The Russian Mosin Nagant Forum

sgtheindl wrote:About a year ago I had never fired or even held a gun in my life. A buddy said him and his uncle were going shooting and I was invited. They just placed a pistol in my and told me to shoot...which I did and LOVED IT IMMEDIATELY. Fast forward a month, at Cabelas with the same buddy. We see behind the counter what we recognized as a Mosin Nagant from some of the videos games we had played over the years and he ends up buying one (1942 Izhvesk). Went shooting for a second time and again had an amazing experience shooting the Mosin. A week later I went and bought one myself. The gentleman at Cabelas asked me if I wanted a hex or round (mind you this is when they still have them in the back in boxes and not all on the rack). I had no idea what the difference was so I just said round since I was uneducated about Mosins. Turns out I ended up with a 43 Tula Ex-sniper so it wasn't the worst decision ever even though I still have a tinge of regret over it. Anyways, that all snowballed into a milsurp addiction that I can't afford . Heres a few pictures.

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They took it easy on you, if I was doing the training you would have known how to field strip that pistol, clear a jam, clean it, load it, and have practiced at least three shooting stances before you chambered a live round. We would also have spent hours going over firearms safety. When your turn comes to pass along the love of shooting make sure you do the above, safe shooters make us all look good.

qz2026 wrote:BTW, here is my first one. Still has a special place in my heart. I remember posting it here asking how I should date it since it was basically scrubbed. We landed on that it must be a '42. The picture should also dispel an qualms about counterboring. That rifle and this forum propelled me into putting together quite a collection. But, this is the one that started it.

I remember that one

Junk Yard Dog wrote:

sgtheindl wrote:About a year ago I had never fired or even held a gun in my life. A buddy said him and his uncle were going shooting and I was invited. They just placed a pistol in my and told me to shoot...which I did and LOVED IT IMMEDIATELY. Fast forward a month, at Cabelas with the same buddy. We see behind the counter what we recognized as a Mosin Nagant from some of the videos games we had played over the years and he ends up buying one (1942 Izhvesk). Went shooting for a second time and again had an amazing experience shooting the Mosin. A week later I went and bought one myself. The gentleman at Cabelas asked me if I wanted a hex or round (mind you this is when they still have them in the back in boxes and not all on the rack). I had no idea what the difference was so I just said round since I was uneducated about Mosins. Turns out I ended up with a 43 Tula Ex-sniper so it wasn't the worst decision ever even though I still have a tinge of regret over it. Anyways, that all snowballed into a milsurp addiction that I can't afford . Heres a few pictures.

017-DSCI0017.JPG

026-DSCI0026.JPG

029-DSCI0029.JPG

They took it easy on you, if I was doing the training you would have known how to field strip that pistol, clear a jam, clean it, load it, and have practiced at least three shooting stances before you chambered a live round. We would also have spent hours going over firearms safety. When your turn comes to pass along the love of shooting make sure you do the above, safe shooters make us all look good.

Definitely and I already have passed it on. I took a concealed class not long after which helped fill in all the blanks I had haha.

For Years I always liked the Mosin Nagant Platform ever since I saw the M91 rifles listed for $40 in SOG back in the early 90's. At the time I was a newly married Father & had to be wise with my meager gun fund. Add to the issue of me being a South Paw & I couldn't get past the bolt being on the wrong side of the gun. My Dad put the final nail in the coffin when he stated " You don't want one of those... Shoots that nasty corrosive ammo & those bores are sewer pipes". So instead I bought a few SKS rifles & soon ended my dabble into Milsurps for many, many years.
Fast forward to 2005... I met a guy who you all know here as Entropy. We got to talking guns & he kept going on about the Mosin Nagant & how great it was. Long story short we soon went to a gunshow together & I left it $80 lighter & the proud new owner of a 55 Romanian M44. I then bought a 91/30 & a 91/59 shortly after & took all 3 to the range to try out. After thinking it over I decided to only shoot them right-handed & was amazed how fast it came to me. These things were a blast! I was in love. I now shoot ambidextrous & out of all my rifles I prefer old Bolt guns hands down.

So here it is... The first one that started a whirlwind of spending, shooting & interesting tiffs with my sweet & patient wife. Dang That Entropy!!!!

1955 Romanian M44 (Romica)

qz2026 wrote:dj... nice, really nice '27 at a great price. Looks like an early non-Ukrainian refurbed import. I'm jealous over this one.

Even a blind pig finds an acorn once in a while.

My first like many others was a 1943 Izhevsk 91/30. I bought it at Elite Firearms in Hermitage. PA. What interested me most was the $2.99 ammo. I ended up joining the rifle of the week club. I Worked at a motorcycle shop there and it caused many jaws to drop when they would see some scooter rat flying down the street with some kind of red rifle slung across his back. It caused a few cops to jump to as you had to stop at the police station to sign in to use their range. Just like your first girlfriend, there may be many since but you never forget your first.

Here's my first Mosin with all matching numbers. Picked it up about 10 to 15 years ago sight unseen with extras and ammo for $80
I remember shooting it a few times and how bad the ammo delayed. I put it back in the safe and never pulled it out again until 2 years ago when invited to a military bolt match. Older friend at the match pulled my to the side telling me how to shoot this rifle and where to hold. I then placed 4 real close shots for practice before the event started. Went on to place 4th out of 20+ people shooting steel plates from point blank out to 385 yards. Pretty pleased with the ole gal after that day.

Hangfires? What sort of ammo were you using? Do you still have some on hand?

The first one I bought was in the early 1980s. There was a LGS that specialized in surplus rifles and one day I was looking at the racks and found an ugly bolt action. The owner knew I was a sucker for anything odd in the $50-$100 price range so he said it was Russian and pointed out that as the date stamp was pre 1898 there would be no paperwork. So for $70 I bought the rifle and the few handfulls of ammo he had on hand. Unfortunately I do not still have the rifle or remember much about it. However he did point out that it was the older "long" configuration not the shorter rifle Russia adopted in the 30's and there was no Soviet stamp. To him this meant it probably was a WW1 bring back.

Few years ago a coworker said he was going to Dunhams to buy a Mosin on the $69 Black Friday sale and wanted me to help him pick one out. I told him I knew nothing about Mosins but would ride along. I found one that to me "felt" right and told him to buy it. Turned out to be a great shooting rifle which he loves. Not long later I was looking at the racks of a LGS and saw about 20 M44s that had just come in. In looking them over I noticed that 19 had little triangles on the barrel shank and one had a star. Figured the star must mean something and the $150 OTD did not seem too bad. Trying to find out what the star meant lead me to this site and 7 more Mosins.

Junk Yard Dog wrote:Hangfires? What sort of ammo were you using? Do you still have some on hand?

I have about 20 rounds still here and they're real dark where it looks as though they were dipped in clear coat at some time long ago.
As best I can tell there's 4 different numbers on the edge of the rim. 29 - 16 - 15 - and what looks like a circle with a 21 inside.

Jbob wrote:

Junk Yard Dog wrote:Hangfires? What sort of ammo were you using? Do you still have some on hand?

I have about 20 rounds still here and they're real dark where it looks as though they were dipped in clear coat at some time long ago.
As best I can tell there's 4 different numbers on the edge of the rim. 29 - 16 - 15 - and what looks like a circle with a 21 inside.

Polish or Hungarian sounds like it but most likely Polish. Look like any of these? http://7.62x54r.net/MosinID/MosinAmmoIDII.htm#Poland or http://7.62x54r.net/MosinID/MosinAmmoIDII.htm#Hungary

WeldonHunter wrote:

Jbob wrote:

Junk Yard Dog wrote:Hangfires? What sort of ammo were you using? Do you still have some on hand?

I have about 20 rounds still here and they're real dark where it looks as though they were dipped in clear coat at some time long ago.
As best I can tell there's 4 different numbers on the edge of the rim. 29 - 16 - 15 - and what looks like a circle with a 21 inside.

Polish or Hungarian sounds like it but most likely Polish. Look like any of these? http://7.62x54r.net/MosinID/MosinAmmoIDII.htm#Poland or http://7.62x54r.net/MosinID/MosinAmmoIDII.htm#Hungary

Poland, bottom row on the left. That's exactly the right one.