OH SHIT how I have watched almost this entire channel but missed the Mosin video!? Also, I hope Julia D Julia deeply appreciate all the millions of people Ian has made aware of their company. If he's not making 6 figures, he's not making enough. I actually spent a few hours looking at all the collectible glass they carry at auction, some really impressive pieces there..
They don't pay him for this. He might be doing some authenticating stuff but this is it's own thing. And millions is a gross exaggeration, most of their stuff sells for less than a $2000, their big stuff goes up in to the tens of thousands, pretty rare to get something worth more. In all likely hood, if you are in the market for a $100000 revolver or BAR or something (really closer to $80000 usually), you probably already know about the auction places that he goes to. Don't get me wrong, he is great, he is doing awesome work, but he is not intentionally advertising for them as his main purpose. That he might attract some of us to buy some lots of probably cheaper stuff (I have my eyes on a few Japanese rifles that are probably less than $2000, and some swords and cool stuff) is not his purpose but to show us the cool stuff and tell us how it works, the logistics behind it. Education man.
I remembered the day this video came out. I just got home from shooting the first gun I ever bought for the first time; Which was a mosin nagant m9130 made in 1944. I was 19 years old at the time and I remembered how I felt when I saw this video.
when you push a scope to its outer limits or beyond, the groups will open up considerably. tuning the pu so it shoots center at the center of the scopes range, should give optimum performance, which explains the difference in the two groups. it also explains why they were factory fitted and not simply sighted in.
7 year old video but still the same great quality content as your videos of today. And while it might have a crap trigger and isn't an authentic sniper, sign me up for that slick bolt action. That's a smooth beast.
It's fun to go back and watch your older videos. They're by no means substandard, but the improved production value is obvious. To quote Virginia Slims, "You've come a long way."
Ian, I own an actual sniper Mosin, and I can tell you that the trigger isn't any better than a standard infantry one - pretty terrible. That said, my sniper rifle is pretty damn accurate - your first group (the one down at the corner) is pretty close to what mine shoots. Also, I love that you're left-handed - I am too, and you operate the Mosin the same way I do, supporting the rifle with your left hand over the mag while your right hand operates the bolt.
David Porter Leggett My trigger was vastly superior to standard mosin nagants. And can shoot within an inch if the ammo is good and I take my time. I wish I'd bought 2 when AIM had them at $500
Me too. I got mine for $600 way back in the day. The trigger isn't anything special at all. In fact, my M44 Carbine Mosin has the nest trigger of all four of my Mosins.
Many have been rebuilt from parts. And I have found many that have rifiling issues due to ignorance discharging improper ammo..... Mine would absolutely out boom the ar15 ak47 and sks when side by side and disharged.... Loud as all get out.....
Great video. :) I have an original WWII 1943 PU sniper. I can shoot MOA at 100m with ease. The cold shot has always been a bullseye so far :) The POI doesn't wander in the slightest from 50m right up to 400m. That's the furthest I can go at the range. The trigger on my PU and 1943 Tula PU is far superior to any of my 91/30's, including my 1932 Tula 91/30. Once I got used to the height of the PU scope it wasn't an issue at all. In fact it feels funny to shoot a modern scoped rifle now. haha The barrel on my Pu and ex-PU are immaculate. Very shiny and have like new rifling. My other 91/30's have frosted grooves. But still have strong rifling. I'm guessing the snipers took better care of their rifles. Too bad we live so far apart. I would be happy to loan you my PU for a video. I'm very lucky to have one of the really good ones. Original stock, scope base, bolt, and the PU scope was changed once but appears to have been changed during WWII. I'm guessing mine saw service after WWII because the dark red shellac was well worn on the stock where it would have been rested while shooting right out of the crate. Possibly the Police or stayed in Military service after the war? It would be awesome and a good experience for you if you did a review on an authentic Russian PU. Huge difference in bolt tightness, trigger pull, and of course accuracy. A good PU feels like a different rifle than a standard 91/30. Quality build feels like my Finnish VKT M39.
I remember firing an over pricd 91/30 "Sniper" and when I had her sighted in at 100 yards, the reticle was in the far left of the scope. Each scope was fitted and sighted in at the factory-the scope never left the rifle it was mated to-John in Texas
If I recall correctly the abbreviation "PU" comes from the Russian for "universal sight". Variants of the design were also used on other weapons including heavy MGs and in particular the SVT (which is what it was designed for in the first place).
This rifle is a century job; were they took many a 91/30 Finnish captures and made Fantasy pieces like this (1940). I am glad the video uploader pointed this out.
You may call me a filthy commie, but Soviet weapons really have a special spot in my heart, and I mostly prefer them the to the Western counterparts. The Mosin-Nagant rifle is one of my favorites.
Ominous Spudd Those are the figures released by the Soviet Union itself buddy. The Soviet Union lost nearly 27 million of it's citizens in no small part due to their inferior equipment. Only Post war Russia ever made anything worthwhile, notably after Stalin's death.
clothar23 Yes, but you completely left out the corresponding German and Japanese casualties... it's estimated that for every Soviet *soldier* killed approximately 1.3 Wehrmacht soldiers were taken out of action. That's a pretty good ratio. Also the Mosin Nagant has been considered an excellent rifle since forever, actually go research it. The T-34 was an excellent tank, the Ilyushin Il-2 was an excellent aircraft... the LaGG-3s and Yak-3s were incredible fighter planes near the end of the war. Soviet artillery was second to none. Katyushas were the first mass deployed MLRS... and so much more. Soviet heavy tanks such as the KV-1 were never truly challenged until the Tiger I and Panthers, which were soon met by the impressive IS-2s, much later in the war. Dude what you said is bullshit man, I'm not trying to glorify Stalin, but seriously, talk about trying to discredit Russian engineering, geez.
Years ago, I collected sniper rifles. I found the two most accurate to be the Swiss K31/42 and the M91/30 as has been demonstrated here. Mine was a "real" 91/30 with the PU scope. Bear in mind that I developed hand loads for all my snipers, but the Swiss and Soviet were still the most accurate.
Great video. I got a standard 91/30 about a year ago. Couldn't hit printer paper at 50 yards until I replaced the trigger with a Timney trigger. I've had a lot of fun improving it. Still have a lot planed for it.
in general, Pavlichenko only at the initial stage fired from Mosin's rifle. Almost all those killed by her were from SVT-40 with an optical scope. Pavlichenko is my countrywoman from Kiev. I know very well the history of her battle way.
Good job Ian. I have had a couple of PU snipers, one phony and one genuine. You covered the subject quite well. The cheek weld is very poor, so I prefer shooting modern scoped rifles myself. The PU is a neat piece of history for sure. Keep up the good work!
I have shot quit a few 91/30 rifles....but the sniper version is so much more accurate than the basic 91/30 I have heard they were but didn't really believe there was that much difference until the second sniper version I shot..they were both original Russian sniper models not the after the fact...I also didn't get how rare they were...the scope seemed odd to use at first but were easy to get used to..with new ammo they shoot very accurate!
I heard Ian say in a later video that a lot of the sniper rifles of WW2 are exactly the same as the standard bolt actions, except they are better seated in their stocks. Either have them better fitted (Brits went to H&H for theirs apparently, dudes make a double barrel shotgun for tens of thousands of Pounds Stirling) or tests rifles from a batch until you find ones that fire accurately and designate them snipers. If the wood swells or is not placed well it can screw with that stuff when the barrel vibrates from the shot.
When I lived out in the sticks my friends and I had Mosins and Mausers. We would shoot tracers at dusk and watch them fly like a laser and bounce. This rifle is incredibly powerful.
There's actually a very specific reason as to why the scope mount is high. It's designed that way so that you use chin weld to view the optics and use cheek weld to use iron sights for closer/faster shots. It should be the opposite (i.e. cheek weld for precision/ chin weld for speed), but I doubt they had the technology/experience to design optics for that.
I bought a MOSIN a few years ago old stock coated in cosmolin took a little work , got it out one the range first 5 shots 100 yards all fit inside a milk jug with surplus dirty ammo . I never had fired a high power rifle of that caliber before I was amazed how it fed and shot if you have the opportunity buy one it’s worth having around if you like guns .
Forgotten Weapons I love your rifle, not because it's a repro, but because it's a Finn'd 91/30. They added that double stack front sight and best I can tell the stock as well. If you ever decide to part with it, with or without the scope, I'd be very interested. Thanks for posting this video.
I do have an original PU rifle, but the scope is a half reproduction. It's an original SVT-40 scope (You can tell because the bore diameter of the scope tube gets longer near the back) and you can shoot around 5-10 consistent shots at 1moa, 100yards, if you do your part. However after the barrel heats up your shot grouping tends to become larger, around 2-5moa
A lovely rifle, while I am not personally a fan of the Mossin Nagants I can appreciate their hardy construction. The Russians had a major winner with it.
saw the documentary yesterday about Snipers of WW1 and WW2 (Snipers from different Factions German, American, & Russian) how they trained. what guns they used, how they developed guns and scopes and how they usually do their work in the battlefield and apparently they are very hated, even their own allies hate sniper's in their group cause they usually work alone and are suspicious etc. from Movies4Men channel. And showed footage of how most German Snipers who kill as much as they can and then only surrender when they are out of rations or munitions literally get shot on the spot even after surrendering. That episode got me all interested with the old weaponry now!
>apparently they are very hated, even their own allies hate sniper's in their group cause they usually work alone and are suspicious etc Quite a late reply, but anyway. Somehow this documentary is seems to be correct only about german snipers. Because famous soviet snipers were respected by all infantry and when one of them was coming to the front lines, the news were known in several hours. It boosted morale much more than tens of political brainwashers. Moreover many of them worked using group tactics for 5 and more people(Vasily Zaytsev was an inventor of sniper group tactics named"sixes"), germans in the end fo the war started to use it too, my friend. Also about killing the sniper by all means was more of a WW1 vibe, than WW2. As an example - Matthäus Hetzenauer, the most efficient sniper of Germany at that time(345 only confirmed frags), he was captured and after 5 years went back home to drink his favourite bavarian beer.
The total field of view of the PU scope is only 4.5 degrees of angle, which is roughly 8 meters at 100 meters, so the gap between the horizontal reticle posts couldn't possibly be 70 meters at 100 meters. If the width of the vertical post is 20 centimeters @ 100 meters, then the gap between the horizontal posts appears to be close to 40 centimeters @ 100 meters, not 70 meters.
There was a company here in New Zealand that was importing 91/30s with a reproduction PU scope, a real deal one would be impossible to find in our market. I wish I’d bought at the time, but a Lee Enfield mk III is top of my list. I own a sporter model. But I should of got into a full wood one years ago, the prices are sky rocketing
I bought an m39 which the Finn's bought and changed out the irons and the barrels. It is awesome shooting so I out a pu scope on it with an archangel stock which has a cheek rest. I love
10:38 The high scope position is precisely what Simo Häyhä, the legendary Finnish sniper, disliked about the Mosin Nagant. He felt it forced the sniper to expose his head too much, one reason why he never used a scope.
Anzac-A1 that’s true about Simo Häyhä not using a scope at all but only the open sights to gain his 500+ confirmed kills in only three months. The nickname ”White Death” was given to him by Red Army.
In 2013 for a short amount of time the original Russian PU's were available. I purchased mine during that time. I can get a 3 shot group at 3/4 of an inch. After that, the rifle heats up and starts stringing shots to the right.
Nice video. Although the scope is mounted a bit high it allows the use of the iron sights. I thought the 3 1/2 power scope in early U.S. sniper rifles was considered not the best set up and was later replaced by stronger optics.
hmmm, that appears to be an M91 and not a 91/30. I did not read 596 comments, actually, i did not read any, but i am sure a few pointed this out...I watch many of your videos, love em, and took your advice and got onto Ubreon AKA playeur. Thanks for all the good stuff..
I really want to do this conversion to my Mosin. I got super lucky with mine in that the trigger is fantastic and the barrel (and resulting accuracy) are very good.
teamkillz12345 the value of a rifle when there are literally millions of them lol. Unless its a rare model or low serial numbers then its probably not going to hurt the "value" of this hundred dollar gun.
BTW , ordinary M.G.'s were zeroed bayonet on . removal of Bayonet , usually throws it way off to the left , plus trajectory changes . An out of the box sniper model would have been zeroed for bayo. off from the factory . Chris
You mentioned when it was last issued in the Russian Army. Well, in the current Ukraine War, we saw a picture of a Russian soldier carrying a Mosin with the PU scope. You can upgrade your timeline.
En junio de 1942, Pavlichenko ya tenía 309 muertes confirmadas de soldados y oficiales enemigos, incluidos treinta y seis francotiradores. (Es lo que le dijo a EleanorRoosevelt frente al periodismo en EEUU)...
...that second group might have been the scope moving in the mount...the mount moving on the rifle...or something moving in the scope...those three shots descending in a straight line makes me think it is possible...I've had a scope move lengthwise and rotate at the same time...and it printed an almost perfect "U" shaped group...
187 confirmed kills in battle of Odessa, thats why Ian got numbers confused. Also its not certain if she used SVT for other than propaganda purposes in pictures.
Numbers dont matter, it was a propaganda to encourage females to join the military forces due to the fact that females not getting muscle tense as much as male counterpart during aiming and shooting. Doesnt mean that women are better at sniping, but if you take 2 fresh soldiers, 1 male and 1 female, female will have a much better grouping compare to male due to muscle relaxation while pulling the trigger.
qbik911 hey,stop saying the things you don't know!Do you know why she had been decorated with svt40 in her first battle??Now I tell you what she did-she destroyed the fucking German tank with the fucking sniper rifle,and you know how it could be done??The only almost impossible chance was to hit first armour piercing round in the 3 centimetres wide driver's observation glass to make it damaged after that she had to hit a second armour piercing round in exactly the same hole to pierce the glass but the driver was still intact but already vulnerable so she had to hit this hole again but with an armour piercing incendiary round to kill the driver and set off the shells which were right behind him and that is exactly what she did!So now imagine the situation:shoot 3 times in the same hole in the middle of severe battle where the Soviets were outnumbered and outgunned like kittens swimming in the pool full of hungry piranhas and also the distance between her and her target was 800 metres,and the tank obviously didn't stand still-how would you imagine that kind of achievement??So in addition I can tell you that she had 309 only Confirmed kills and the real quantity is much more than that.So don't say what you don't know again.
dragan Ljubenov I simply know that it is true.Seems like even tank can be beaten in that way.Once I had such a lot of my comrades who doubted that it is possible as well as me too-so I made a simple test.Found the complete exact specifications of that damn window,made the exact and accurate copy with help of my relatives who are BTW involved in Russian military optical industry and took exactly the same God damn rounds which were b-30 armour piercing (ГРАУ) index GRAU 57-B-222 and also some API rounds bz-32(ГРАУ)index GRAU 7-BZ-3 and shot it with my own sniper Mosin from exactly 800 metres which was issued.And everything went as it was described-first AP round shattered the glass,after that the second one almost made through it and when I loaded my Mosin with the next,API round and put an excavated 45 mm ordnance(which I actually know that it uses to be one of the most unsafe cannon rounds ever,so that time pulling that crap to the target was really sweaty) damn job which I almost never did ever after as well as before because first of the fact that excavated cannon ordnance is impossible to sell to anybody'because noone has Damn cannon to fire it and also it is prohibited to carry anywhere and for violation of this you are minimally 8 years and up to life-sentenced for this but everything can be done by me in sake of science🤓)..And that is how I totally proved that history.... To be least plausible.Because these 3 bullets did their job..
I see there are a few after market scope mounts available for the Mosin. Why, apart from access to the breach/magazine, has nobody produced a mount that fits into or replaces the sniper mount that accepts more modern optics? I know modifying Mosins can be a questionable pursuit in economic terms, but this could be an adequate 200 to 300 yard/metre rifle.
Anyone else notice that standard military surplus light ball ammo has increased 20 percent to 30 percent in price and decreased substantially in availability across all retailers between mid-July and the first week of August? (e.g. Lucky Gunner went from $100 to $110 for 440 to $130 to $135 in that time period. About .22 per round to .30 cents per round) Was summer 2015 the beginning of the end of "cheap" surplus ammo? Is it worth paying $135 for 440 rounds corrosive surplus when $150 will get you 400 rounds Wolf non-corrosive?
+Forgotten Weapons that weapon mosin nagant kind remind me of the video game call the metal gear soild 3 snake eater when snake fight again one the legendary cobra call the end...he's good as sniping and the bullet round are different because sometime it might be a tranquiler round mostly after it has to be put a new tranquiler round like when you put enemy to sleep too he also good as camouflaging too or maybe sometime you lose your stamina it might aim the body part when you might hit too although you have to remove that tranquiler round otherwise you need to find a food to eat though?
You didn't mention the annoying safety mechanism! I have what appears on all accounts to be an original PU sniper (minus the trigger/magazine group, which was replaced at some point) and we were highly impressed with how well it shoots. My brother shot a 0.48 inch group at a hundred yards our first time out and sub-1" consistently. And we're not the best shooters around, either! Like you, I have a lot of difficulty getting a good cheek weld. I can shoot a tight horizontal group but tend to string them vertically. I have purchased a comb raiser and hopefully I will be able to realize the full potential of this rifle now. Could you tell us a bit about how these rifles were made/selected? I'd always heard that the snipers were picked from regular 91/30 production lines when they performed highly accurately during tests at the factory. I am curious if this is how most nations selected their sniper rifles. My family has a P14/M1917 which is stamped as 2 MOA accurate from the factory, but which easily shoots sub-MOA. (granted, it is sporterized and shooting handloaded ammunition)
The mosin was my first rifle or firearm at all. I was 17 years old and I phonied up a birth certificate to say I was 18 so I could buy it. I really like these guns
At 05:00 you mentioned the Russians did not make PU snipers until 1944. You failed to mention they took previous year models (mine is a 1936) and converted them to PU models. Correct me if I am wrong.
The SVT40 wasn't only planned to be the new sniping rifle, they had hopes to make it their standard issue rifle so as to replace the M91/30. In 1941, they produced over 1,000,000 with plans to pump out 2,000,000 per years by 1942. Unfortunately the German invasion in Summer 1941 (Operation Barbarossa) caused a huge demand for rifle, and the M91/30 was far easier to produce than the SVT40 so they eventually lessened production then dropped the design entirely to produce more bolt actions. If the M91/30 was easier to produce than the SVT40 which was to pump out 2 million a year by 1942, it makes me wonder how many M91/30s they could pump out a year. To give an idea as to the demand, it's estimated that the first 6 months of Operation Barbarossa (June-December 1941), less than 200 days, seen around 6,000,000 Russian casualties, 3,000,000 POWs, and over 20,000 Russian tanks taken out. I guess if they needed rifles so as to equip that estimated nearly 10,000,000 men replaced, they couldn't afford to sit around for 5 years to give them all SVT40s. Still, fascinating to know that the Russians very nearly beat the Americans in having the first standard issue semi auto rifle. If it weren't for Operation Barbarossa, the Russians would have had about 6,000,000 SVT40s produced by the time D-Day came around. Hell, the Americans only had about half a million M1 Rifles by December 1941, yet as mentioned, the Russians already had a little over twice that. To give that better perspective, the Germans produced only about 500,000 G41s/G43s by war's end, and about as many STG44s. MP40s... wasn't that only 1 or 2 million? In contrast, Russia produced around 5-6 million PPSh-41s if memory serves. Sometimes outfitting entire squads or even platoons with them, probably primarily in Stalingrad in those tight, confined spaces of the destroyed city. I've got a 1942 M91/30 with 3.5x PU scope, my scope is replica as well, but it's awesome how it has that hammer and sickle on there. :P The scope mount is even electropenciled for the receiver, however I figure that was more than likely done by the fellow who made this bare bones rifle into a scoped one. As for accuracy, well I'm far from a professional marksman, no formal or even informal training, essentially self-taught. I managed to ring 8" gongs at 200m with 1953 Polish laquor coated surplus, 18" gongs at 300m, I imagine I could manage a man-sized silhouette at 400m but I'll definitely need to rest the rifle, simply using my elbows to help stabilize it wouldn't give me very consistent hits I don't think. Of course you'd expect more from a military sniper rifle, however my rifle was never a military sniper rifle, and I'm not a military sniper, so I'm happy with these results ;) I have to say though, the trigger on mine is surprisingly nice. Very smooth, whoever attached the mount also did a pretty rough job at cutting the stock away for the mount, however they must have worked on the trigger because I find it to be quite crisp. It's no K31 trigger, but it's still quite nice. That 2nd group at 100m looks to be roughly 4", yeah I think that's about what I can manage at my current skill level. Given time and practice I'm sure I can shrink that down. The scope was set so high to allow for easy irons use I think, allows for a good field of view so that the irons could be used almost as effectively as on a rifle with no scope on it. The most successful sniper in history; Simo Hayha, with over 500 confirmed killed if memory serves, preferred irons to optic. Partly because then his head stayed lower, so as to keep from being seen. Actually turned out he got shot in the face, but miraculously survived, and went on to live over 90 years I believe. To put it simply, if you have a good set of eyes and can see the target, you should be able to hit it with either irons or optic. If you can only hit it with the optic in spite of being able to see your target, it means you need more practice with irons. As for the cheek rest, I once handled a buddy's CZ858, the semi auto version of the vZ.58. He had an optic and a cheek pad thing so you could more comfortably use said optic with a good cheek weld. When I tried to see the irons under it though, the pad got in the way and I had to move my head at a very uncomfortable angle to use the irons. I think this is why they never issued cheek pieces; keep the irons available if they needed to be used. I once replaced my 1944 M44's rear sight with a rail and attached a red dot. First day at the range, the rail broke and completely lost zero, making my M44 essentially into a bolt action musket; guesstimate where to aim and hope to hit the target. Since then, if I had an optic on my rifle, I wanted irons available as well. Kinda like on the game Rising Storm, I was using the M1903 sniper (M1903A2 was it?), and it doesn't have any irons at all available. When I spawned, I found the scope simply wasn't working, it wasn't showing anything, and since there were no irons it was basically useless. I wouldn't have faired much better if that happened to a scoped Kar98k or the M91/30 with PE scope. Those merely have a small oval hold drilled through the mount, giving you barely any field of view. If the target is standing still, you might be able to use it. If it's moving, heh, you haven't got a prayer. Essentially you're restricted to what you can see within the front sight hood; yeah the hole is THAT small! Speaking of which, it looks like the front sight hood of that M91/30 in the vid has been removed... looks very strange without it. Anyways, great vid! :)
I've read somewhere that Mosin sniper rifles particularly were made with slight choke along the whole lenght of the barrel (something like 3% of the diameter in total) which was not present in normal "not-sniper" rifle. Do you know something about it, is that true or it was just not the case of this video?
I have a Mosin Nagant M91. But I was under the impression that if it was built after 1930 it would be Mosin Nagant M91/30. The year on my rifle is 1942
i just subscribed to you because of this very informative video. i will be buying a pu mount for my 38 izzy. yea i know it not time specific or what ever those people call it. but it's my gun, not theirs... i will be putting a picatiny or weaver rail on the pu mount. then i can put a better scope on it, 30mm bore optic scope. because i can. i will also make an leather cheek rest on the butt-stock. adding adjust-ability to it. with a button on with buckles riser, making able to pack more rise into the padding of the cheek rest. when shooting iron sights, just unbutton the riser and flip it out of the way. and it can hold a few extra rounds on it too.
I suspect your scope was "walking" after you changed the elevation & took a while to settle in. Try another group and see if that vertical stringing goes away.
not sure if i am completely correct about this but pretty sure russian snipers would go over their guns to be sure they were free floated as well and in some cases bedding the action as well this could be hear say but um sure snipers looked to be as accurate as possible and knew their way around the mosin quite well
droppin plates Shimming the tang and right behind the recoil lug of the receiver, and either free floating it, or corking it to make a known pressure point. but floating was better for the pencil barrels of the Mosin, and the ammo they used.
You are not correct. Soviet snipers did not go over their rifles. I own an original M91/30 PU. The only thing that was done to the PU was that the most accurate rifles were converted into PU's. The snipers who were issued the rifles weren't even permitted to remove the scope and mount from the rifle. They were set up by an armorer.
This is how my mosin nagant works.....nice easy flawless. I just clean it after every shooting and oil it properly. I also oil bullets I fire at the range. Mine is 1942 made. Not sniper but I'd say more than I can shoot accurate. The aniper rounds were different from what we have today available....
Yeah with surplus ammo your not really getting a group beyond a few hundred yards. It goes everywhere sometimes it becomes more suppressive. However I love the rifle
Am I the only one who knows that the Mosin Nagant in the video is not a model 91/30. It's actually model 91/31 where the 31 means that in 1931 the russians started producing the Mosin Nagants with curved bolts so they could use PU scopes and other optics on their rifles or otherwise the bolts would not have opened.
Forgotten Weapons I haven't seen a 91/31 Mosin Nagant and I have only seen a Finnish M/27 Mosin Nagant in real life. But I have watched a video of lego Mosin Nagant where the video maker tells that the Mosin he constructed is not a 91/30 then he says that it's a model 91/31 Mosin Nagant that can use a scope on it because it has a curved bolt. BTW I'm finnish so my english sometimes might be unclear. Tell me if my message was clear enough.
OH SHIT how I have watched almost this entire channel but missed the Mosin video!?
Also, I hope Julia D Julia deeply appreciate all the millions of people Ian has made aware of their company. If he's not making 6 figures, he's not making enough.
I actually spent a few hours looking at all the collectible glass they carry at auction, some really impressive pieces there..
They don't pay him for this. He might be doing some authenticating stuff but this is it's own thing. And millions is a gross exaggeration, most of their stuff sells for less than a $2000, their big stuff goes up in to the tens of thousands, pretty rare to get something worth more. In all likely hood, if you are in the market for a $100000 revolver or BAR or something (really closer to $80000 usually), you probably already know about the auction places that he goes to. Don't get me wrong, he is great, he is doing awesome work, but he is not intentionally advertising for them as his main purpose. That he might attract some of us to buy some lots of probably cheaper stuff (I have my eyes on a few Japanese rifles that are probably less than $2000, and some swords and cool stuff) is not his purpose but to show us the cool stuff and tell us how it works, the logistics behind it. Education man.
damn the old intro is so good. the music feels timeless and fits the martial vibes of the channel. bring it back please!
Excellent video as always.
Mosin's reloading sound is a freakin' symphony
Watching Enemy At The Gates
I remembered the day this video came out. I just got home from shooting the first gun I ever bought for the first time; Which was a mosin nagant m9130 made in 1944. I was 19 years old at the time and I remembered how I felt when I saw this video.
Ian, your old intro is cool.
Cooler still in 2019
2020*
Yes but less UA-cam friendly if you get me...lol
2021 now (almost)
2022* as well.
when you push a scope to its outer limits or beyond, the groups will open up considerably. tuning the pu so it shoots center at the center of the scopes range, should give optimum performance, which explains the difference in the two groups. it also explains why they were factory fitted and not simply sighted in.
1st group was from a cold barrel.
7 year old video but still the same great quality content as your videos of today. And while it might have a crap trigger and isn't an authentic sniper, sign me up for that slick bolt action. That's a smooth beast.
It's fun to go back and watch your older videos. They're by no means substandard, but the improved production value is obvious. To quote Virginia Slims, "You've come a long way."
Ian, I own an actual sniper Mosin, and I can tell you that the trigger isn't any better than a standard infantry one - pretty terrible. That said, my sniper rifle is pretty damn accurate - your first group (the one down at the corner) is pretty close to what mine shoots. Also, I love that you're left-handed - I am too, and you operate the Mosin the same way I do, supporting the rifle with your left hand over the mag while your right hand operates the bolt.
David Porter Leggett My trigger was vastly superior to standard mosin nagants. And can shoot within an inch if the ammo is good and I take my time. I wish I'd bought 2 when AIM had them at $500
The AIM rifles were $595 for the real deal.
Me too. I got mine for $600 way back in the day. The trigger isn't anything special at all. In fact, my M44 Carbine Mosin has the nest trigger of all four of my Mosins.
Many have been rebuilt from parts.
And I have found many that have rifiling issues due to ignorance discharging improper ammo.....
Mine would absolutely out boom the ar15 ak47 and sks when side by side and disharged....
Loud as all get out.....
Putin has two in his closet, and a can of ammo. Also 2 cases Poppa Nakitas good Russian dill pickles.
Great video. :)
I have an original WWII 1943 PU sniper. I can shoot MOA at 100m with ease. The cold shot has always been a bullseye so far :)
The POI doesn't wander in the slightest from 50m right up to 400m. That's the furthest I can go at the range.
The trigger on my PU and 1943 Tula PU is far superior to any of my 91/30's, including my 1932 Tula 91/30.
Once I got used to the height of the PU scope it wasn't an issue at all. In fact it feels funny to shoot a modern scoped rifle now. haha
The barrel on my Pu and ex-PU are immaculate. Very shiny and have like new rifling. My other 91/30's have frosted grooves. But still have strong rifling.
I'm guessing the snipers took better care of their rifles.
Too bad we live so far apart. I would be happy to loan you my PU for a video.
I'm very lucky to have one of the really good ones.
Original stock, scope base, bolt, and the PU scope was changed once but appears to have been changed during WWII.
I'm guessing mine saw service after WWII because the dark red shellac was well worn on the stock where it would have been rested while shooting right out of the crate. Possibly the Police or stayed in Military service after the war?
It would be awesome and a good experience for you if you did a review on an authentic Russian PU. Huge difference in bolt tightness, trigger pull, and of course accuracy.
A good PU feels like a different rifle than a standard 91/30.
Quality build feels like my Finnish VKT M39.
Lyudmila Pavlichenko ...
Her total of confirmed kills during World War II was 309 including 36 enemy snipers.
Nice vid btw
Strahinja Fatic Rosa Shanina and many many sniper woman’s.
and that's only confirmed kills!
Probably the least "forgotten" weapon you have done a video of. In any case, very good video. Always liked the 91/30 PU's.
14 and absolutely enjoy these old videos too
As usual you are enlightening as well as entertaining. Thank you, dr k
I remember firing an over pricd 91/30 "Sniper" and when I had her sighted in at 100 yards, the reticle was in the far left of the scope. Each scope was fitted and sighted in at the factory-the scope never left the rifle it was mated to-John in Texas
If I recall correctly the abbreviation "PU" comes from the Russian for "universal sight". Variants of the design were also used on other weapons including heavy MGs and in particular the SVT (which is what it was designed for in the first place).
This rifle is a century job; were they took many a 91/30 Finnish captures and made Fantasy pieces like this (1940). I am glad the video uploader pointed this out.
91/30 mosin nagant Russian snipers rifle has a special spot in my heart great video brother
You may call me a filthy commie, but Soviet weapons really have a special spot in my heart, and I mostly prefer them the to the Western counterparts.
The Mosin-Nagant rifle is one of my favorites.
800,000 Germans agree mosin nagants kick ass
+Banzai Warrior And 27,000,000 million dead Russians say the mosin nagant is a suck ass rifle.
+clothar23 wuuuuut. Need to go re-read history. And not from the American perspective. lol
Ominous Spudd Those are the figures released by the Soviet Union itself buddy. The Soviet Union lost nearly 27 million of it's citizens in no small part due to their inferior equipment. Only Post war Russia ever made anything worthwhile, notably after Stalin's death.
clothar23
Yes, but you completely left out the corresponding German and Japanese casualties... it's estimated that for every Soviet *soldier* killed approximately 1.3 Wehrmacht soldiers were taken out of action. That's a pretty good ratio.
Also the Mosin Nagant has been considered an excellent rifle since forever, actually go research it. The T-34 was an excellent tank, the Ilyushin Il-2 was an excellent aircraft... the LaGG-3s and Yak-3s were incredible fighter planes near the end of the war. Soviet artillery was second to none. Katyushas were the first mass deployed MLRS... and so much more. Soviet heavy tanks such as the KV-1 were never truly challenged until the Tiger I and Panthers, which were soon met by the impressive IS-2s, much later in the war.
Dude what you said is bullshit man, I'm not trying to glorify Stalin, but seriously, talk about trying to discredit Russian engineering, geez.
Years ago, I collected sniper rifles. I found the two most accurate to be the Swiss K31/42 and the M91/30 as has been demonstrated here. Mine was a "real" 91/30 with the PU scope. Bear in mind that I developed hand loads for all my snipers, but the Swiss and Soviet were still the most accurate.
Great video. I got a standard 91/30 about a year ago. Couldn't hit printer paper at 50 yards until I replaced the trigger with a Timney trigger. I've had a lot of fun improving it. Still have a lot planed for it.
in general, Pavlichenko only at the initial stage fired from Mosin's rifle. Almost all those killed by her were from SVT-40 with an optical scope. Pavlichenko is my countrywoman from Kiev. I know very well the history of her battle way.
Good job Ian. I have had a couple of PU snipers, one phony and one genuine. You covered the subject quite well. The cheek weld is very poor, so I prefer shooting modern scoped rifles myself. The PU is a neat piece of history for sure. Keep up the good work!
I just came up on a Mosin myself and watching you shoot it is just riling me up to go and shoot mine!
I have shot quit a few 91/30 rifles....but the sniper version is so much more accurate than the basic 91/30 I have heard they were but didn't really believe there was that much difference until the second sniper version I shot..they were both original Russian sniper models not the after the fact...I also didn't get how rare they were...the scope seemed odd to use at first but were easy to get used to..with new ammo they shoot very accurate!
Agreed, original mosin is like a hand cannon, while sniper version is much more easy to handle.
I heard Ian say in a later video that a lot of the sniper rifles of WW2 are exactly the same as the standard bolt actions, except they are better seated in their stocks. Either have them better fitted (Brits went to H&H for theirs apparently, dudes make a double barrel shotgun for tens of thousands of Pounds Stirling) or tests rifles from a batch until you find ones that fire accurately and designate them snipers. If the wood swells or is not placed well it can screw with that stuff when the barrel vibrates from the shot.
sniper mosins were made with better parts than standard infantry rifles for obvious reasons
When I lived out in the sticks my friends and I had Mosins and Mausers. We would shoot tracers at dusk and watch them fly like a laser and bounce. This rifle is incredibly powerful.
There's actually a very specific reason as to why the scope mount is high. It's designed that way so that you use chin weld to view the optics and use cheek weld to use iron sights for closer/faster shots. It should be the opposite (i.e. cheek weld for precision/ chin weld for speed), but I doubt they had the technology/experience to design optics for that.
I bought a MOSIN a few years ago old stock coated in cosmolin took a little work , got it out one the range first 5 shots 100 yards all fit inside a milk jug with surplus dirty ammo .
I never had fired a high power rifle of that caliber before I was amazed how it fed and shot if you have the opportunity buy one it’s worth having around if you like guns .
Loved the new intro! Great review too!
Forgotten Weapons
I love your rifle, not because it's a repro, but because it's a Finn'd 91/30. They added that double stack front sight and best I can tell the stock as well. If you ever decide to part with it, with or without the scope, I'd be very interested. Thanks for posting this video.
I do have an original PU rifle, but the scope is a half reproduction. It's an original SVT-40 scope (You can tell because the bore diameter of the scope tube gets longer near the back) and you can shoot around 5-10 consistent shots at 1moa, 100yards, if you do your part. However after the barrel heats up your shot grouping tends to become larger, around 2-5moa
A lovely rifle, while I am not personally a fan of the Mossin Nagants I can appreciate their hardy construction. The Russians had a major winner with it.
The bolt in that mosin is very smooth, I'm impressed.
Nice video , I have noticed you were shooting with left hand and right hand standing , its a god giving gift you cn shoot with both hands
I imagine how this channel will be in a few decades from now.
saw the documentary yesterday about Snipers of WW1 and WW2 (Snipers from different Factions German, American, & Russian) how they trained. what guns they used, how they developed guns and scopes and how they usually do their work in the battlefield and apparently they are very hated, even their own allies hate sniper's in their group cause they usually work alone and are suspicious etc. from Movies4Men channel. And showed footage of how most German Snipers who kill as much as they can and then only surrender when they are out of rations or munitions literally get shot on the spot even after surrendering. That episode got me all interested with the old weaponry now!
T-K- that sounds very interesting. What’s the documentary called?
>apparently they are very hated, even their own allies hate sniper's in their group cause they usually work alone and are suspicious etc
Quite a late reply, but anyway. Somehow this documentary is seems to be correct only about german snipers. Because famous soviet snipers were respected by all infantry and when one of them was coming to the front lines, the news were known in several hours. It boosted morale much more than tens of political brainwashers. Moreover many of them worked using group tactics for 5 and more people(Vasily Zaytsev was an inventor of sniper group tactics named"sixes"), germans in the end fo the war started to use it too, my friend.
Also about killing the sniper by all means was more of a WW1 vibe, than WW2. As an example - Matthäus Hetzenauer, the most efficient sniper of Germany at that time(345 only confirmed frags), he was captured and after 5 years went back home to drink his favourite bavarian beer.
The total field of view of the PU scope is only 4.5 degrees of angle, which is roughly 8 meters at 100 meters, so the gap between the horizontal reticle posts couldn't possibly be 70 meters at 100 meters. If the width of the vertical post is 20 centimeters @ 100 meters, then the gap between the horizontal posts appears to be close to 40 centimeters @ 100 meters, not 70 meters.
There was a company here in New Zealand that was importing 91/30s with a reproduction PU scope, a real deal one would be impossible to find in our market. I wish I’d bought at the time, but a Lee Enfield mk III is top of my list. I own a sporter model. But I should of got into a full wood one years ago, the prices are sky rocketing
Miss spelling at 7:08???? 70cm at 100m....not 70m at 100m
Yeah, I misspoke there.
Watch out Guys. He is camping at North West Airfield.
Hes in atc
@@wishyourlife6861 I got you man im omw to fire
@@wishyourlife6861 jesus christ when they gonna fix the bodys
unpopular opinion: Mosin is better than tundra in every way
@@jackson-2871 +1 I agree.
looking down the scope... red orchestra 2 xD
i basically worship RO2 xD
hey there iron bloke didn't knew you like this channel to.
i'm not iron bloke >.>
Tankie Frankie Frank the Tank?
i love it in spartanovka in the political building picking of Germans as they run though objective C and D =D
Man, I miss this old intro
I bought an m39 which the Finn's bought and changed out the irons and the barrels. It is awesome shooting so I out a pu scope on it with an archangel stock which has a cheek rest. I love
Simple & informative. Very nice video!
Thanks for making great informational videos!
10:38 The high scope position is precisely what Simo Häyhä, the legendary Finnish sniper, disliked about the Mosin Nagant. He felt it forced the sniper to expose his head too much, one reason why he never used a scope.
Anzac-A1 that’s true about Simo Häyhä not using a scope at all but only the open sights to gain his 500+ confirmed kills in only three months. The nickname ”White Death” was given to him by Red Army.
In 2013 for a short amount of time the original Russian PU's were available. I purchased mine during that time. I can get a 3 shot group at 3/4 of an inch. After that, the rifle heats up and starts stringing shots to the right.
aye, its my dream gun to own :(
its a piece of history to own!
Sound of the bolt action is superb.
Vasily Grigoryevich Zaytsev Soviet sniper extraordinaire used a standard-issue Mosin-Nagant rifle
Nice video. Although the scope is mounted a bit high it allows the use of the iron sights. I thought the 3 1/2 power scope in early U.S. sniper rifles was considered not the best set up and was later replaced by stronger optics.
I had one of these. Didn't have a lot of complaints. I rather liked the scope. She was plenty accurate. Kinda wish I'd kept it.
There's a little spring that you can put in the trigger to make it not so mushy. I recommend it highly.
hmmm, that appears to be an M91 and not a 91/30. I did not read 596 comments, actually, i did not read any, but i am sure a few pointed this out...I watch many of your videos, love em, and took your advice and got onto Ubreon AKA playeur. Thanks for all the good stuff..
I really want to do this conversion to my Mosin. I got super lucky with mine in that the trigger is fantastic and the barrel (and resulting accuracy) are very good.
read up on your mosin first before you go to damage its value..
teamkillz12345 the value of a rifle when there are literally millions of them lol. Unless its a rare model or low serial numbers then its probably not going to hurt the "value" of this hundred dollar gun.
Zach Parker I think he means more in its value as a gun, in the functions of a gun. As opposed to its dollar value.
Remigus Ker he would have said it would damage the functionality. I'm pretty sure he meant the historical value along with the $$$ value
Remigus Ker Please read my response to Yeti K's question from 2 weeks ago.
BTW , ordinary M.G.'s were zeroed bayonet on . removal of Bayonet , usually throws it way off to the left , plus trajectory changes . An out of the box sniper model would have been zeroed for bayo. off from the factory .
Chris
You mentioned when it was last issued in the Russian Army. Well, in the current Ukraine War, we saw a picture of a Russian soldier carrying a Mosin with the PU scope. You can upgrade your timeline.
Fixed 4 power scope? Reminds me of an unforgotten battle optic. I guess not much has changed.
En junio de 1942, Pavlichenko ya tenía 309 muertes confirmadas de soldados y oficiales enemigos, incluidos treinta y seis francotiradores. (Es lo que le dijo a EleanorRoosevelt frente al periodismo en EEUU)...
Thanks for another great video!
...that second group might have been the scope moving in the mount...the mount moving on the rifle...or something moving in the scope...those three shots descending in a straight line makes me think it is possible...I've had a scope move lengthwise and rotate at the same time...and it printed an almost perfect "U" shaped group...
Man that scope reticle and bolt brings me back, fucking hated the S&B on my service sniper rifle.
Lyudmila Pavlichenko's score is 309 confirmed kills (including 36 snipers), not 187. and she used SVT with a scope, not Mosin.
187 confirmed kills in battle of Odessa, thats why Ian got numbers confused. Also its not certain if she used SVT for other than propaganda purposes in pictures.
Numbers dont matter, it was a propaganda to encourage females to join the military forces due to the fact that females not getting muscle tense as much as male counterpart during aiming and shooting. Doesnt mean that women are better at sniping, but if you take 2 fresh soldiers, 1 male and 1 female, female will have a much better grouping compare to male due to muscle relaxation while pulling the trigger.
qbik911 hey,stop saying the things you don't know!Do you know why she had been decorated with svt40 in her first battle??Now I tell you what she did-she destroyed the fucking German tank with the fucking sniper rifle,and you know how it could be done??The only almost impossible chance was to hit first armour piercing round in the 3 centimetres wide driver's observation glass to make it damaged after that she had to hit a second armour piercing round in exactly the same hole to pierce the glass but the driver was still intact but already vulnerable so she had to hit this hole again but with an armour piercing incendiary round to kill the driver and set off the shells which were right behind him and that is exactly what she did!So now imagine the situation:shoot 3 times in the same hole in the middle of severe battle where the Soviets were outnumbered and outgunned like kittens swimming in the pool full of hungry piranhas and also the distance between her and her target was 800 metres,and the tank obviously didn't stand still-how would you imagine that kind of achievement??So in addition I can tell you that she had 309 only Confirmed kills and the real quantity is much more than that.So don't say what you don't know again.
dragan Ljubenov I simply know that it is true.Seems like even tank can be beaten in that way.Once I had such a lot of my comrades who doubted that it is possible as well as me too-so I made a simple test.Found the complete exact specifications of that damn window,made the exact and accurate copy with help of my relatives who are BTW involved in Russian military optical industry and took exactly the same God damn rounds which were b-30 armour piercing (ГРАУ) index GRAU 57-B-222 and also some API rounds bz-32(ГРАУ)index GRAU
7-BZ-3 and shot it with my own sniper Mosin from exactly 800 metres which was issued.And everything went as it was described-first AP round shattered the glass,after that the second one almost made through it and when I loaded my Mosin with the next,API round and put an excavated 45 mm ordnance(which I actually know that it uses to be one of the most unsafe cannon rounds ever,so that time pulling that crap to the target was really sweaty) damn job which I almost never did ever after as well as before because first of the fact that excavated cannon ordnance is impossible to sell to anybody'because noone has Damn cannon to fire it and also it is prohibited to carry anywhere and for violation of this you are minimally 8 years and up to life-sentenced for this but everything can be done by me in sake of science🤓)..And that is how I totally proved that history....
To be least plausible.Because these 3 bullets did their job..
People really still buy into that old commie propoganda?
Brings a lot of Call of Duty Finest Hour memories.
That first group was awsome for a Mosin!
I bought my first gun last week and it was one of these; I haven't shot it yet but it's a cool gun.
I see there are a few after market scope mounts available for the Mosin. Why, apart from access to the breach/magazine, has nobody produced a mount that fits into or replaces the sniper mount that accepts more modern optics? I know modifying Mosins can be a questionable pursuit in economic terms, but this could be an adequate 200 to 300 yard/metre rifle.
interesting enough under the rear iron sight mount there is a standard dove tail
I have the same izhevsk pattern 1941 model. Without the scope tho. With also the sa-markings.
To this day I still think the Mosin is the sexiest sniper rifle. Absolutely beautiful weapon.
What about the Arisaka Type 99? That packs an even bigger punch.
VASILI ZAITSEV!!!
talons claw that was the first person i thought of XD
I am a stone.
Simo Hayha aka: White Death
Do you know a hero?
Anyone else notice that standard military surplus light ball ammo has increased 20 percent to 30 percent in price and decreased substantially in availability across all retailers between mid-July and the first week of August? (e.g. Lucky Gunner went from $100 to $110 for 440 to $130 to $135 in that time period. About .22 per round to .30 cents per round)
Was summer 2015 the beginning of the end of "cheap" surplus ammo?
Is it worth paying $135 for 440 rounds corrosive surplus when $150 will get you 400 rounds Wolf non-corrosive?
+Forgotten Weapons that weapon mosin nagant kind remind me of the video game call the metal gear soild 3 snake eater when snake fight again one the legendary cobra call the end...he's good as sniping and the bullet round are different because sometime it might be a tranquiler round mostly after it has to be put a new tranquiler round like when you put enemy to sleep too he also good as camouflaging too or maybe sometime you lose your stamina it might aim the body part when you might hit too although you have to remove that tranquiler round otherwise you need to find a food to eat though?
You didn't mention the annoying safety mechanism!
I have what appears on all accounts to be an original PU sniper (minus the trigger/magazine group, which was replaced at some point) and we were highly impressed with how well it shoots. My brother shot a 0.48 inch group at a hundred yards our first time out and sub-1" consistently. And we're not the best shooters around, either!
Like you, I have a lot of difficulty getting a good cheek weld. I can shoot a tight horizontal group but tend to string them vertically. I have purchased a comb raiser and hopefully I will be able to realize the full potential of this rifle now.
Could you tell us a bit about how these rifles were made/selected? I'd always heard that the snipers were picked from regular 91/30 production lines when they performed highly accurately during tests at the factory.
I am curious if this is how most nations selected their sniper rifles. My family has a P14/M1917 which is stamped as 2 MOA accurate from the factory, but which easily shoots sub-MOA. (granted, it is sporterized and shooting handloaded ammunition)
The mosin was my first rifle or firearm at all. I was 17 years old and I phonied up a birth certificate to say I was 18 so I could buy it. I really like these guns
Great video
At 05:00 you mentioned the Russians did not make PU snipers until 1944. You failed to mention they took previous year models (mine is a 1936) and converted them to PU models. Correct me if I am wrong.
They did not.
Wasnt the reason the scope is positioned so high so that you have back up sights for closer engagements?
No, although that is a side benefit. The scope is that high to clear the bolt. Even though it is bent, it still requires a decent bit of clearance.
I have one of those aftermarket ones as well. It's a decent rifle, but same problem, windage is waaay off.
The SVT40 wasn't only planned to be the new sniping rifle, they had hopes to make it their standard issue rifle so as to replace the M91/30. In 1941, they produced over 1,000,000 with plans to pump out 2,000,000 per years by 1942. Unfortunately the German invasion in Summer 1941 (Operation Barbarossa) caused a huge demand for rifle, and the M91/30 was far easier to produce than the SVT40 so they eventually lessened production then dropped the design entirely to produce more bolt actions. If the M91/30 was easier to produce than the SVT40 which was to pump out 2 million a year by 1942, it makes me wonder how many M91/30s they could pump out a year.
To give an idea as to the demand, it's estimated that the first 6 months of Operation Barbarossa (June-December 1941), less than 200 days, seen around 6,000,000 Russian casualties, 3,000,000 POWs, and over 20,000 Russian tanks taken out. I guess if they needed rifles so as to equip that estimated nearly 10,000,000 men replaced, they couldn't afford to sit around for 5 years to give them all SVT40s. Still, fascinating to know that the Russians very nearly beat the Americans in having the first standard issue semi auto rifle. If it weren't for Operation Barbarossa, the Russians would have had about 6,000,000 SVT40s produced by the time D-Day came around. Hell, the Americans only had about half a million M1 Rifles by December 1941, yet as mentioned, the Russians already had a little over twice that.
To give that better perspective, the Germans produced only about 500,000 G41s/G43s by war's end, and about as many STG44s. MP40s... wasn't that only 1 or 2 million? In contrast, Russia produced around 5-6 million PPSh-41s if memory serves. Sometimes outfitting entire squads or even platoons with them, probably primarily in Stalingrad in those tight, confined spaces of the destroyed city.
I've got a 1942 M91/30 with 3.5x PU scope, my scope is replica as well, but it's awesome how it has that hammer and sickle on there. :P The scope mount is even electropenciled for the receiver, however I figure that was more than likely done by the fellow who made this bare bones rifle into a scoped one. As for accuracy, well I'm far from a professional marksman, no formal or even informal training, essentially self-taught. I managed to ring 8" gongs at 200m with 1953 Polish laquor coated surplus, 18" gongs at 300m, I imagine I could manage a man-sized silhouette at 400m but I'll definitely need to rest the rifle, simply using my elbows to help stabilize it wouldn't give me very consistent hits I don't think. Of course you'd expect more from a military sniper rifle, however my rifle was never a military sniper rifle, and I'm not a military sniper, so I'm happy with these results ;)
I have to say though, the trigger on mine is surprisingly nice. Very smooth, whoever attached the mount also did a pretty rough job at cutting the stock away for the mount, however they must have worked on the trigger because I find it to be quite crisp. It's no K31 trigger, but it's still quite nice. That 2nd group at 100m looks to be roughly 4", yeah I think that's about what I can manage at my current skill level. Given time and practice I'm sure I can shrink that down.
The scope was set so high to allow for easy irons use I think, allows for a good field of view so that the irons could be used almost as effectively as on a rifle with no scope on it. The most successful sniper in history; Simo Hayha, with over 500 confirmed killed if memory serves, preferred irons to optic. Partly because then his head stayed lower, so as to keep from being seen. Actually turned out he got shot in the face, but miraculously survived, and went on to live over 90 years I believe. To put it simply, if you have a good set of eyes and can see the target, you should be able to hit it with either irons or optic. If you can only hit it with the optic in spite of being able to see your target, it means you need more practice with irons.
As for the cheek rest, I once handled a buddy's CZ858, the semi auto version of the vZ.58. He had an optic and a cheek pad thing so you could more comfortably use said optic with a good cheek weld. When I tried to see the irons under it though, the pad got in the way and I had to move my head at a very uncomfortable angle to use the irons. I think this is why they never issued cheek pieces; keep the irons available if they needed to be used. I once replaced my 1944 M44's rear sight with a rail and attached a red dot. First day at the range, the rail broke and completely lost zero, making my M44 essentially into a bolt action musket; guesstimate where to aim and hope to hit the target. Since then, if I had an optic on my rifle, I wanted irons available as well. Kinda like on the game Rising Storm, I was using the M1903 sniper (M1903A2 was it?), and it doesn't have any irons at all available. When I spawned, I found the scope simply wasn't working, it wasn't showing anything, and since there were no irons it was basically useless.
I wouldn't have faired much better if that happened to a scoped Kar98k or the M91/30 with PE scope. Those merely have a small oval hold drilled through the mount, giving you barely any field of view. If the target is standing still, you might be able to use it. If it's moving, heh, you haven't got a prayer. Essentially you're restricted to what you can see within the front sight hood; yeah the hole is THAT small! Speaking of which, it looks like the front sight hood of that M91/30 in the vid has been removed... looks very strange without it. Anyways, great vid! :)
I've read somewhere that Mosin sniper rifles particularly were made with slight choke along the whole lenght of the barrel (something like 3% of the diameter in total) which was not present in normal "not-sniper" rifle. Do you know something about it, is that true or it was just not the case of this video?
+SheFF That story is simply not true.
+Forgotten Weapons If it was that would be incredibly dangerous, right?
I have a Mosin Nagant M91. But I was under the impression that if it was built after 1930 it would be Mosin Nagant M91/30. The year on my rifle is 1942
i just subscribed to you because of this very informative video. i will be buying a pu mount for my 38 izzy. yea i know it not time specific or what ever those people call it. but it's my gun, not theirs... i will be putting a picatiny or weaver rail on the pu mount. then i can put a better scope on it, 30mm bore optic scope. because i can. i will also make an leather cheek rest on the butt-stock. adding adjust-ability to it. with a button on with buckles riser, making able to pack more rise into the padding of the cheek rest. when shooting iron sights, just unbutton the riser and flip it out of the way. and it can hold a few extra rounds on it too.
oh yea, i've already done the majority of the trigger job and epoxied bedded the action.
I suspect your scope was "walking" after you changed the elevation & took a while to settle in. Try another group and see if that vertical stringing goes away.
I need to add one of these to my mosin collection.
Here in 2020, I just love mosins great video. Did you see any at the RIA?
8:51 - “...but it was fun to do.” Still is.
Ahhh old forgotten weapons
7:03 Sorry but CORRECTION:
70 cm, NOT meter!
not sure if i am completely correct about this but pretty sure russian snipers would go over their guns to be sure they were free floated as well and in some cases bedding the action as well this could be hear say but um sure snipers looked to be as accurate as possible and knew their way around the mosin quite well
droppin plates Shimming the tang and right behind the recoil lug of the receiver, and either free floating it, or corking it to make a known pressure point. but floating was better for the pencil barrels of the Mosin, and the ammo they used.
You are not correct. Soviet snipers did not go over their rifles. I own an original M91/30 PU. The only thing that was done to the PU was that the most accurate rifles were converted into PU's. The snipers who were issued the rifles weren't even permitted to remove the scope and mount from the rifle. They were set up by an armorer.
This is how my mosin nagant works.....nice easy flawless. I just clean it after every shooting and oil it properly. I also oil bullets I fire at the range. Mine is 1942 made. Not sniper but I'd say more than I can shoot accurate. The aniper rounds were different from what we have today available....
Yeah with surplus ammo your not really getting a group beyond a few hundred yards. It goes everywhere sometimes it becomes more suppressive. However I love the rifle
Ian could we see a sniper match lee enfield no4t, springfield; nagant ect to see which is the better rifle.
Am I the only one who knows that the Mosin Nagant in the video is not a model 91/30. It's actually model 91/31 where the 31 means that in 1931 the russians started producing the Mosin Nagants with curved bolts so they could use PU scopes and other optics on their rifles or otherwise the bolts would not have opened.
Yes, I think you are. I've never heard the 91/31 designation used for a sniper.
Now u know that it's a Mosin 91/31
Joona Jalopaasi Can you provide any reference for that designation? Where did you see it used?
Forgotten Weapons I haven't seen a 91/31 Mosin Nagant and I have only seen a Finnish M/27 Mosin Nagant in real life. But I have watched a video of lego Mosin Nagant where the video maker tells that the Mosin he constructed is not a 91/30 then he says that it's a model 91/31 Mosin Nagant that can use a scope on it because it has a curved bolt. BTW I'm finnish so my english sometimes might be unclear. Tell me if my message was clear enough.
Joona Jalopaasi Sounds legit. :D
another beauty!
2:35 Ian's look like: Oh no, some dude crossed his leg while sitting down! Poor bastard! Anyway...
I've got a 1923 Mosin-Nagant M91/30 that was made in Georgia. Mine looks like a Dragoon version.
As always, your videos are of fantastic quality. Please can you do a video on Indian weapons, especially the INSAS rifle & LMG. THANKS
ah the classic intro
Are you shooting left eye/ left-handed in prone and then right eye/ right-handed standing?