[UniversalExports]

Latest acquisition is an Izhevsk-made 1938 Mosin-Nagant M91/30. It underwent an arsenal refurbishment at some point, as it has the box-with-diagonal-line stamp on the butt stock, and a laminated wood patch along the bottom of the butt stock. All matching numbers throughout (no force-matched strike-throughs). Comes with the correct, original-style sling. All wood and bluing in great shape, as one would expect following an arsenal refurbishment. Bore is incredibly clean with no appreciable wear.

Probably spent more than I should have, but I figured it would be a good match to my Swiss K31. May have to start looking for a Mauser K98 to go along with them.

 

[23738]

On yesterday's jaunt I saw a Mosin, think it was the M44 (if I remember my history on them). Was somewhat rough, and the tag stated 375 was a starting point. Damn, I paid 40 bucks back in 1998 for mine.

Think I shot it 7 or 8 times. At the time, ammo was a little harder to find than it is today.

Any pics, Doug? Would love to see it

Edit. Yes, a Kar is now required. Have you an Arisaka? Or do those not grip your fancy? I handled one of those as well yesterday, that bolt is quite honestly horribly unergonomic. I was surprised, to say the least.

 

[UniversalExports]

No photos yet. Heck, I haven't even photographed the Colt Mustang Plus II or the Marlin 1894C yet.


No Arisakas currently, and no real desire to get one.


So, at $299, how badly did I get taken?

 

[GeoNole94]

You may have done well on price, and certainly not bad. There are still tons of those out there, so prices will never be “high”. If you get the Mosin bug, try to get some trigger time with a Finnish M39; they are generally considered the smoothest/best of that Mosin iteration.

Once you shoot both the Mosin and the K31, I would love to hear your compare and contrast. I won’t taint your experience, but there is a clear winner between those two, IMO.

 

[23738]

You didn't get hurt any.

The prices are up, especially at LGS where they tend to mark up things a bit more, as in what I quoted above. However, for what it is, it's a nice shooting gun with tame recoil.

I've a funny little tale about my friend in Kansas who came over for a weekend awhile back. He's big into the Mosin rifles and brought a pair of his. Rather than rain on his parade of exuberance, I downplayed my ownership to a large degree, and when he warned me that they "kicked like hell", I merely nodded and steeled myself, in appearance, if not in reality.

I fired, and was underwhelmed at the recoil. Of course it was probably lightly loaded store bought ammo, so I can't complain. It was also a fully furnished gun, with enough wood to completely panel half of the staterooms that were aboard the Titanic. The gun felt like it weighed 42 pounds. My respect to the Soviet boys who packed them around, back in the day when my grandfather was half my age now.

Then...I let my friend Graham shoot my Model 70. The one that feels like it weighs about as much 5 rounds of 7.62x54R.

Kick like hell?? You damn betcha. He shot it 5 times, his wife shot it thrice. They said it was too much gun.

Moral: the Mosin is a sweet shooter, or, if a nice copy is at hand as it sounds here, a nice collector piece for a man who likes guns and is a fan of WWII era rifles.

Graham was told to experience a .338 Magnum if he wanted to feel recoil that would test his ball size. I have. That's.....a bit more than I liked.

If a bit more can be considered equal to being hit in the shoulder with a bowling ball at 150 mph LOL.

Anyway, I have love and respect for the Russian rifle. There's obviously many dead German boys who's spirits can attest it's lethal accuracy.

I switched to a modern hunting rifle only because I didn't want to risk ruining a decades old war relic. Or two, or three.

So my .303 and the Mosin and the Springfield all rest in repose in my dad's big ole safe, the mysteries of life and death that they were a part of many years before my time forever unknown to me.

It's history we're meant to preserve, one small piece at a time..

 

[UniversalExports]

You may have done well on price, and certainly not bad. There are still tons of those out there, so prices will never be “high”. If you get the Mosin bug, try to get some trigger time with a Finnish M39; they are generally considered the smoothest/best of that Mosin iteration.

Once you shoot both the Mosin and the K31, I would love to hear your compare and contrast. I won’t taint your experience, but there is a clear winner between those two, IMO.

I actually intend to do a blog article comparing both at the range, at some point. Just playing with the trigger, the K31 would seem to have the M91/30 beat, and from what I've read, it should also better the M91/30 in accuracy.


But the M91/30 sights are much better than the stock sights on the K31, which may swing accuracy results in favor of the M91/30. I intend to put white-out on the K31 front sight before I take it shooting, so that may help.

 

[GeoNole94]

I am not sure what ammo Beau is/was shooting, but the surplus military 7.62x54R that I am shooting is plenty stout. The steel butt plate probably doesn’t help with perceived recoil, and I agree that the Russian conscripts were tough SOBs to tote those steel and wood beasts around in the snow and muck. I also suspect that they all were deaf within a week, not that anybody in Moscow cared.

 

[WiseguyDS]

Would love to see photos as well. I’m a fan of these historic guns. Recently acquired an M91 Finnish capture, pre WWI. What I love about it is the Czar eagle was never ground off for some reason.

I fitted it with a rather nice looking but not overly expensive leather butt pad that actually enhances the look and makes shooting that war horse much more enjoyable.

 

[UniversalExports]

Well, just ordered through Amazon some goodies for the 91/30:

• Original Mosin Nagant Ammo Pouch, Cleaning Kit, and 5 Stripper Clips ($16.40)
• Mosin Nagant 91/30 Bayonet ($18.41)

I must say, accessories for this thing are a lot cheaper than for the Swiss K31.

 

[Jimbo80]

I sure wish I had bought a crate or three back when they were just about giving them away. Surplus Mosin Nagants and Nagant pistols turned out to be great shooters and really good investments.

 

[UniversalExports]

I sure wish I had bought a crate or three back when they were just about giving them away. Surplus Mosin Nagants and Nagant pistols turned out to be great shooters and really good investments.

And I'm wishing I'd done the same with the Swiss K31, back when they were to be had for only a couple of hundred. Good luck finding a decent one for under $600-$800, and many are now going over a grand.