THE MOSIN NAGANT: The Official Rifle of Arthur’s Hall!

1: First, the Poison Maggot is a time proven design. Dating from 1891, all the bugs have been worked out. This assumes there were any bugs in the first place, which there were not. No one would dare to be less than optimal for the Tsars and Commissars.

2: It’s very simple and robust. There are very few things that can go wrong with the Noisy Nagger. There isn’t even a bolt release — the trigger serves as that. The springs are heavy gauge, the mechanism basic steel, and the stock a solid piece of wood. Remember that the Russkies and the Commies figured that the bayonet was as important as the bullet. This means:

3: Versatility. One can argue the benefits of the spear versus the club. Guess what? The Russian Gun-Club is both! And it shoots bullets! Why compromise when you can have all three?

4: Physical fitness. The Rosined Nag is heavy. No real man would complain about this. In fact, he boasts of it. One has to be fit to carry it, and fit to aim it without shaking like a coward. Not to worry. The recoil will reseat that loose shoulder and save you the medical bills.

5: Economical. The Soviet Man Cannon is dirt cheap--$100-$200 in 2009 prices. You can typically buy 10 to 20 of them for the price of a modern rifle, and the ammo is about half the price, and has been in production for more than a century. One sacrifices rate of fire and accuracy, but that’s offset by the fact that an entire platoon of your friends now have guns. Besides, your friends are men, so every shot counts, right? Who needs rate of fire. And any real man can hit through force of testosterone, without bothering with sights. Just imagine your enemy is a toilet, unzip and pull the trigger... so to speak. Flush him straight into a grave or outhouse. Or both.

6: General manliness. The Tula Jackhammer has no prissy “Ergonomics” or “delicate triggers” or other crap. It is a brutally simple tool. If you can’t pull the trigger, then do some more grip exercises, you pansy. Don’t like the recoil? Get a recoil pad, chew a handful of Vicodin, and see your doctor for some testosterone shots. The length of pull is too short? Wear a stout Russian overcoat and stop whining. And some earplugs, since you probably don’t want to hear the rest of the "Commie Chiropractor" community laughing at you.

7: History. You may wind up with a Russian or a Finn rifle built on a Russian or French receiver, a Czech, Chinese, Polish, Hungarian or even one of the rare American made models, from the Russo Japanese War, WWI, the Russian Civil War, the Spanish Civil War, WWII, the Winter War, the Continuation War, Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan... the "Baltic Flamethrower" has traveled the world. Be sure to check the date on the tang under the stock—it may be an antique made before 1899, which means it’s a rifle, but not legally a firearm in most English speaking nations. This just makes politicians go into a tizzy.

You may hear complaints that as a non-American weapon, or worse, the weapon of our former enemies, no American should own one. But that’s just a misunderstanding of the situation. The fact is, Ronald Reagan, one of our manliest presidents (after such other greats as Teddy Roosevelt), stomped the Soviet Empire into the dust with the tool of capitalism, and we are now selling that empire off on the internet for ten cents on the dollar. A Musty Nugget is not only a manly weapon, it’s a political statement.

If you can only afford one rifle, this is the one to have. If you can afford several, this should be one of them.

Men, raise a glass of vodka to Sergei Mosin and Leon Nagant, men for their time, and ours!

#9: Mosin-Nagant M44
“Speaking of guns without safeties, here’s the Mosin-Nagant M44 Carbine from Russia. The Mosin was used by the Russians against the Finns, the Finns against the Russians, the Estonians against the Russians, the Russians against the Russians, and the Russians against the Germans. It does, in fact, have a safety, but it’s quite hard to engage. But this is not a complaint one would ever voice in the Red Army. Your officer would reply, “Safety? Safety? Is gun! Meant to kill! No warrior should know he has safety on gun, because he should be killing enemies of homeland! Safety make loud click to aid enemy in locating warriors! No safety!” while pounding his fist on the table.

And the Mosin can kill enemies of homeland. The muzzle blast will vaporize green growth within a few feet of the muzzle, and even if you miss, the enemy will be reduced to shouting “WHAT?” to communicate. You’ll need a recoil pad or shooting jacket. Ordinarily, this might be considered unmanly, but this rifle has a short stock for using while wearing several layers of wool for a Russian winter. It is acceptable to wear padding to fire a Mosin.

Of course, there are also M38, 91/30 and other variations of Mosin-Nagant and all are cool. All, also (except the M38), come with a bayonet. Russian doctrine held that the bayonet was mounted except while traveling in a vehicle, because the Russians understood that an empty rifle could still be a pointy stick—a Viking spear. The Russians loved to spear Turks. So, coincidentally, did the Vikings. This rifle sounds better all the time, doesn’t it? The Finns used the Mosin as a sniper rifle during the Winter War, and their greatest Sniper was Simo Häyhä, who had 500 confirmed kills in 100 days. This is a man the Finns describe as “modest” and “self-effacing.” It’s a good thing the Russians didn’t run into a Finn who was proud and arrogant. They’d have been wiped out.

It fires a 7.62X54R (for “Rimmed”) cartridge, about as powerful as .30-06, and holds the distinction of being in service from 1891 to the present, longer than any other military cartridge. It is still used in Dragunovs, PKMs and other Russian weapons. It’s cheap in quantity. So are the rifles, because they were built for (all variations) over 70 years, by Russia, Finland, Poland, Romania, even the US. As I write this, arsenal-new M44s are $55 to $200. At that price, you should have several, so any guests you have during the Collapse can be outfitted as they receive Enlightenment. Then they can rape, kill, sack and loot with the rest of the men who secure a new Dark Ages to hasten the new renaissance. It will be a manly duty.”

I never tried .32 long in one but everyone assures me it works fine.

The 7.62 cartridge is tapered, and considerably fatter under the rim than the straight .32 S&W long. The most suitable substitute is the .32-20, similar dimensions, but still too short for a gas seal. The revolver will (usually) go 'bang' with the .32, but gas leakage, lead spray, and ruined cases, along with crummy accuracy is all you'll get. I'm a real prude as far as the right ammo in a particular chamber goes, so I apologize for that, but these are old guns; servicable but not up to Smith&Wesson standards. Safety First.

Maybe it was the HR I was thinking of.

Anyhow, Folks say there is a modern round you can use, But you are correct in using what is designed for it.

Especially if the stuff is available.

At those pressures I would experiment if the load wasnt available but why bother if the right stuff is available

Availability of ammo has always put me off on this revolver, but unique design always draws me back to it.

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