Owning history

One of the most popular rifles available to the average person today is the Mosin-Nagant 1891 series of bolt action battle rifles made in Russia from 1891 to 1945. The example most commonly found today is the version known as the 91/30. It is known by this designation because the last major redesign was put into production in 1930, thus it is known as the Mosin-Nagant M 91/30. Several million of these weapons were produced. They were given lavishly by the Soviet Union to every client state who received military aid from the USSR in the 20th century, from Eastern Europe to Afghanistan, and are still being encountered on the battlefield to this day.

To start with, the 91/30 is a "no frills" sort of weapon. You will not find anything that can be called unnecessary on these guns. The bolt is a very old fashioned straight pull type that one would expect to find on military grade bolt action rifles designed prior to WW1. It is a little awkward to get used to at first to those who are used to the turned down bolts of later designs, such as the german K98 and the british SMLE of WW2 vintage. Those of us who are used to turned down or angled bolts will have to get used to the very different throw of the russian straight pull design.

The length of these rifles is another point of difference between the 91/30 and the designs of other nations of the same vintage. This was addressed by the M1938 and M1944 versions, which are carbine versions some 4 to 6 inches shorter from butt plate to muzzle of the 91/30 versions, but are otherwise the same with the exception of the bayonet. On the M1944 design, it is a folding, permanently attached rather then a fully removable, old fashioned type found on the 91/30. They both fire the same caliber 7.62x54R ammunition, which, as those of you who have owned and fired these weapons know, is a full power rifle shell, with the same recoil and ballistics of the US 30.06, british .303, and german 7.92x57mm. When fired from the M1938 and M1944 versions, being shorter in length from butt plate to muzzle, is quite a bit louder in report and stronger in recoil then the full length 91/30 design. ( I have owned both a 91/30 and M1944 carbine and I can tell you that the bruise you get on your shoulder from that steel buttplate is a little worse with the carbine!)

What I find so fascinating about these rifles is that each is a artifact from a very different time and place then the one we live in now. The armory markings are pretty easy to decode on these weapons to find out when and at what armory they were produced. For example, the 91/30 I own right now was made in 1938, thus was in existence in June of 1941 when Germany invaded the USSR. Of course, there is no sure way to tell, but I have often wondered where it was on June 22, 1941 when the first German tanks crossed the frontier, or on May 5th, 1945 when the war in Europe ended. That is part of the enjoyment I get from owning and shooting these artifacts from another time and place, one that is very different then the one in which we live.