Mosin Nagant

[Target Shooter]

Never done this before, so I thought I'd have a go at it.
I know amongst many centrefire shooters, and especially ones who take the sport very seriously, military surplus rifles are usually ignored and thrown to one side. But for both target and hunting, the Mosin Nagant is a very good starting rifle. It's cheap, easy to maintain, and simply built (some say this is its downfall) but the ammunition is also very cheap and reasonably good (I'm currently using old Hungarian rounds from the 80s - not perfect, but good enough).
I'm personally not into shooting small furry things, so I got this as a rough and ready target rifle, and it doesn't disappoint me, I only paid £80 for it, you couldn't even get a deactivated one for that price, and it shoots well.
The mechanism on it is very fluid and easy to use (Ignore all this crap about the "bolt sticking" that's purely because people don't cock it correctly or maintain it) allowing easy and quick reloading and a clean cartridge ejection.
Being military surplus, it is designed to be able to take messy rounds, as in wartime, they weren't perfectly made, which can lead to residues building up in the receiver, as it isn't a perfect fit every time, but again, they're not a problem, I've had no misfires with mine and it's easy enough to remove the build up in the receiver.
But shooting it is completely different to any other rifle - the Mosin isn't so much as held, as wrangled. This may be because I'm using the M38 carbine version, but it sure packs a punch with its recoil - But it also releases a phenomenal thunderclap and on occasion a colossal flame, which is quite enjoyable.

So, it isn't the most accurate or expensive rifle, but for a starting one, it's perfect. Cheap, simple, and good fun to have a shot with, and plenty of them around. One issue though is the safety, which can be a nightmare to get on and off as part of the bolt is pulled against the push of the firing pin, and then perched on top of the breach - For target shooting, this isn't an issue, but I guess for hunting it's a bit more awkward, keeping the rifle on safe, but also have the ability to quickly load silently.

Hope I haven't annoyed too many people with this who think I'm just blathering, but I thought I'd have a shot at it (no pun intended)

[Jim McArthur]

Your review certainly held MY attention, and I have almost no interest in centerfire rifles, so it must have been a good one. ;)

Jim

[lucky trigger]

Interesting review thanks.:)

[maximus otter]

Good review, Target Shooter.

You might also enjoy this article (http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/edu27.htm) on the consistently interesting The Box o'Truth website.

maximus otter

[Richard_J]

I've got a 1944 M-44, I love it!:cool:

[mikemorton]

Good stuff.

It's interesting to read about the little details that can affect handling and shooting.

Can anyone point me in the direction of some nice Mosin Nagants or Kar 98Ks please?

Henry Krank?

Anyone else?

I'm looking for a Soviet Mossie or Wehrmacht 98K, not one of the foreign clones.

Cheers.

[harricook]

I think S J Downs in Bristol try http://www.sjdowns.co.uk/
had some nice K98s & a couple of Nagants last time I went shopping :D:D


Cheers

Roy

[mikemorton]

Thanks Roy,

I'll give 'em a ring. :)

[3doorpete]

Nice review - love to see a few pictures of it put up. My friend has a Mosin Nagant and I've shot it. What a kick! He paid £175 and that's great value for the condition.
We set up a camera and took some film of the muzzle blast when we last used it. You are not wrong about the flame!!

My AK103 firing 7.62x39 feels like a pussy cat after the 7.62x54 round.

[Target Shooter]

Only got the one picture on my PC at the moment, lost the other pictures I took when the hard disk went belly up. I'll take a few more pics on the weekend, maybe try and get one just as the flame comes out

http://img384.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pict1981wr0.jpg

Shoddy picture too to be honest, but you get the jist. Very good condition, only a couple of scrapes, I think it was in storage for a long time as it had some cosmoline about it when I got it.
And @ Mike - The place where I got my Mosin from has an exact same model still in stock. It's a slightly more uncommon M38, has no metal fittings around the sling holes (Different date, it's not missing them, just doesn't have them) and that's also £80. This is from Centrevine in Formby if you know it, PM me for the phone number

[Rude Fat Dog]

Never done this before, so I thought I'd have a go at it.
I know amongst many centrefire shooters, and especially ones who take the sport very seriously, military surplus rifles are usually ignored and thrown to one side. But for both target and hunting, the Mosin Nagant is a very good starting rifle. It's cheap, easy to maintain, and simply built (some say this is its downfall) but the ammunition is also very cheap and reasonably good (I'm currently using old Hungarian rounds from the 80s - not perfect, but good enough).
I'm personally not into shooting small furry things, so I got this as a rough and ready target rifle, and it doesn't disappoint me, I only paid £80 for it, you couldn't even get a deactivated one for that price, and it shoots well.
The mechanism on it is very fluid and easy to use (Ignore all this crap about the "bolt sticking" that's purely because people don't cock it correctly or maintain it) allowing easy and quick reloading and a clean cartridge ejection.
Being military surplus, it is designed to be able to take messy rounds, as in wartime, they weren't perfectly made, which can lead to residues building up in the receiver, as it isn't a perfect fit every time, but again, they're not a problem, I've had no misfires with mine and it's easy enough to remove the build up in the receiver.
But shooting it is completely different to any other rifle - the Mosin isn't so much as held, as wrangled. This may be because I'm using the M38 carbine version, but it sure packs a punch with its recoil - But it also releases a phenomenal thunderclap and on occasion a colossal flame, which is quite enjoyable.

So, it isn't the most accurate or expensive rifle, but for a starting one, it's perfect. Cheap, simple, and good fun to have a shot with, and plenty of them around. One issue though is the safety, which can be a nightmare to get on and off as part of the bolt is pulled against the push of the firing pin, and then perched on top of the breach - For target shooting, this isn't an issue, but I guess for hunting it's a bit more awkward, keeping the rifle on safe, but also have the ability to quickly load silently.

Hope I haven't annoyed too many people with this who think I'm just blathering, but I thought I'd have a shot at it (no pun intended)

Be very careful about using factory ammo in the Nagant as the primers are extremely corrosive and require the rifle to be cleaned well after use. I have a SMLE, No4 and No5 plus Russian, Finnish and Polish Nagants - I love the Nagants !
Regards, Greg Goldsworthy

[Target Shooter]

Thanks for the heads-up. I don't think the previous owner cared for it much, after giving it a thorough clean when I got it, after leaving some oil in the barrel, when I came to next swab the barrel, a LOT of crap came out with the patch that the oil must've loosened over the time, all the really stuck in stuff I believe. So after giving it another royal scrubbing with a bronze brush, with a lot of 009 to loosen anymore of the previous owners muck, it's now clean as a whistle ;)

[guybinks]

I am interested in air rifles, rimfire rifles and centrefire rifles - I thought it was a good review and interesting - some reviews always tend to follow the same detail etc.

I've never had the pleasure of a c/f, but it sounds like you are having a lot of fun - i love the idea of the flame out the barrel! :eek:

I bet it looks quite spectacular, esp. at night.

My neighbour has a deac M1 Garand - its quite a piece of history - the rifle saw action in WWII

Is there any history associated with your rifle?

[RichardH]

Good stuff.

It's interesting to read about the little details that can affect handling and shooting.

Can anyone point me in the direction of some nice Mosin Nagants or Kar 98Ks please?

Henry Krank?

Anyone else?

I'm looking for a Soviet Mossie or Wehrmacht 98K, not one of the foreign clones.

Cheers.

Peter Lawman had some really nice 98's ;)

[Target Shooter]

I am interested in air rifles, rimfire rifles and centrefire rifles - I thought it was a good review and interesting - some reviews always tend to follow the same detail etc.

I've never had the pleasure of a c/f, but it sounds like you are having a lot of fun - i love the idea of the flame out the barrel! :eek:

I bet it looks quite spectacular, esp. at night.

My neighbour has a deac M1 Garand - its quite a piece of history - the rifle saw action in WWII

Is there any history associated with your rifle?

All I know about it, is it is a reservist's rifle, the M38 carbine wasn't issued to front line soldiers. I believe it was found in an old Arms dump dug up in Russia a few years ago, and I assume it has seen some action as it has some marks on the side of it, that look like deliberately scratched marks, that are very old, as the wood is the same colour in the scratch, as around it. The other reason I can assume it's seen action is the severity of weapons needed in Russia in the 2nd World War, I couldn't imagine, even a reservists rifle not being used. The marks could be kill marks, but I really have no idea, I have heard scratches did used to identify kills, but then again, there's no real substantial proof behind it.
It was made in Izhevsk 1942, in Russia, and as I priorly said, I believe it was found in an old munitions bunker found a few years ago in Russia, these stores pop up from time to time, and are usually immediatly shipped across the world (You can pick up an M38 rifle in the US for £30). It has all matching serial numbers, and original ones, but I have yet to find out if there is a way to identify the history behind it through its numbers.

[baldiedave]

Good stuff.

It's interesting to read about the little details that can affect handling and shooting.

Can anyone point me in the direction of some nice Mosin Nagants or Kar 98Ks please?

Henry Krank?

Anyone else?

I'm looking for a Soviet Mossie or Wehrmacht 98K, not one of the foreign clones.

Cheers.

Mike, give Jack Truscot at the royal armouries a ring. He had a pair of k98,s recently, as a friend bought one, and its a belter, and a lot better than mine. They are russian captures [stalingrad or Kursk] and the one my friend got, had all matching numbers, and was a genuine mauser, made by the berlin factory. mine is also a genuine mauser, made by the obendorf plant. I,ll pm you his number .;)

[Target Shooter]

Just bringing this back up. After only having access to Hungarian surplus with the Mosin Nagant, I thought the ammunition was rather crap as it would clean miss over 200 yds, so I had been waiting on some PPU to try with it. However, when I was in the butts, listening to someone firing it, it kept going far left, so I asked them to counter by firing further to the right, initially by about a foot, then 2, and it started getting them bang on.
So on going back to the firing point, I had a look at the end sight on the rifle, and it looked fairly far off in one direction (explaining the far left shots). Does anyone know how to best remedy this? It needs to be knocked about a millimeter over, but do I need to remove the pin behind it, or does it just need a simple tap across? I have the manual for it, and it is out of place, but the book doesn't say anything about remedying the situation