Thursday, August 1, 2013

Classic and Extreme!


This is a Mosin-Nagant 91-30 rifle.  Bolt action, 5 round internal magazine.  It was the most advanced rifle of it's time when introduced in 1891.  The Mausers, the Enfields, the Springfields--the Thirty caliber bolt action rifles of WWI and WWII and into the 50s all came after it.

The Mosin-Nagant soldiered into the 50s and 60s, in some parts of the world, and is still seeing service as a police weapon in eastern Russia and with insurgents and Taliban in the middle east and South Asia as a snipers rifle.  These are serious warhorses, and practically indestructible.

It's chambered in the 7.62X54R caliber--the "R" stands for "rimmed".  This is in the same ball park as the 30-06, .303 British, 7.92 Mauser cartridges, except with one difference--it is still in active service world wide, the oldest military cartridge still in production.

I own one of these rifles, produced in 1932 at teh Tula Arsenal, with the classic "Hex" receiver.  It is 90% on the bluing,the wood is good condition, and --rarely for a Mosin-Nagant of it's generation and type--has all matching serial numbers.  It will print a group of about 1.5 inches at 100 yards--with me shooting it.  Some one competent might get it much smaller.

That's the gun-candy for today.