Mosin-Nagant?

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HoplophileX

New member
M44s are a hoot to shoot and a real crowd-pleaser with that football-sized fireball that you can see at dusk. The Prvi-Partisan 7.62x54R ammo is decent and reloadable. I haven't hunted with mine, but I feel pretty certain it would do anything a .30-06 would do at reasonable ranges.
 
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44 AMP

Staff
In General....

You are looking at surplus military rifles, that have been to the wars, and quality varies a lot. The former Soviet countries dumped a lot of them on our market, so they are cheap, but the supply is drying up, and they are getting more expensive than they were. The same goes for the ammo.

Sights are fair, trigger pull is generally poor, the safety is so awkward that most people don't use it. Built to survive and function in an army of peasant conscripts. Not the slickest bolt action design, but usable.

The 7.62x54R is in the .308 Win-.30-06 class for power, and a fine choice for game, with hunting ammo. Hunting ammo for that round is not cheap like military surplus, and not found everywhere.

I consider the Moisin Nagants to be in two classes, those in good shape for milsurp collectors, and the rest for cheap beater rifles. I have a couple, the 91/30 and the M38.

BE aware that groove diameter on these old guns varies a bit, and while some are very accurate, others are not. And the quality and accuracy of milsurp ammo varies a lot too! If your rifle doesn't shoot worth a darn, first, try some good ammo! And then there is also the whole corrosive primer thing with suplus ammo. Nothing huge, just a pain taking the extra steps cleaning it.

Also the M44 carbines were built to be shot with the bayonet on, and point of impact changes a lot if you take it off (or just have it folded!)

They are a long way from a good hunting rifle, but they will work, if you do your part.
 
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Arizona Fusilier

New member
If you are looking for a firearms bargain, the Russian MNs in all their guises are hard to beat.

If you are interested in the 7.62x54R cartridge, and want a thing of greater beauty/accuracy with just as much robustness, the Finn is the way to go. I love mine.
 
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Bamashooter

New member
They are a long way from a good hunting rifle, but they will work, if you do your part.

well i have 3 and all of them are accurate. so to say they are far from being good hunting rifles is not accurate in my opinion. i think the key is quality ammo and learning how to shoot your mosin. the S&B ammo that i use for hunting is far better ammo tham milsurp. the safety is useable it just requires a little strength to operate. no big deal. i have killed deer with mine so i know its more than capable.
 
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Al57

New member
bamashooter, well said. You need to realize that in this day of age with many people trying to shoot deer from as a far away as they can instead of using hunting skill and getting them in close, that for them, a " good " hunting rifle has to cost at least $699 from Cabelas topped, off with a $ 500 16x scope. Surely, sub $100 rifles ( I have $135 combined in the 2 I have taken bucks with ) can't be considered very good. Poor trigger pulls ? Not on the 3 I own. Sights are easily adjusted for elevation, and not a lot harder for windage using a drift punch , including the M44 I have with the bayonet removed. Also, the Mosins will not have objectional recoil to most shooters unless all their other longarms are made by Daisy & Crossman.
 
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kraigwy

New member
I don't hunt with mine. I use it in CMP GSM matches. They are plenty accurate enough.

Once I got to where it wasn't shooting high, it can now keep them in the 10 X ring at the 100 yard NRA Reduced target. I have gongs to 400 yards and I can set the slider bar on 1, 2, 3 or 400 yards and it hits the gongs without problems.

Like I said I don't hunt with my Mosin, but it isn't because of the gun, I just have other hunting rifles. It would be hard to convince me the Mosin with 150-174 grn bullets wont work for hunting. I have never seen the need for hunting past 300 yards, but thats because of the shooter, not the rifle. Not that I would hunt that far, but I'm convinced I could keep my Mosin in MOD (minute of deer) up to 600 yards with its iron sights.

Don't sell these old work horses short. They'll get the job done if you can shoot them.
 
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44 AMP

Staff
I should have been clear on my meaning of "good"

They are a long way from a good hunting rifle, but they will work, if you do your part.

well i have 3 and all of them are accurate. so to say they are far from being good hunting rifles is not accurate in my opinion.
Click to expand...

Sorry.

What I meant was that (for me) a good hunting rifle is more than just an accurate milsurp. There's a reason that for decades we sporterized military rifles for hunting. It was to make them "good" hunting rifles. Not carrying around a couple extra pounds of wood and steel was one of the main objects. Just a restocking job can do a lot to make a better hunting rifle out of a milsurp.

You can hunt with any rifle in a suitable caliber. And when it does it's job right, you can say its a "good" hunting rifle. But for me, a milsurp in GI trim is adequate, not good. I have sporterised Mausers, Springfields, Krags, Arisakas, and even 1917 Enfields. SMLE's are nearly a lost cause, and Moisin Nagants are not worth it, to me. Not for a hunting rifle. No matter what you do, you still have a sow's ear, so to speak.

Now, as a milsurp rifle for collecting and shooting, they are a piece of history. And one you can hunt with, if you want to put up with them. But there are better rifles for hunting, in my opinion.
 
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Bamashooter

New member
everyone is entitled to thier own opinion. what might be adequate for some might be good for someone else. there is no doubt there are better hunting rifles out there. in my experience the mosin is a good hunting rifle. i would venture to say that if i had a good scope on one of my mosin's there is no doubt in my mind it would be a great hunting rifle. just an observation based on what i have seen and experienced with a good shooting mosin nagant and quality ammo.
 
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smleno1mkIII

New member
I love the Mosin I have owned 8 or 9 I currently own 4 my favorite is my mint condition Russian m44 made in 1946 looks like the thing was never issued when my mom bought it for me for Christmas I took it out of the box and couldn't believe my eyes how beautiful it was the bore was the most beautiful I've ever seen she payed $75 for it, shoots great 1.5'' at 100' the brown bear 203 grain only cost around $9 a box at j&g sales shoots well in mine love the fireball it makes that load should be sufficient for anything in North America not to mention most of the rest of the world the power of the round is practically equal to the 30-06 Springfield many Russian hunter's have taken brown bear with them. all you really have to do is check the bore for pitting and just look at the hole on the muzzle if it just kinda looks over size move on as the bore diameter can vary drastically on these guns there supposed to be .311 for the Russian one's but I've seen them slug as high as .315 but as long as it slug's .313 or under your in business the cartridge if you have good brass is extremely easy to load my deer load is 150 grain Hornady sp's at 3005 fps so the crony say,s out on my 1939 tula Ukrainian re build's 28 inch barrel that slugs .3125
 
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smleno1mkIII

New member
They are also a great roll around in the bed of the truck with the hay bale and the dog type gun if it gets really messed up your out no more than 100 bucks.
great coyote medicine.I know many people that use them for that purpose.
 
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