Shot a Mosin for the first time

It seems to be a popular topic nowadays to say "get a Mosin while you still can", and I think it's appropriate here. I'm not a proponent of Mosin Nagants per se, but they are going up in price and are still relatively cheap and plentiful. I'm actually surprised that a member who has over 9,000 posts on this website JUST shot a Mosin Nagant for the first time for a lot of the guys I know, that was one of the first full powered rifles we ever owned and/or shot. But I guess we all have to start somewhere

I'm a Springfield guy myself, but have an appreciation for all things military surplus. I'd say go out an get a Mosin. No regrets.

Get a T53 carbine while you can!

*****WARNING*****

Mosin Nagants multiply like rabbits!! One shows up in your safe and you think "oh, that is a great addition to my collection". You open that safe door three weeks later and they are everywhere!

I have the M44.

Kicks pretty hard, shoots a fireball out of the barrel at night, and is one of the louder rifles.

Best $120 I ever spent.

Tim G.

Get one now. You will never regret it.

Yes, actually, there were early experimental 7.62x39 Mosin Nagants produced soon after the cartridge was first introduced. To my knowledge, though, these rifles never made it into full production and the remaining existing ones are prototypes.

Don't worry about finding ammo because it's one of the few cheap centerfire cartridges still available. There is LESS surplus for it, but there is still plenty. The problem, though, is that for many including myself, surplus isn't great. I don't like dealing with corrosion and I know it's not hard to avoid, but I am forgetful. So, I've never shot surplus out of them. However, because the surplus rounds exist, they drive down the price. PPU is really affordable, and more importantly it's reload-able. I think the 7.62x54r is a very UNDER RATED cartridge when it comes to reloading. With that long barrel (91/30) and decent case capacity, it can do some really great things. Now that companies are producing decent .311" bullets (if you have to search for bullets by chambering, pretend you're loading for a lee enfield), you can really get a lot out of those rifles and that cartridge.

That is the russian M 1. Probably killed more germans than all other rifles combined. Get it. Good luck with it so I know that you will enjoy it.

The first time I shot my M44, I looked around behind me for my shoulder. Now that I am used to it, I enjoy shooting it now and then.

I got a Limbsaver for my M44 and have no problem with the kick now. But yeah, some of the best money I've sent on a rifle. SO much fun at not a huge amount of money spent.

My 53 Hungarian is very accurate with Priv.P. and has great looking wood.
I added the recoil pad for length and saving my shoulder.

The Finn. I purchased has a longer stock and a much smoother action.
Groups are slightly larger then the Hungarian.

Hope you find what works for you.

*****WARNING*****

Mosin Nagants multiply like rabbits!! One shows up in your safe and you think "oh, that is a great addition to my collection". You open that safe door three weeks later and they are everywhere!

Click to expand...

umm yeah.... they follow you home like a lost puppy

I bought a Mosin a few weeks. I have yet to fire it and STILL want another one. That way I can sporterize one and keep the other vintage. I think I have a problem and it somehow involves gun powder.

I have 29 of them. I would have more but I am now retired on fixed income and the wife told me NO MORE......chris3

Forgot to mention the long M91 rifles are my favorite. But, the bayonet on a M44 makes a dandy rifle holder while you gut your deer.....chris3

I bought one 20+ years ago and don't want another. I guess I have 5k rounds and haven't shot 100 in the past decade.

I bought the soviet corrosive ammo because I liked the 'tuna can' packaging ... just don't tell one of your kids to clean it or you'll end up with pitting on the bolt carrier like I did /P

They are interesting rifles and just loaded with history.....I think the most vast history of any military rifle. Sadly the days of sub $100 are long behind us, but there are still quality rifles out there, and some have real value to them...with some models selling for easy over $1000.

There is no cheaper way to get into military rifles, no cheaper center fire rifle to shoot. You can even get American made versions.

Soviet weapons are in general pretty robust bits of kit. If you are looking for a good shooter find one that has the best bore and go from there....they are fun to shoot.

One thing to remember most of the surplus stuff does have a steel core, meaning that some ranges will not allow its use....they are darn near AP rounds.

Me & now my buddy really like our M44's.
Not so sure what y'all talking about on the kick or recoil of the M44, to me it ain't that bad & mine seems to like the 174gr. Brown Bear & 180gr. Reloads in accuracy but then we only have taken mine out to 200 yards, Now granted it isn't a tack driver with maybe 2-3" groups at 100 yards "benched" but is better than what she liked with the Hungarian 147gr. Surplus.

True, I have a 1968 no name Finn M39 that was built up using a NEW (New England Westinghouse) receiver.

I have 880 rds. of 1946 7.62x54 which has lead cores and thin jackets. On gal milk jugs of water, that bullet opens up almost like a hollow point. Odd, but the bullets mike out at .3085" and the hollow lead base is formed almost like a Minnie ball.

Mosins are awesome, they're cheap, accurate and powerful. I bought a 91/30 in 2007 and shot it to death (it's got almost no rifling left) now i also have a m44, m91 and ex-dragoon.

I think the one problem with them is that those surplus rounds are really hard on the rifling, from brand new to shot-out it's probably only 5-8k rounds. the other issue is that unless you started with a bright new bore you'll have the time of your life trying to clean it after every range trip, a pitted bore is nearly impossible to clean, no matter how many patches you use it's still dirty! I recently discovered old ww2 surplus GI bore cleaner is probably the best cleaner so far, it'll restore the bore to bright & shiny with only a few patches, vs almost a hundred using Hoppes 9. the old surplus cleaner only effective at removing soot, you'll still need water or hoppes 9 to remove the corrosive salts.

Last i checked J&G is still selling chinese T53 mosins for a cent shy of $100 but they look like crap and really beat up. better to get a nice new (or fairly new) mosin from classic arms for $20 more.

i have two tins of 1947 surplus, non magnetic. then i have 11 tins of 1970's surplus with the steel core and can't shoot that alot of ranges... and 3 tins of bulgarian yellow tip heavy ball that's non magnetic and pretty darn accurate. ammo is pretty cheap and the tins are awesome because you can put them anywhere handy and they'll preserve the ammo forever, when you open one it smells like it just came out of the factory moments ago (not 40+ years).

Mosins can benefit alot from handloading. Not all mosins require a .311 bullet, in fact the loads I did for my ex-dragoon I used Berger .3095 155 gr bullets and they were dead accurate. I think you can use regular .308 bullets for loading, I measured a bunch of my 1970's surplus (pulled bullets) and the bullets are .308 diameter.

The one thing i wish these old rifles had is a chrome lined bore. 2x as hard and twice as long lasting than regular steel and super easy to clean, I won't have to search for ww2 bore cleaner anymore. for example, I've shot alot of yugo corrosive and chinese corrosive in my AK & SKS, both have chrome bores, and they were very easy to clean, only a dozen patches at most, didn't bloom with rust on humid days and after several thousand rounds the bore looks still brand new.
I wonder does anyone chrome line existing bores? probably cost a hundred bucks but if i can have my rifle last twice as long it's worth it...

Usually you can not Chrome a bore once it has been shot, because you will never get it clean enough to get the chrome to stick well.
But you could for the same price, get a new Barrel made that is chrome lined.
But finding a barrel in .310 is hard enough .
so it will probably be a .308 bore.
But the option also is to have a Russian Machine Gun barrel in 7.62x54 turned down and threaded to fit the MN action.
They are Chrome lined if I remember correctly.

Mosins are fun but you'll quickly wish the sights were better .