Mosin Nagants...Number of rounds through it??

[Southern Shooter]

I know these guns are tough. But, I was wondering how many rounds MN owners have put through their rifles? What model and year make?

 

[Cosmoline]

Personally I've put at least ten thousand over the years in various rifles. They're as tough as a Mauser '98, perhaps tougher. With some of the poorly-fitted Soviet ones and cruddy laquered ammo you'll get sticky bolt as the chamber heats up, but a good loose-fitting Mosin action will keep trucking. For endurance shooting the Finns are superior. They have heavier barrels and looser bolts. I torture tested a SkY M-39 last year with hundreds of rounds of nasty Albanian and laquered ammo and it kept on shooting without a hitch until I ran out of ammo. The barrel shank was burning hot, and the stock was smoking. But those rifles were designed for firing all day long as the hordes of Russians approached.

91/30's and M-91's have lighter barrels that start to bark and lose accuracy after a hundred rounds or so back-to-back without a cooldown. But I've never heard of an action cracking on one or a kaboom.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I bought a 91/30 and a M44 a few months ago and have already put over 400 rounds through each. I doubt you will be able to harm a Mosin any time soon if you keep it clean.

 

[The Grand Inquisitor]

I don't know quite how many rounds I have put through my Mosin (perhaps 2-3K) , but I have done some rapid firing drills, of shooting and reloading as quickly as possible while being as accurate as possible.

I think I managed to put 80 rounds down range before my shoulder began to scream, but the rifle had gotten so hot that the laquer or paint (whatever is the coating on the stock) in the stock was bubbling.

My shoulder was bruised, but after I cleaned up the rifleit was no different than it had been the day before.

 

[kungfuhippie]

my m44 (new in the arsenal wrapper/ not rearsenaled) has seen about 350 rounds. I am planning to actually keep track of how much I shoot through my new ones (91/30 and m38) I get those in a week

But they'll shoot thousands without a hicup if you take care of them.

 

[grimjaw]

I don't know what mine shot during the war, but I've put at least 1000 rounds through one of them, including enough in one string to boil cosmoline out of the stock and boil water poured down the barrel.

jm

 

[kungfuhippie]

the mosin is built tough. Sometimes the simplest design is the best. Can you name a bolt action design that is any simplier? As long as the corrosive salts are removed after shooting (water works) it will last a long time. And from personal expirence, cosmoline will boil out of a stock that you thought you cleaned enough the last five times Cosmoline is just part of the fun. It is seriously the best part of looking at surplus rifles, the fact that my hands will smell like old guns all day, even after I wash them.

 

[armoredman]

Harm a Mosin? How? T-34s weren't as tough as a Mosin Three Line Rifle.

 

[Vaarok]

The Finnish Army found that Mosin rifles shot better after two thousand rounds, and did not begin to deteriorate in accuracy until something like fifteen or twenty thousand rounds with proper maintainence and cleaning.

 

[rangerruck]

I have an all match numbers 38. I cannot tell you how many rounds I have put through it, really, I cannot tell you. Lets just say 1000's, and it still shoots as good as the day i got it.

 

[benelli12]

Cosmoline,
when you say "nasty albanian", are you talking about the steel cased or brass cased, if you are talking about the brass case, can you tell me why they're nasty, because I have a 440 round tin, and I dont want to be putting bad ammo thru my M44.
thanks

 

[Cosmoline]

The steel case is worse, but all of it is nasty. It won't hurt your rifle, but it throws a lot of crud out and is quite dirty. On the plus side it makes a huge fireball.

 

[Beetle Bailey]

M91/30 Tula made in 1943. Total rounds are over 1100, including 200 rounds in one day. Bore was somewhat shiny when I got it, and it still is.

It was a very cold afternoon when I put the 200 rounds thru the rifle, but I still got the barrel pretty hot. Other than the beating on my shoulder, the only problem was that the action screw for the rear tang loosened up a bit on me. As I didn't check it before I started shooting, I don't know if the 200 rounds caused it or not.

Cosmoline I hate to admit it, but I kinda baby my Finn rifles too much. Oh well, I don't think I'm tough enough to survive a Mosin Nagant torture test anyways .

 

[Shrinkmd]

860 and counting

I think my 91/30's bore looks shinier than when I started with it. I don't think I've ever gotten all the copper out (last time I did two sessions of barnes, first was bright blue, second not so bad...it stunk and I was tired of cleaning so I stopped there) Also, supposedly some pitted old bores shoot better with copper filling in the pits rather than squeaky clean. Who knows?

I will be very happy if I can keep 3 or 4 MOA (those ironsightaction.com targets are great, eh?) for another 10,000 rounds or so.