I have won an award in competition with this carbine.
I used to have a Polish specimen of this model, but had to sell it during a bout of unemployment. Still, it was one of the most accurate rifles I'd yet owned, and powerful, and beefy-rugged, and some folks think the Mosin is ugly but I don't, and I love that long pointy thing up front even if it does throw off the point-of-impact when extended. So, when I became gainful again, I waited until Big 5 had them on sale and snatched the best of that week's batch - which, it turns out, is pretty good. (This image is from the net. No digital camera yet!) Not only is the carbine all-matching on numbered parts, including the bolt, but while the outside is scuffed - still Good to Very Good - the inside is Excellent. The bore looks brand-new and the bolt, inside and out, gleams.
The trigger was much worse than my last specimen, though - more like the SKSs I've fired. Greatly improved by replacing the original, matching-number cocking piece with a scruffy old one I had as a spare for the Polish version, which was worn smooth by much actual use.
I've since swapped the trigger spring/sear and the cocking piece from this carbine to the 91/30 long rifle, where I hope it will improve my scores.
The Mosin-Nagant series of bolt-action rifles was introduced in 1891 for Tsarist Russia, and continued to serve well into the Cold War era. I'm sure they're floating all over the Third World to this day - the ammunition is still manufactured for Soviet-pattern machineguns like the PK. The Mosin has two big locking lugs on the front end of the bolt like a Mauser; it loads quick through the top with stripper clips ("chargers"), and the 5-round magazine (well, four; the bolt won't close without chambering the fifth) has a clever arrangement to prevent "rim-lock," a problem with rimmed cartridges in magazine repeaters. The cartridge is easily in the .308/.30'06 class, which makes it adequate - with proper, expanding bullets - for humanely hunting most living things between the Arctic and the Equator.
(This also means that, like with most modern hunting rifles, a round from a Mosin will easily defeat the body armor of your average jack-booted-thug.)
No sporterizing here, though I am considering a replacement rear sight from Mojo Sight Systems. I much prefer a post front sight, which the Mosin has, and an aperture rear sight like most modern fighting rifles, which the 1891/1944 Mosin isn't. Unfortunately there is no place to put a real receiver sight on a Mosin's receiver.
The only changes thus far are entirely reversible; the correct "dog-collar" type sling, found at a surplus store not too far out of the way; an Uncle Mike's/Butler Creek slip-on (more like tug-grunt-curse-on) recoil pad; and an Ace Case ten-place elastic-loop cartridge carrier on the butt (Uncle Mike's version only carries nine, I get these from the big nylon thingie vendor at the gun shows). I'm also considering a replacement bolt body, with a bent-down handle, available from Gun Parts Corp. The Mosin uses a separate bolt head, so headspace would not be affected.
Return to Jeffersonian's Page