Mosin Nagant Review – Historic Military Rifle

by Jack

Despite the heat we had a great day at the range today. This week’s test rifle was the WWII era Mosin Nagant in 7.62x54R.

This caliber is very close in performance to the 308 NATO round popular with our forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. The 7.62x54R has a tad more energy than the 308. The max range is 2000 yards, but obviously the bullet drop is too much to even calculate for the average shooter.

The Russians are known for building simple, effective, reliable, low cost weapons and the venerable Mosin is all that and more. Over time I’ve had a few misfires in every weapon I’ve ever owned, but not with the trusty Mosin. (I’m also using Russian manufactured ammo.) There’s something to be said for a rifle that shoots every time you pull the trigger, especially in combat!

At 25 yards with open sights this rifle was hitting a bunch of very small bull’s eyes and if it missed it was the shooter, not the rifle. Why just 25 yards? Because I’m lazy, what can I say! Who wants to run way down range every 15 minutes to check the dang target? After a couple of hours of range time I would be worn out!

Now for some specs: The average velocity of the bullet leaving the barrel is between 2770 and 2830 fps. (That’s pretty fast considering the age of this design) It has about 15 foot pounds of recoil, which is the upper end of comfort for most shooters. The abruptness of the kick is measured at 10 feet per second, this is fairly violent and not for all shooters. The M44 from Izhevsk has a barrel length of 20 1/4″ .302″ bore and .313″ rounded lands. Weight is about 8.25 lbs. The full size version is about .5 lbs heavier with a 28 inch barrel. The 7.62×54 (R) means (R)immed case, not (R)ussian.

Most Mosin’s were made at either the Izhevsk Arsenal, Tula Arsenal or at Sestroryetsk.. The design dates back to 1891 as an improved infantry rifle designed by a Russian Army Captain Sergei Ivanovich Mosin, with the aid of Belgian arms designer Leon Nagant.

It was carried during WWI, the Russian Revolution, and in WWII. The Mosin 1 was the rifle most used by the communist forces in Korea and it still being used by many North Vietnamese Regulars during the Vietnam War.

The Mosin-Nagant 1891/30 rifles were stamped for identification with an arsenal mark. A triangle w/upright arrow inside indicates the Izhevsk Arsenal and a star w/upright arrow inside indicates it was made at Tula. The Sestroryetsk Arsenal stamp is a sideways arrow with scroll marks around it.

The Model M44, carbine type, has one unusual characteristic; it was designed to be fired with the bayonet open. If it is not open the trajectory of the bullet tends to veer right slightly.

The Mosin Nagant 1891/30 and the M44 carbine can be found starting around $150 and up, depending on condition. (The M44’s are bit more expensive.) I believe I paid about $90 for mine at Big 5 a number of years ago. So, it’s one the more affordable military surplus rifles around and for it’s quality, power and accuracy this makes it a real bargain.

Note: Thanks go to our our bench test shooter for this article, expert marksman and veteran, Michael Wacker of Chico, CA. Mr. Wacker consistently placed dozens of shots within a tiny group and made it look easy with the M44 and the 1891/30. Hope we didn’t do too much damage to his shoulder with all that recoil! We all took turns shooting, but it was Mike that took us to the woodshed. I can’t believe he was in the Air Force, the Army missed out on a great marksman. (Hey Mike, do they even carry rifles in the Air Force? Just kidding! lol)