Mosin-Nagant

The rifle was originally the "winner" of a competition in Imperial Russia meant to replace the antiquated Berdan rifles then in use (which were single-shot breech-loading rifles, similar to the British Martini rifle). Sergei Ivanovich Mosin submitted a design, which was combined with that of the design of the Belgian designer Leon Nagant (which the army had favored) to pander to Russia's national pride, and the resulting rifle, the Mosin Nagant Model 1891 was accepted for service.

The cartridge it was designed for, the Russian 7.62x54R, has been in service continuously since its adoption, and remains so to this day. Millions of Mosin-Nagant rifles were made and after the introduction of the SKS and AK series rifles, stockpiled in vast armories in the Soviet Union. Recently a large quantity of them have found their ways into the American market as antiques and collectables and also as a dependable, reasonably accurate, and cheap plinking and hunting rifle. Today, these rifles can be had for as little as 50 dollars.

This rifle was also used by Finland until only recently. Many Russian/Soviet rifles were captured during their war with the USSR. These rifles were then modified to varying degrees. The Finnish Mosin-Nagants are known for their accuracy and dependability. These rifles fetch much greater, although still reasonable, prices on the arms market than Russian or other Mosin Nagant Rifles.

Variations