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The crowning achievement of Soviet freedom from Nazi Germany. A Soviet soldier, armed with a Mosin Nagant rifle, places the red flag over Heroes Square in Stalingrad.
The Mosin-Nagant rifle has, for the most part of this past century, been the primary battle rifle for the former Soviet Union and its allies, and has a history that is rich in bloody conflicts. It is also a known fact that the Mosin- Nagant is perhaps the only bolt-action rifle, to remain in active service for as long as it has been known, with little or no modifications. The pentacle of this
rifle’s career came at the end of World War Two, as the mainstay for the Soviet Army, when cities such as Stalingrad, Kiev, and Sevastopol became liberated from the collapsing German military war machine. It served on into the Cold War and was the main rifle for many other Soviet bloc countries like Poland and Hungry.
Today, the Mosin-Nagant is the primary focus on the arms market and many variants and makes exist to satisfy even the most serious collector, as thousands are being emptied out of old weapons depots the world over. Often in the past, these rifles have been overlooked for other fancier surplus weapons such as the 98 Mauser, Lee Enfield, and M1 Garands, but now many collectors are beginning to realize
just how collectable and historically important these rifles are.
A Brief History of the Mosin-Nagant rifle.
The world of firearms changed considerably with the advent of smokeless powder cartridges and rifle designs. Most of the Western nations of the world began to modernize its military equipment to adapt to this change and Russia sought to do the same. In 1889, under Czar Alexander III, Russia began to seek out designs for a new infantry rifle to stay up with the Western nations. Leon Nagant, a
Belgian arms designer, and Russian arms designer Sergi Ivanivich Mosin, both submitted their own plans and examples for the new Russian rifle. Leon Nagant’s design won out but due to the political climate in Russia at that time, the new Nagant design was to be coupled with Mosin’s cartridge feed system. This new rifle was designated The Three Lined Rifle, Model 1891.
Not many realize that the Mosin-Nagant rifle began its manufacturing birth in, of all places, France at the Chatellerault factory between the years 1892 to 1895, ending with production of some 500,000 pieces. Russia had yet to set up any manufacturing equipment upon accepting the Mosin-Nagant as its official infantry rifle, so France made an agreement to manufacture the new rifle until Russia was
equipped to do so. World War One saw the Russians unable to meet field demands for the smokeless cartridge rifle and they had to turn to other sources for their rifle to be manufactured; thus Remington and Westinghouse came into the picture and began to produce the Mosin-Nagant in large quantities. The Bolsheviks, or communists, overthrew Nicolas The Czar of Russia in the year 1917 and Remington and
Westinghouse were still producing the 1891 Mosin-Nagant rifle for the old Imperial form of government. Thousands had already been shipped over from the US and many more were slated for shipment until all weapons shipments to Russia were halted at that time. It was also the same year that the US entered into the First World War.
The US government took hold of the surplus Mosin-Nagants and designated them the M1916 and issued them to expeditionary forces stationed in England. These troops of the 339th Army were poised to ship off to Russia to assist in preventing the Russians from giving the German army back some high number of Russian captured German troops and to protect the Trans-Siberian rail road lines. This came about
as Russia withdrew from World War One all together with the signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. If this had been allowed to happen, the First World War would have inevitably dragged on for many months more if not years longer than needed.
The issue of the Mosin-Nagant rifle to US troops and naval personal was met with disdain and discontent, as they were trained with the 1903A3 Springfield as well as the British Enfield P-17, which were fine and easy weapons to handle. The Mosin-Nagant though was ugly, cumbersome and hard to manipulate according to reports, though the basic reason for issue was ammunition and weapons were in
abundance in the Russian lands and thus the expedition forces required less supplies to be shipped in. The expeditionary forces gave good account of themselves, despite being outgunned, undermanned, and facing disease and starvation until their departure from the Russian winter lands in August of 1919, long after the guns of the Western Front had fallen silent.
The 339th U.S. Army prior to departure to Russia pictured on top and below is a shore detail from the U.S.S. Olympia. Note the array of M1916 U.S. Mosin-Nagant rifles.
Between the World Wars, Russia conducted several upgrades in an attempt to modernize the Nagant. The common thought among all nations at that time was to do away with the long ungainly infantry design for a more compact and shorter rifle that would be easy to manufacture as well as easier for the common soldier to handle and operate. The M1891 Dragoon rifles were to be equipped with metric rear
sights to replace the Arshin Imperial measurement system and production did not begin on this model until sometime in 1930, some six years after the initial phase of adaptation was given. The reason for this delay was World War One had left Russia in a sad state of affairs, both politically and financially. The M-38 Nagants came into production some time in 1939 and remained in manufacture until the
M-1944 supplanted it.
Finland and Russia locked horns over territory in 1940 and a number of bloody battles ensued, with Russia winning; but in the end, with the Continuation War, Finland had acquired numerous Mosin-Nagants to add to its own stockpiles as well as regained all lands lost. Often these rifles have been reworked, restocked, and rebarreled. The Mosin-Nagants of Finland still retain original Russian
receivers.
The Russian government decided it was time for a new type of infantry rifle and wanted to keep up with the times, as they were quickly changing in terms of military weapons. The US had began building the M1 Garand and the Soviets wanted their own semi auto battle rifle as the bolt action Mosin Nagant was becoming outdated; thus came the Tokerov SVT 38 and 40 semi auto rifles. The SVT 38 proved
problematic and was constantly suffering from parts breakage due to the high pressures from the 7.62x54R cartridge, thus the SVT 40 was the improved design and was issued to the Soviets better trained soldiers who were able to maintain them better under battlefield conditions.
Russia then turned away from Finland as a new enemy arose and threatened to overrun their country. Germany placed Operation Barbarossa into motion on June 21, 1941 and by this time Russia, having made the attempt to retire the Mosin-Nagant, had to reach into its weapons reserve and pull out these stand by rifles; and any munitions factory it had, began turning out the Mosin-Nagant by the thousands.
The Soviets armed its poorer equipped civilian and ill trained troops with the Nagant and kept its better rifles such as the PPSh auto and Tokerov battle rifles primarily to its hard line troops.
As the German offensive advanced further into Russian territory, and stretched beyond their own supply lines, many German soldiers were found to be short in ammunition and supplies. Many pictures exist of German soldiers being equipped with an array of Soviet weapons as these were in vast abundance and the SVT38 and SVT40 was a fast favorite as this weapon was semi-auto and employed the heavy
7.62x54R, but the German military also utilized the Mosin rifles. Often these German Mosins have appeared on the collectors market and are marked with German inspection stamps. The Mosin Nagant Gewehr 254(r) was the designation number for the infantry model and the Gewehr 256(r) was for the sniper version. Most of these captured rifles were relegated to rear line defenses’, police issue weapons or
garrison issue. It is also known that Germany shipped off large amounts of these weapons to Finland, who in turn either used most of them as parts guns or refurbished them for issue to their own military.
As the war was coming to an end, the Soviets produced the last of the line of Mosin-Nagants, the M-1944 model carbine with its side-folding bayonet. Reports from the field on this new model proved positive as the Soviets had over run the last of Germany’s defenses and had pushed on into Berlin. It was during this course of history that many of Germanys weapons technology fell into Soviet hands, and
with that prized knowledge came the AK-47, which is based off the Sturmgewehr 44 assault rifle that the German military was never to fully utilize. It was not to long afterwards, that the Mosin-Nagant rifle was finally able to retire, at least temporarily.
The Soviets continued to study weapons designs that would replace the Mosin-Nagant and among these was the next rifle that would serve on into the twenty-first century as another of the most seen and often used weapons in the Soviet-bloc world and it‘s allies. The Simonov SKS was to become the Russian primary battle rifle for a few years. This design was taken from the PTRS 42 semi automatic anti-
tank weapon and reworked into a smaller scale that was meant to change the tide of World War Two into Russias favor. The intent was well made but utilization was short in coming. Simonov’s constant appeals to have his weapons manufactured were constantly passed over for Kalishnikovs designs. Kalishnokov was better connected politically and thus had better chances to have his weapons manufactured.
Above is a 1953-dated Soviet SKS rifle and below is a Tula Arsenal 1944 dated Mosin Nagant. With the introduction of the 7.62x39 intermediate semi auto, the 7.62x54R bolt guns finally took a back seat as a primary weapon. (Authors Collection)
Corporal "Stewie" Ham, Sniper Section, 3 RAR, inspects
a captured communist Chinese CHICOM T7.62mm Mosin
Nagant M1891/1930 sniper rifle fitted with telescopic
sights.
The SKS stayed on as the primary battle rifle for some years until it also was superceded by the AK-47 in the year 1947. The Mosin-Nagant was not to be forgotten though and many thousands were shipped off to China, Vietnam, and North Korea, as military aid packages. It is also known that the machines and tools needed to manufacture the Mosin Nagant were shipped off to China, where under Soviet advisement began
manufacturing the Type 53 in the year 1953, copying the M1944 Soviet design and they in turn were shipped off in large numbers to North Korea where documented accounts are numerous. It is unknown if North Korea manufactured any Mosin-Nagants or if they just received these rifles in their aid packages from China and the Soviet Union. From there it is a wild card shoot on where these rifles have been; it would be
easier to ask where they haven’t. They have been encountered in Africa in large numbers, being used by pro-communist rebels and have been used by terrorist organizations the world over as weapons issued to the common villager or a person of lower standing within that organization.
The Mosin Nagant in Other Calibers and Other Oddities.
It is impossible to collect every type of Mosin Nagant rifle ever manufactured and the many variants that exist, or have existed. One look at the article, "Variations of the Rifle Mosin-Nagant" by Karl-Heinz Wrobel posted on Mosin-Nagant Dot Net site, gives a pretty good idea of the vastness of areas on collecting this old rifle. Just about every country in the world has at one time or another had the
Mosin-Nagant within its arsenal. This list does include some countries within the Middle East, the USA, and many European countries.
There are some Nagants that have been converted over to fire other cartridges such as the Polish Model 1891/98/25, which was converted to fire the 7.92x57 cartridge. Such conversions to the 8mm Mauser cartridge were done in countries that could not afford the price tag of a Mauser rifle, but wanted the 8mm caliber bullet as this cartridge was standard European military issue. Most of these 8mm Mosin Nagants
were used during the Spanish Civil War. Poland, sometime around the First World War, sold some Mosin Nagants to Yugoslavia. These were then converted to fire the 8mm Mauser cartridge and these rifles were also supplied with the M1898 Mauser bayonet.
There is also the Austrian Mosin Nagant. This rifle was bought from the Soviet Union and then converted over to fire the 8x50 cartridge, as this cartridge was that country’s standard issue. I have not seen this rifle anywhere but have read about it a few times so I can safely assume that they do indeed exist, and I would also speculate that not many are in existence and if any are, they are either in the hands
of serious collectors or are still crated up somewhere in some forgotten army depot awaiting the day that they will be sold off as surplus.
Polish Model 1891/98/25 in 7.92x57mm.
The U.S. government, as has previously been mentioned as having these rifles stockpiled in their arsenals from Remington and Westinghouse, decided they were obsolete by military standards and were sold off to the NRA for its civilian marksmanship program, issued to Military colleges or schools in their ROTC programs for drilling purposes, or were bought up by Bannerman starting in the early 1920’s. The ROTC
models were cut down and the wood reworked to resemble the Springfield 1903A3.
U.S. issue Mosin-Nagant ROTC drilling rifle.
For the civilian market, it was soon discovered that the 7.62x54R cartridge was available but in limited quantities to the general public, so some of these were then converted over to a more easily accessible and economical cartridge. The Bannerman conversions are in 30.06 calibers and I would imagine that some injuries have resulted from this conversion. Occasionally I have seen these come up for sale and they
usually are not all that expensive running in the $250 to $450 dollar range, depending on markings, proofs, years of manufacture, and condition.
M1891 Mosin-Nagant Bannerman conversion, Manufactured by New England Westinghouse and is U.S. Property marked. The Bannerman conversions in 30.06 should always be ruled as unsafe to fire.
I have in my Mosin-Nagant collection, a pristine, low manufacture number, .22 cal Polish Trainer rifle based off the M-1944 design. I acquired this rifle when I first heard about them and have yet to shoot it, and believe that the use for such weapon is obvious. As most standing armies around the world are training in new recruits, it is easier, as well as economical, to shoot a .22 long rifle
bullet in place of standard full power military cartridges for training and instructional purposes.
While looking through the Internet, I came across one web site that specializes in converting soviet surplus weapons into air guns. Trapper Industries.com, a company based out of England, has in their vast and interesting selections, an M1944 Soviet model Mosin-Nagant converted over into an air rifle. The rifle is all original with the exception of the barrel, receiver, and the bolt assembly, as
this is keeping with the current gun laws in the UK.
 Trapper Industries has an interesting conversion for the M-1944 Soviet Nagant. These rifles are converted over into air rifles.
The shooter has an option of either .22 or the .177 cal pellets, capable of 11.4lbs of force. The going price on this particular unit is 275.oo pounds along with 9 pounds shipping locally and 40 pounds to stateside. For the price it looks pretty good and would imagine this rifle would appeal to many shooters who would want the feel and heft of the Mosin Nagant, but do not want to disturb the
neighbors while shooting for leisure out one’s back door.
I have read of one oddity and that concerns the Pedersen Device. During the First World War, John Pedersen constructed a device to convert the 30 06 M1903A3 bolt-action rifle into a semi automatic weapon that fired a similar cartridge compared to an extra long .32 automatic. The reasons for this was trench war fare was taking its toll on troops equipped with bolt action rifles and if some how these
troops were equipped with a repeater, then the tide of the war would turn. The theory was correct but the timing was off, as the war ended before this device could be utilized to its full advantage. Allegedly, Pedersen also constructed such a device to be used on the Mosin-Nagant rifle, and though if such a device exists it would be too high a price tag to pay for the common shooter and collector,
since regular Pedersen devices for the Springfield 30 06 rifle were destroyed (some 65,000 units) and those that have survived are up around the five digit range price wise. I contacted the Remington Museum, located in Ilion, New York; from there it was telephone tag with several different departments until I talked to the Historical section. The woman there was helpful but informed me that if such a
devise existed, as per contract with any foreign government, all materials such as products and all original paperwork were to be handed over to that government. The search continues. There is supposedly a picture that exists though of the Mosin-Nagant Pedersen device, but I have yet to locate one by the time of this writing.
Springfield 30-06 with Pederson device and various accessories.
Such a device was allegedly constructed for the Mosin-Nagant rifle. The specimen above is priced to sell at $49,000.
Ammunition
I will touch on the 7.62x54R cartridge as it also has historical importance as being the only rimmed cartridge still in use in the modern world today. This cartridge was adopted by the Russian military in the year 1891 and was originally produced in a heavy round nosed bullet, which produced about 2000fps, but in 1909 the bullet was revised into a 150-grain spitzer and this alone dramatically increased the feet
per second into 2800fps. Ballistically, it is comparable to the .308 Winchester and yet it is often compared with the 30-40 Krag and the .303 Lee-Enfield in size measurements.
Ammunition is still in abundance on the surplus market and I do not foresee any changes for many years to come, since many third world countries are presently utilizing Soviet and Chinese armnements which still employ the old 7.62 x 54R cartridge. The PKS series, SG-43, and Pecheneg Russian machine guns are examples of the types of heavy machine guns employed by the Soviets and her allies today, and many photos
exist to prove that this cartridge is still in use today. I do know that as I sit here and thumb through the many magazines and news flyers pertaining to surplus guns and ammunition, that there are large caches of this old cartridge on the market. Some of the stuff presently is from Hungry, Albania, Bosnia, and I did see some stuff from Egypt. A word of caution is needed here. Some of the ammunition on the
surplus market today is presently loaded to be used in machine gun application and has a heavier charge. Therefore I do not recommend using this stuff in antique or even some WW II surplus arms. The Nagant action is strong but not as strong as say compared to the ‘98 Mauser.
On the commercial end where people that use this cartridge to hunt with, there is a vast selection to choose from. Seller and Belliot has its 180 grain loading, and if you are fortunate enough to have deep pockets, Norma with its150 and 180 grain soft-point loading. I do have some heavier bullet loadings by a company named LVE out of the Soviet Union. They have a 200-grain soft-point loading and the best of
all is that on the commercial end of this cartridge loading is that the brass is reloadable since it uses boxer primers. This is the saving grace compared to berdan primed, as it is non-corrosive and reloadable. On reloading for the 7.62x54R, there are just as many combinations to come up with bullet and powder wise as any other popular cartridges on the market. Many reloading components, such as bullets and brass
can be easily obtained through such groups as Hornady, Speer, Midway and the like. Winchester has also decided to grace this old rifle with modern, reloadable, clean ammo. It has introduced the 7.62 x 54R in its Metric line, and the price is very exceptional. I could buy two boxes of Winchester to one box of Norma. It is presently available in a 180-grain soft point and 180-grain full metal jacket loadings.
LVE 200 grain soft point, Norma 180 grain soft point, and
Winchester 180 grain soft point.
Years ago when I first started shooting the 7.62 Russian, there was on the surplus market military boxer primed cartridges. I still have several rounds of this stuff in my own collection and wish I had hung on to most of it and the original packaging, but I had fun shooting the stuff and I was smart enough to hold onto the brass. I have had several people tell me everything about these cartridges that they were
used for the Soviet Sniper rifles to being used in the training of Russias Olympic shooters. Either way the ammo was highly accurate and the cleaning of the rifle was easier. I also found the corrosive berdan Chinese silver tip ammo to be accurate and it functioned well within my collection of rifles; the only thing I had to worry about here was the fact that cleaning the rifle is of the utmost import.
Just a few of the 7.62x54R military selections that have been on the market. On the left is a boxer primed Soviet military cartridge unseen on the market today, 1955 dated Chinese
silver tip, East German steel core selection for their M-39 (1980’s manufacture), and Russian yellow tip heavy ball.
Most of the time when ordering surplus I examine the outside of the metal can for watermarks and corrsion before opening. If I find something not right, I send it back for another can, but throughout the years, I have never had to do this with the exception of once. I examine each cartridge for corrosion and check the primer area especially. I had an old 98 Mauser rifle that was rebuilt from about three
different guns and served out as a brush rifle, but it was still an accurate piece when feed the right ammunition. I had also bought some old Turkish 8mm ammo and found about half of the 50 rounds to be duds. Upon closer examination, I discovered that the primers were seated to deep, or had the familiar green corrosion around the edges of the primer pocket, thus rendering the cartridge useless. Since then I
examine all my surplus ammunition and make it a standard practice, as any one should.
Historical Accounts from Vietnam to the Present Day.
Wherever there has been an uprising for the Soviet cause, there the Mosin-Nagant has made its presence known. Just as the United States has supplied arms such as the 03A3, M1 Garand and M1 Carbines to its own cause, the Soviet and Chinese governments have done the same. At the end of World War Two, China looked to its friends from the North to help supply weapons to defend itself with and in turn supplied and
manufactured weapons to give to its friends to the South. During the Vietnam Conflict, the Mosin-Nagant was found to be there right beside the reliable AK-47 and the SKS assault rifle within the steaming humidity of the jungles there. The late Carlos Hathcock, the Marine sniper with the most confirmed kills during that conflict, gives an account where a Vietnamese sniper, armed with a Mosin-Nagant M91/30 sniper
rifle, would sit anywhere from 600 to 1000 yards away from the base where he was stationed, and would pick away at the soldiers there with devastating affect.
 Viet Cong weapons cache captured by U.S. Marines on Hill 159 in December of 1964. At least two Mosin-Nagants are in this photo.
American soldiers have, since the Vietnam War, been involved in "police actions" around the globe. They have encountered large enemy weapons caches that have contained large amounts of Soviet and Chinese hardware such as the AK-47 and many of its variants, along with RPG’s, Dragonov sniper weapons, and of course, the Mosin-Nagant. I have a friend that served with the Marine Corps during the first Gulf War, and
he gives accounts where, even though the vast majority of weapons were AK’s and other modern Soviet and Chinese weapons, the Mosin- Nagant was still evident though in very small numbers. The end result for these weapons, it was decided, was destruction. Many tons of these weapons were seized and destroyed in an effort to cut the Iraqi military weapons supply down. There have been Mosin-Nagants seized in Grenada as
well as Panama and often in Honduras and Nicaragua.
News footage from the present Afghanistan conflict, often show the Afghan people armed with various types of equipment from the infamous Lee-Enfield rifles to home made single shot rifles to the many variants in the AK-47 family. I have noticed a small number of Mosin-Nagants here also and reports from that region verify that the Nagant rifle is indeed being used there.
Somali guerrillas armed with Yugoslavia SKS and AK-47 variants, and the first two fighters from left armed with Mosin-Nagant models M-38. On far left is a Mosin model M-44 with spike bayonet. Note blued bolt assemblies on first two examples.
The Cuban government still retains the Nagant within its own stockpiles of weapons, ready to be issued to its citizens within a moments notice. Every year its citizen’s train for a mock US invasion situation and have maneuvers in urban and rural warfare. I read an article in Time magazine some years ago that gave an account of some of these urban maneuvers, and in one picture were three civilians
sitting on the street curb cleaning Mosin-Nagant M-44 and M-38 rifles. So it is that the Mosin- Nagant rifle soldiers on even today and will, for at least a little while longer, before it finally moves on into the future and history.
Acknowledgments and Sources.
Trapper Industries-www.trapperindustries.com
(This site contains information on the m-1944 air rifle conversion. They
also list many other products including an SVD sniper rifle, AK air rifles,
along with other Soviet types of equipment and vehicles.)
Australian War Monument- www.awm.gov.au
(An interesting Website that deserves to be visited no matter the
interest. This sight deals with Australian veterans involvement in all
conflicts.)
Enrique Del Rosario- www.angelfire.com/de/HMM365Vietnam
(Del Rosario has many interesting web sites that can
be accessed using his name on any search engine. This includes his
thoughts on hunting, canoeing, and his own collection of Vietnam war
poetry. He can also be reached at delrosario@juno.com)
Collectable Firearms and Edged Weapons-www.CollectableFirearms.com
(A very fine and interesting site for anyone wanting to collect the more
obscure Mosin Nagants. There are also other collectables including
the Lee Enfield, Mauser 98’s, and also rifles from the Civil War.)
World War One, Trenches on the Web-www.worldwar1.com
(A very well organized web site dealing with many items and subjects
on World War One. There is also a section that talks about the
Expeditionary Forces stationed in Russia during World War One and the
years after.)
The Third Reich Fact book- www.skalman.nu
(Site contains info on Third Reich and captured weapons designation
type and inspector assigned number type.)
The Soldier of Fortune; Hardcover, published 1986, Article reprint of: SOF in
Grenada, photographic evidence of Mosin Nagant in Grenada.
Pages 102-103. ISBN# 0-671-08253-1
Weapons and Fighting Tactics of the Waffen SS by Dr. S. Hart & Dr. R. Hart,
Hardcover, published 1999, German use of Soviet SVT 38 and SVT40,
pages 22-23. ISBN# 0-7603-0683-4
Military History Magazine, Oct 1998, Article title: "Bloody Battle on Peace
Day" by Vincent Cortwright. Tells of the 339th in Russia during and
after World War One. Can also be accessed on the Internet at
www.worldwar1.com
Guns America.com/SunAir (Owner)- Auction number 976372031 under
Springfield rifle section. Springfield rifle shown with Pedersen device
and known accessories. Example of type of device manufactured
for Mosin Nagant.
Marine Sniper: 93 Confirmed Kills by Charles Henderson, Carlos Hathcocks
account of enemy use of M91/30 Mosin Nagant Sniper rifle. ISBN# 0-
425-10355-2.
Copyright 2003 John L. Thompson.
Contact info:
Shoottathril2000@aol.com
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