new moisin thread and questions

[arg0naut22]

hi all, so i did find an earlier moisin thread, but it's quite old, and really just raises more questions for me than answers.

as more or less of a newbie to firearms in general (all my weapons were new out of the box), and never having handled/fired a moisin nagant, i have a few questions. local (chain) store has a few 91/30s for around $120. i gather from the earlier thread that that's not a bad price, but mid to high range.

bigger questions include:

1) given that these are surplussed from the old soviet block and are, therefore, used, how do i know if i'm getting a 'good' one? i would assume that the store i mentioned above would check them fairly thoroughly before putting them on the shelf, but then i don't know that for sure. i have a bore light (came with my cleaning kit), but i've had no need for it yet, and wouldn't know what to look for.

2) earlier thread mentioned the ammo being cheap, but how cheap and what kind seems to work best for 91/30s?

3) are there major issues endemic to mousin nagant, or are they pretty reliable?

4) earlier thread mentioned all sorts of elaborate cleaning-- is there a particular reason for this beyond what we do with our newer firearms?

thanks, and looking forward to hearing from folks. IMO these are really interesting looking guns, and the price range seems tantalizing.

[ExArmy11b]

I used to have over 40 of these rifles and shot them extensively, financial issues forced me to sell most of them but I kept 5 of my 91/30's. I had M44's, M38's, M91/59's, Finn M39's, I could go on......

The 91/30's shoot the best with "light" ball, but any 7.62x54r will work.

Look for one with a decent bore and crown, and you should be good to go.

The only cleaning issue is that all the surplus ammo has corrosive primers, and you will need to clean accordingly. I use Blackpowder solvent followed by Eezox and never, in over 10 years of shooting surplus rifles, had a rust problem.

These are simple and robust rifles and for $80-100 are some of the best values out there right now. Places like Sportsman's Guide sell cases of the surplus ammo but it's not as cheap as it used to be. Back in 2002 or so I used to get 880 round cases of the Czech Silvertip for less than $70 shipped. Ah, the memories..........

I used to spend all day blasting with my Mosins and 8mm Mausers for pennies......now I'm a handgun nut and I lost interest in the rifles, but I will always have a soft spot for the Mosins and in the future would like to replace some of the ones I had to sell.

[Neon Horse]

Originally Posted by ExArmy11b

I used to have over 40 of these rifles and shot them extensively, financial issues forced me to sell most of them but I kept 5 of my 91/30's. I had M44's, M38's, M91/59's, Finn M39's, I could go on......

The 91/30's shoot the best with "light" ball, but any 7.62x54r will work.

Look for one with a decent bore and crown, and you should be good to go.

The only cleaning issue is that all the surplus ammo has corrosive primers, and you will need to clean accordingly. I use Blackpowder solvent followed by Eezox and never, in over 10 years of shooting surplus rifles, had a rust problem.

These are simple and robust rifles and for $80-100 are some of the best values out there right now. Places like Sportsman's Guide sell cases of the surplus ammo but it's not as cheap as it used to be. Back in 2002 or so I used to get 880 round cases of the Czech Silvertip for less than $70 shipped. Ah, the memories..........

I used to spend all day blasting with my Mosins and 8mm Mausers for pennies......now I'm a handgun nut and I lost interest in the rifles, but I will always have a soft spot for the Mosins and in the future would like to replace some of the ones I had to sell.

+1 these are great rifles. Ammo is plentiful and affordable. Do watch out for the corrosive ammo... clean well after having fun. I do recommend trying some steel-core ammo. Be careful, but those are some fun, potent rounds! It's fun to see what the round can go through. The cosmoline just needs to be thoroughly cleaned like a normal gun. Have fun with these awesome guns. They can be pretty stinkin accurate!

[arg0naut22]

Originally Posted by Neon Horse

+1 these are great rifles. Ammo is plentiful and affordable. Do watch out for the corrosive ammo...

is there a particular brand you like?

[arg0naut22]

Originally Posted by Neon Horse

The cosmoline just needs to be thoroughly cleaned like a normal gun. Have fun with these awesome guns. They can be pretty stinkin accurate!

so basically i can use my hoppe's and brushes, as usual? just making sure i do a thorough job?

[railroad bubba]

First off they are very fun and priced right rifles. #1, cleaning of the guns that you are hearing about is because they are coated in cosmoline for storage. YOU MUST get all the cosmoline out of barrell and action before even thinking about firing. #2 Ammo, I buy mine from the sportsman guide. It's the white box, russian made and non-corrosive. about 7 bucks a box. #3 they are very reliable and fun shooting guns, but if you have concerns then i would take it to a gunsmith and check it out, it should not be to pricey.

[railroad bubba]

If it does have cosmolie on it there are several youtube videos to watch for removal. I have three and tried the mineral spirits on metal parts and that seemed to be the easiest for me. Just disassemble gun and let soak in it for 20 min. and wipe down with oil. As for barrell i used a 1 1/2" pvc pipe and capped it off ad filled it with mineral spirits and let soak.

[bwinters]

I have been thinking about getting a Moisin Nagant 91/30 for a while I guess it is time.

[Neon Horse]

Originally Posted by arg0naut22

is there a particular brand you like?

Good question. I can't for the life of me remember. I usually use Wolf for whatever Russian steel ammo I find for the AK47 and SKS, but it's been awhile for the Nagant. I would suppose the same brand or similar. I try to avoid the corrosive stuff, but I don't mind cleaning my guns either... I suppose this was of little help

[arg0naut22]

so actually, now an additional question just came to mind-- i assumed that all mosin nagants are used. are they all actually used, or did the russians simply make and then stockpile them?

[DPris]

Those imported are used, but arsenal refurbished after WWII, and stockpiled.
Condition varies widely.

Look for good bore & crown, clean chamber & barrel particularly well, and don't be surprised if the bolt sticks with steel cases.
That stubby bolt handle has very poor leverage.

Denis

[TMB]

Originally Posted by DPris

Those imported are used, but arsenal refurbished after WWII, and stockpiled.
Condition varies widely.

Look for good bore & crown, clean chamber & barrel particularly well, and don't be surprised if the bolt sticks with steel cases.
That stubby bolt handle has very poor leverage.

Denis

How often has that happened with yours I have two 91/30s & a44 never had bolt stick & all I shoot in them are steel cases.

[railroad bubba]

You may want to disassemble your bolt and look for a speck of cosmoline left in there somewhere. the first one i cleaned i left a TINY bit of cosmoline and had a "sticky" bolt when took it apart i found cosmoline

[brimic]

1) given that these are surplussed from the old soviet block and are, therefore, used, how do i know if i'm getting a 'good' one? i would assume that the store i mentioned above would check them fairly thoroughly before putting them on the shelf, but then i don't know that for sure. i have a bore light (came with my cleaning kit), but i've had no need for it yet, and wouldn't know what to look for.

The vast majority of these rifles were rearsenalled in the Ukraine and imported by Century Arms (C.A.I.) then resold to other wholesalers/retailers.
If you see these rifles on a rack at the store, they might have a white plastic ribbon looped through the trigger guard- this is the C.A.I. condition/ID tag. A lot of wholesalers leave these tags on, some retailers remove them.
The tags will have a condition typed on them: poor, fair, good. V.good, xcellent.
Look for a rifle with the 'xcellent' condition- it will usually have a good bore and and the stock won't be damamged or cracked. Sometimes you get lucky with a 'v.good' condition tag as well, but these can and often times do have pitted bores and mismatched parts. Never buy anything below the 'V.good' standard- C.A.I. is pretty liberal in their interpretation of condition of surplus rifles.

Also if you get tempeted to buy a sniper model, do your research first- most of them out there are fakes or reproductions (the ukranian built reproductions aren't necessarily bad) and are very often priced way over what they are worth.

[CJS1945]

I use Winchester Metric Calibers and Wolf Gold ammo for my Mosin Nagant rifles, it is all quality brass cases and reloadable. I reload with Hornady #3120 bullets, they are 150 grain and .312 dia. this combination is accurate and pleasant to shoot in my Mosin rifles. I never shoot surplus ammo, most of it that i have used was loud, excessive recoil, marginal accuracy and excessive pressure resulting in bolt being hard to rotate. I think a lot of the surplus ammo is for machine guns, and should be avoided. With proper ammo, the Mosin Nagant rifles are quite accurate and fun to shoot, for the price they can't be beat for an enjoyable day at the range.