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Ammo
Sniper Ammo 7N1
Many people have written to ask about ammo sources for their
Mosin Nagant. Surplus ammo abounds for these rifles and can be
purchased via mail order by virtually any adult through trade
magazines like Shot Gun News and on the web. The only special
requirement is that it is shipped marked OrmD and you usually
need to show proof of age by faxing or mailing a copy of your
drivers license or your C&RFFL. Always check your local and
state laws regarding the purchase and storage of ammo.
When purchasing surplus ammo, inspect it
closely. You will be ordering 7.62X54R.
Do not confuse this with 7.62X51 or .308 Nato. Make
sure that it is clean, not dented, and not covered with any kind
of film or
 chemical
substance. Also be cautious of ammo intended for use in machine
guns. Those types of rounds are dangerous when fired in a rifle
due to their greater pressures. Also, if you are not familiar
with the ammo you want to purchase, buy a limited quantity for
test fire purposes. When test firing new ammo, take appropriate
precautions to guard against potential hazards. Prior to firing
any ammo, ensure that your rifle has been checked for proper
headspace and that your firing pin is correctly adjusted. Safety
glasses should be worn at all times when firing a rifle or hand
gun anyway. If you are satisfied with the ammo, order it in bulk
and gain the price savings that normally go with bulk purchases.
Bulk
Ammo
Ordering ammo in bulk enables you to save a bunch of money. A
package of 20 rounds of the same ammo would cost you as much as
$ 40.00 (Current Cheaper-than-Dirt price for
7.62 Russian Norma Rifle Cartridge, 180-Grain Soft Point Bullet)
as opposed to roughly $7.00 when bought in bulk.
Typically, bulk ammo comes in 440 round cans
This
particular batch is dated 1981 and came from factory 60 as
indicated on the head stamp. The first thing you are confronted
with is how do you get the can open. The most expedient method
is a drill with a carbide disk. You just grind the top of the
rim all the way around and the top will come right off. If like
me you don't have a drill, the alternate method is a hammer and
chisel. Even better is the handy-dandy Ivan's State Issued heavy
duty can opener.
The
can opener is used just like it's puny civilian equivalent.
Once the lid and inner liner are removed you can pull the paper wrapped bundles of cartridges out by removing the first bundle with the ribbon lifter.
Open
one of the packages just to perform a quick visual inspection
for condition.
Loading a Stripper Clip
One
of the more frustrating chores in using a Mosin stripper clip is
loading the rounds so that they don't catch on each other jam up
when you attempt to chamber a round. Each round needs to be
placed in the stripper clip so that the rim of the preceding
round is behind the round being inserted into the clip. This
prevents the round from being jammed by the rim of the round
below it when it is being loaded into the chamber.
Illustration by Drew
Cartwright
If you hand feed the
rounds into the magazine, they should go in the same way.
Notes
Most
of the ammo on the market today is coming out of the former
Soviet client states in the Balkans. Many people have complained
about the lacquer coated ammo causing their bolts to become hard
to open. Often, this is a sign of a dirty or badly pitted
chamber and is easily corrected by cleaning the chamber
correctly.
There also seems to be trend of favoring heavier bullet weights.
These rifles were designed to fire the 148 gn. standard ball.
The heavier weighted rounds are primarily designed for use in
the SVD and light machineguns. I have tended to avoid these
after a catastrophic failure that occurred while shooting East
German heavy ball manufactured in Czechoslovakia.
A
note on corrosive ammo: Consider all military ammo for the Mosin
Nagant as being corrosive. That being said, don't let it scare
you. All you need to do is clean your rifle promptly and
correctly after firing. For the cleaning process, refer to the
"Cleaning" section on this site.
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