Rifles

In discussions of history's battle rifles, one that seems to always get left out of the conversation is Russia's M1891 Mosin-Nagant. Experts extol the virtues of the Mauser, Garand, Lee-Enfield and even the Arisaka, but seem to forget that the Mosin fought alongside—and against—these arms in some of the most grueling conflicts ever. It's amazing for just how long and in how many places the Mosin-Nagant was used. Early on, it saw fighting in the Boxer Rebellion, the Russo-Japanese War and World War One. Thousands and thousands were in service in World War II and after. Different makes and variations of Mosins appeared all over Eastern Europe, China, Vietnam and the Americas.

The Mosin-Nagant was adopted by the Czarist military in 1891 and was an amalgamation of designs by Russian Captain Sergi Ivanovich Mosin and Belgian Leon Nagant. Early on Mosin recognized that smokeless powder was the coming thing, and developed some impressive formative smallbore longarms. These were refined and combined with some of Nagant's improvements, and a new rifle was born.

The gun's original name was "Three Line Rifle, Model 1891." The name comes from the caliber, which was expressed in a now-obsolete Russian unit of measurement--the lini. One lini equaled 2.54 millimeters, so three lini totaled 7.62 millimeters.

Mosin-Nagants are bolt-action repeaters with box magazines charged with five cartridges from a sturdy stripper clip. The '91's bolt is a curious affair, unlike just about any other arm of the period It's very simple, consisting of only seven parts. The rotating bolt head with its large dual lugs locks horizontally, and the bolt handle also locks on a third point on the receiver ring, making it extremely strong—but also a tad difficult to operate. There's a cocking piece on the rear of the bolt that rotates to the left to engage the safety—not particularly easy to use, but at least positive when set.

It's beefy enough to handle the rimmed, tapered bottleneck 7.62x54mm cartridge, a .30-caliber round that ultimately generated pressures in the .30-06 class. Originally it employed a round-nosed 201-grain cupro-nickel-jacketed bullet that moved out at some 1,985 fps—but in 1909, following the lead of other major powers, Russia adopted a pointed 150-grain bullet with a velocity that was increased to 2,800 fps.

Initially, it was a long rifle—some 51 inches overall, with a 31½ inch barrel. In the early 1920s the barrel was shortened by just under three inches to make the piece a bit more manageable, and the original octagonal receiver was replaced with a round one for ease of manufacture. The gun had a birch stock with unusual slots to accommodate straps or wire-style sling swivels (usually in Finnish guns) . The rear ladder-style sight was originally graduated in arshins, an archaic Russian measurement equal to a pace, or 2.3 feet. This was later changed to meters. Originally, Mosin-Nagants were made at three arsenals in Russia, as well as in France and Switzerland. The gun performed very well in early engagements, but at the beginning of World War I there were not enough to equip the huge Russian Army and additional contracts were given to Remington and Westinghouse in the United States. Due to the Russian Revolution, the American guns were never delivered and ended up being issued to U.S. troops for training, and during the Siberian Expedition of 1918-1920.