Posted on 03/15/2011 4:17:33 PM PDT by TexasBarak
The Mosin Nagant 91/30 is a blunderbuss with a bad attitude, a fierce weapon of war from the tip of its pig-sticker bayonet to its skull-cracking iron butt plate. The original 91 was introduced in 1892, improved in 1930, and remained Russia’s top infantry rifle until 1945. Like the Ivans and Ivanettes who carried this beast through seven wars, the Nagant rifle packs a punch. It’s big, robust, heavy, loud, rude, sometimes crude, iron-balls tough, ugly in a beautiful way, cheap, historic and a whole lot of fun if you go easy on the vodka. Whoa. I just kinda described myself if I drop the historic thing and add more vodka . . .
More at link...
(Excerpt) Read more at thetruthaboutguns.com ...
bflr
Blunderbuss?
Even my 1897 isnt a blunderbuss.
It is a modern bolt action rifle.
Hah, and my 91 was made in America.
My 91/30 is 100% Ruskie though.
Buy a Finn M39, which is a MN receiver with a better barrel, stock and sights, and you get all of the MN’s goddness plus accuracy. The Russkies found out about Finn accuracy in the Winter War, gaining about enough territory to bury those that the Finns killed.
Never understood the charm of these things. Commie guns (especially the pistols) are bad karma.
Granted, neck hair is easier to clean off the muzzle than cosmoline.
My 91 is from Sestroretsk
A lot of it is history.
Mine started life in Sestroretsk Russia under the rule of Czar Peter the The Great, it went through the russian revolution, WW1 and The Winter War, where it was captured by the Finns and rearsonaled.
I collect the M39’s and they’re the best of the series by far. As to why you’d get one...
300 yards, unscoped, 12 in metal target, 50 year old surplus combloc ammo...hit it 5 out of 5 all day long. More energy at 500 yards than a .45 point blank.
Plus, they’re like doritos...you can’t have just one... :-)
The Russian M-91 was also manufactured by Remington and Westinghouse.
I owned a Sako-marked M1939 and then sold it (grrrrr).
For me, it was a freedom weapon. The Russkies invaded Finland and were killed by the tens of thousands by Finns using the same battle rifle but much improved. Might say the M39 has good karma.
I later bought a nice M1891/30 sniper with the original scope, all numbers matching. Learned later it was probably imported from Ukraine, another country seeking freedom from the Russian yoke. Still have it.
Then there’s my Chicom Type 53 carbine, an M1944 copy. A gift from my classmate when we were in Vietnam. He was infantry and I was a `real helicopter pilot’. Guess which of us saw more neat souvenirs.
If the current crop of Mosin Nagants comprise a cheap and effective `peoples’ rifle’, then let it be the one peeping from behind `every blade of grass’.
In a recent GUNS magazine article, outstanding examples of the Mosin-Nagant, Springfield, Enfield and Mauser were exhaustively tested for accuracy with the best ammo available. The Nagant stunned the testers by outshooting the other rifles. I think they shot something like 20” groups at 1,000 yards. The Mosins outshot the others at all ranges, the 1,000 yard test was a lark. The testers were all very surprised that the Mosins outshot the other rifles.
So for the money, how can you go wrong, if you get a decent rifle?
See 13.
Speaking of money, another great thing about a Mosin is you can shoot all day (or until your arm falls off), and not go broke. I have a spam can of Russki milsurp ammo on the way from Texas, for $74.95. Even with shipping costs, I can fill the mag for about a buck, and have a heckuva lot of fun emptying the mag!
Whooa!! you should have cropped out Olga, as well as Svetlana’s field slippers.
ping
Prior to Obama it was $35 a spam can for the brass cased stuff.
Still have plenty of it left
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