Ralph’s Guide to Buying Your First Mosin Nagant 91/30 Pt. 1

The Truth About Guns ^ | March 5, 2011 | Ralph

[Travis McGee]

Shot the antlers right off that buck! That’s a powerful cartridge!

[Lurker]

For later.

[DTogo]

I would love to get more information on this rifle if anybody wold like to post some links where I could get cheap ammo

See link in #45.

[Yorlik803]

Yeah...I got a Yugo Mauser for about 200.00. 8MM and it looks pretty good.
K98s are climbing, even the ones coming from Russia with all the Waffenamts ground off and mis-matching numbers.

[archy]

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.

Talvisota, the Winter War [or War of the White Death as the Russians called it] was mostly fought on the Finnish side by Finnish Suojeluskunta Civil Guard reservists equipped with the older M28-30 rifle, also a Mosin-Nagant reworked by Finland's armourers.

Both are excellent weapons, but the M28-30 gained fame between the first and second world wars as the equipment of Finnish marksmen in the international ski and riflery *patrol rifle* competition that became the Olympic Biathlon Event.

One such competitor was one Simo Häyhä, who not only competed with his M28-30, but took his target rifle to war, managing some 515 enemy casualties before he was himself hit by a Red sniper, injuring him seriously enough to take him out of the fighting. If his personally counted score is considered, the number rises to 542 if unconfirmed deaths are included, plus, besides his sniper kills, Häyhä was also credited with over two hundred kills with a Suomi KP/-31 submachine gun, thus bringing his credited kills to at least 705. Remarkably, all of Häyhä's kills were accomplished in fewer than 100 days with a very limited amount of daylight per day. In general, he prefered the open metallic sights of his M28-30 to the telescopic sighted Soviet rifles with which he experimented to at least some extent.

[NVDave]

Yes. I am amazed that a K98 capture rifle can bring $400 and up.

Many of them are seriously pitted below the woodline.

[archy]

Yes. I am amazed that a K98 capture rifle can bring $400 and up. Many of them are seriously pitted below the woodline.

The rifles aren't the only thing with pitting beneath the woodline.

WW2 Tank found after 62 years

WW II Russian tank with German markings uncovered after 62 years. WW II Buffs will find this interesting. Even after 62 years (and a little tinkering), they were able to fire up the Diesel engine!

A Komatsu D375A-2 bulldozer pulled the abandoned tank from its tomb under the boggy bank of a lake near Johvi , Estonia The Soviet-built T34/76A tank had been resting at the bottom of the lake for 56 years. According to its specifications, it's a 27-ton machine with a top speed of 53km/hr

From February to September 1944, heavy battles were fought in the narrow, Narva Front in the northeastern part of Estonia . Over 100,000 men were killed and 300,000 men were wounded there. During battles in the summer of 1944, the tank was captured from the Soviet army and used by the German army (This is the reason that there are German markings painted on the tank's exterior. On 19 September, 1944, German troops began an organized retreat along the Narval.

It is suspected that the tank was then purposefully driven into the lake to conceal it when its captors left the area. At that time, a local boy walking by the lake, Kurtna Matasjarv, noticed tank tracks leading into the lake but not coming out anywhere. For two months he saw air bubbles emerging From the lake. This gave him reason to believe that there must be an armored vehicle at the Lake's bottom. A few years ago, he told the story to the leader of the local war history club 'Otsing'. Together with other club members, Mr. Igor Shedunov initiated diving expeditions to the bottom of the lake about a year ago. At the depth of 7 metres they discovered the tank Resting under a 3 metre layer of peat

Enthusiasts from the club, under Mr. Shedunov's leadership, decided to pull the tank outRoman','serif']In September of 2000 they turned to Mr. Aleksander Borovkovthe, manager of the Narva Open Pit Company AS Eesti Polevkivi, to rent the company's Komatsu D375A-2 bulldozer, currently used at the pit. The Komatsu dozer was manufactured in 1995 and has recorded 19,000 operating hours without major repairs.

The pulling operation began at 09:00 and was concluded at 15:00, with several technical breaks. The weight of the tank, combined with the travel incline, made for a pulling operation that required significant muscle. The D375A-2 force required to retrieve it was similar. A main requirement for the 68-ton dozer was to have enough weight to After the tank surfaced, it turned out to be a 'trophy tank' that had been captured by the German Army in the course of the battle at Sinimaed (Blue Hills) about six weeks before it was sunk in the lake. Altogether, 116 shells were found on board.

Remarkably, the tank was in good condition, with NO RUST, and all systems (except the engine) in working condition. This is a very rare machine, especially considering that it fought both on the Russian and the German sides. Plans are underway to fully restore the tank. It will be displayed at a war history museum

in the Gorodenko village on the left bank of the River Narv. Incredibly, after a few minor repairs, they were able to start its diesel engine.

The battle that this tank was in can be found described on this site.

[Ramius]

That’s so cool. A time capsule, really.

[Lurker]

Mine just got here today. I can’t wait to clean it up and see what this bad boy can do. And you can get 440 rounds of surplus ammo delivered for less than 100 bucks. Can’t beat that with a stick.

[Lees Swrd]

The movie Enemy at The Gate plus they are cheap! I have a few of them but they lost some of the Romanticism after I talked to an old Russian man that moved here he fought in WWII. He told me of course Russian snipers posed with a gun from the Mother Country of course they claimed to make their kills with that gun but that it was pure propaganda 8mm Mauser and any kind of American gun they could scrape up, most of the top snipers used those.
Now he may have not have been telling the truth but why would he lie he was there and probably would know!

[Travis McGee]

More ammo than you’ll ever need for it, I hope.

[Lurker]

Me too my friend, me too. Mine looks to be in really decent shape. I’ve been scrubbing it up most of the evening. Of course the parts don’t all match but the bore is clean and bright.

I’m going to run through a few things I’ve read to deal with the infamous sticky bolt problem and then get it out to the range to see how it shoots. If nothing else I’ve got a fun little hundred dollar rifle. If the worst happens I’ve got an ass-kicking combat proven bolt gun I can hand off to someone less fortunate.

Take care.

[Travis McGee]

I’d love to hear what kind of groups you get. In a recent GUNS article comparing an Enfield, Springfield, Mauser and Nagant in similar condition, the shooters were shocked that the Nagant was the best shooter at all ranges.

[Lurker]

Well I’ve got an Ishapore Enfield that’s pretty darned good. I’ll run it side by side with the MN and let you know what happens.

Hopefully my shoulder will hold out for a decent field trial.

[Travis McGee]

That Nagant aint known for being a soft shooter. Let me know how those two “bolt action battle rifles” fare side by side.