[ej25wrx]

hi all new guy here

i have a question for some of you who own Mosin Nagants. i an kinda interested in getting one. i see them advertised at Big 5 all the time for like 100 bucks. the only reason i have not bought one yet is because im not sure how safe they are. i dont want to go and buy one then shoot it to have it blow up in my face.

would some of you let me know if the rifle is a good one im kinda skeptical because of its low price tag. thanks


-jason

 

[DJ 9iron]

Find them cheaper. Every time I got to my dealer I'm tempted to pick one of the 25 in stock for $79. Ammo is priced the same for an 880 rd tin. I then proceed like a robot to spread the $79 out over various calibers of ammo. :/

 

[ORCA]

Already a few posts here regarding Nagants:

http://www.gunatics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2229&highlight=mosin+nagant

It's fine depending on if you can shoot rifles in your area.

 

[fatcat]

Get it, you will love it...

Thats a gun that always gets taken to the range with me.

Btw, welcome to Gunatics.

 

[Adler]

Its not a Mauser by any means, but its a nice plinker and at nearly half the price of a Mauser.

Just know that you will most likely be shooting surplus ammo that is corrosive, so you must clean the gun right after the range and use special techniques to get the corrosive materials out of the bore.

 

[brucelee]

Fun, cheap, and sore...

 

[ej25wrx]

thanks for the in for guys i appreciate it

 

[Adler]

Fun, cheap, and sore...

Sounds like Russian women as well j/k.

 

[carney]

Sounds like Russian women as well j/k.

Ahhh you beat me to the smart a** comment

 

[kartoffel]

Mosins are very inexpensive to own and shoot. The basic cheapie ones that go for double digit prices (91/30, M38 and M44) are often really rough. Some have sewer pipe bores and can barely hit a man sized target at 100 yards. Others will shoot significantly better! Unless you inspect carefully it's a bit of a gamble. Better rifles will have nice crisp rifling visible at the muzzle, an undamaged crown, and the bore will be bright and shiny. More realistically, a M44 or 91/30 from Big 5 might have a counterbored muzzle, and rifling with dark pitted grooves. Expect such a rifle to shoot maybe 5 MOA at best, but you never know. I've got a 1939 91/30 with the original muzzle, somewhat worn but at least worn evenly, and nasty dark frosted rifling -- yet the darn thing shoots 2 MOA if I do my part.

If you pick and choose a rifle from a whole rackfull, you'll likely find a good shooter for cheap.

Collectible and rare Mosins aren't necessarily any better shooters. They're just rare. Anything rare like like the "MO" marked ones, ex-snipers, etc will cost quite a bit more and unless you're collecting for the sake of collecting, there's not much point.

But say you want a really nice shooter that's also collectible: look into Finnish Mosins. M39's and Finnmarked 91/30's are based on hand-picked Russian receivers with aftermarket barrels, actions and stocks. While it is possible to cherry pick a Russian Mosin that will shoot well, the Finnish ones shoot beautifully every time.

So anyway, heck yes you should pick up a couple. Go have fun, make some noise and throw your shoulder out. Just make sure to clean the bores with WATER immediately after shooting to rinse out the corrosive primer residue, prior to regular cleaning. Don't ever put them away dirty, or you'll end up with a sewer pipe. Same thing goes for any gun that's fed corrosive ammo.

 

[ej25wrx]

wow, thanks for the info kartoffel.

 

[Adler]

Windex is also very good for removing corrosive salts. I clean the hell out of the bore with my solvents, then run a couple patches soaked with windex through he bore, dry it out, and then lightly oil it. Never had any rust problems from it. As long as the windex has ammonia in it, it will clean the bad stuff out. Just don't leave any ammonia in the bore since it too can be corrosive.

 

[kartoffel]

The corrosive salts are water soluble. Believe it or not, plain old water will dissolve them just fine. However, there are some things that help dissolve the crap better:

1. Heat. Hot water works better than room temperature, as anyone who washes dishes can tell ya

2. Soap. It reduces water's surface tension and helps break up fouling. (duh).

3. High pH. Anhydrous primer residue absorbs water to form acid, which can be neutralized by increasing the basicity of the rinsing the solution. Hence, ammonia.

The main idea is to flush the chamber, bore and bolt head thoroughly with water ASAP after use. At the range I flush with windex from a squirt bottle, followed up with a bronze brush and more windex, then a mop soaked in a mix of Simple Green and Ballistol. At home, I proceed with the usual routine of Hoppe's #9 and patches.

 

[Adler]

I have actually found that Gunslick foaming bore cleaner works well in a pinch if you do it at least twice, but just in case I usually stick to tried and true methods such as the windex or dawn dish soap in boiling water.

 

[Lowend]

I love my M-N, but have found that you really have to put a little money into them to make em worth owning
A Synthetic Stock and a scope mount goes a long ways
These guys sell some very nice packages; but than again you'll have more money into the accessories than you do into the gun
http://makarov.com/

FYI - most of the open sights shoot WAY high

 

[fatcat]

FYI - most of the open sights shoot WAY high

Thats because there made to shoot the enemy from 3 countries away :lol:

 

[Adler]

Yep, remember you are most likely not shooting the correct ammo for the rifle(ie bullet weight). And the sights are usually set at 200 yards for a minimum on most old bolt action military rifles. Somehow they thought a Mauser C96 could shoot 800 meters, and a rifle 2000 meters.

 

[Lowend]

Here is the specific link to the combo I was talking about
http://makarov.com/cart/mosmount.htm

There is a trick to shim up the front sight to help with the hi-shooting
Massive data dump on them here:
http://7.62x54r.net/

Here is the sight trick
http://www.surplusrifle.com/shooting/mosinfrontsight/index.asp

 

[packnrat]

everybody should own 15 - 20 of them.:lol: