was well as the
receiver for any hints of
problems. Of course while I lacked the specific gauges, being
an engineer, I do have a very
accurate caliper and was able to take some before and after
measurements which showed not only did the bolt lock
up quite firmy without crushing the cartridge but that
there was very little case expansion in either axis, meaning
that virtually all of the power was used to propel the bullet,
not expand the brass case; the very deffinition of a good rifle.
I was actually considerably impressed with the Mosin-Nagant's
performance. After gingerly nursing my shoulder through the
first few rounds and getting used to the straight bolt, I was
able to fire a six round pattern to a target out at 50 yards
and place a group measuing just about 2.25". Remember,
this is with iron sights on a basically as-issued rifle. That
grouping impressed the heck out of me. It is no wonder that
the Mosin-Nagant was made in such large numbers. If they were
all that effective, any reasonably well trained solider would
have a good chance of taking out targets at 300 yards with
only a little work and a good, steady hand. For a trained
sniper with even a basic scope, I can easily
picture them hitting targets at 1,000 yards and over.
My grouping, although quite good, was high and to the
right. The elevation can be explained by the fact that the
sight increments start at 100 meters and go up from
there and I have a tendancy to shoot a little high anyway. Rather
than try to correct for this, I was more
interested in trying to hold the same point of aim and print a
pattern. It was only after I was done that I realized that the
front sight was not properly lined up in the dovetail
and was actually sitting slightly out to the left.
(In actuality, the front
sight is not designed to be drift adjustable since
the dovetail it sits in is only exactly as wide as it needs to
be and no wider. There is even a witness mark stamped into the front
of the sight to show military leaders if a soldier had attempted
to make unauthorized adjustments to his weapon. Mine has just
simply been knocked out of position at some point.)
I'm confident that once I get this nudged back where it belongs
that it will be dead on for windage.
A Legend Still...
The Mosin-Nagant 91/30 was built to be a fighting rifle in a time
when bolt actions ruled the battlefields. It saw service in
many conflicts and for decades afterward even as the light
machine gun and semi-automatic assault rifles had taken over
as the solider's best friends. There are two reasons only that
a rifle can have that kind of service life: deal brokering
between military and government officials and the arms
manufacturers, or a simply supurb design well executed. The
Mosin-Nagant is very much the latter.
I have fired many weapons in my time but this has to be one of
the most accurate military arms I have run across to date. At
a cost of just over $100 which included fees to hand pick a
rifle that seemed to be in better condition than the rest and
had a better than average bore, I think I got one heck of a
good bargain and look forward to getting to know this rifle
better.
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