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View Poll Results: Mauser 98K or Mosin Nagant 91/30?
Mauser 100 81.30%
Mosin 23 18.70%
Voters: 123. You may not vote on this poll

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Old August 15, 2011, 10:15 PM   #1
Big Tom
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Mauser 98K vs Mosin Nagant 91/30

Ok so I am writing a paper on the Mauser 98K vs the Mosin Nagant 91/30. I am doing this more for kicks as a research project. I wanted to get a poll on which one of the two rifles you find to be better. If you can state why I would appreciate it. In this we are going to assume ammo is the same in price. I dont want people picking one over the other due to $ involved. Tell me which one you think is the best all around and why. I am dying to know what others have to say on the subject!
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Old August 15, 2011, 10:21 PM   #2
hja4941
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I own both and shoot both. I feel the Mauser is smoother in operation and has a better safety. However I think the Mosin holds steadier in off hand shooting. Both are good, but I give the edge to the Mauser.
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Old August 15, 2011, 10:29 PM   #3
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I've owned a couple 98 Mausers and many variations (Mauser Supreme action...Winchester 70... Ruger 77) and because it's the most copied action on the planet I voted for it. I never even heard of the Mosin Nagant until all the commotion in here on them.
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Old August 15, 2011, 10:47 PM   #4
sigshepardo
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Mauser

Ive had both rifles. Both were original, not frankenstein rifles. I vote for the mauser. Its smoother and more reliable. Though ballistically speaking, the mosin does have a better b.c. so in theory it would be better for long range. But overall I give it to the Mauser.
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Old August 15, 2011, 11:09 PM   #5
golfnutrlv
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They are both good guns.
They both have a proven record of reliability, and service life.

However, in terms of workmanship, and design, from an engineering point of view, the Mauser 98 is altogether better. The Mauser action is one of the simplest, most reliable designs ever.

The Mauser at one point spanned the globe in use, before and after the world war era. During the Boer War, the British were facing Mauser rifles in the hands of the the Boers. The British were stunned by the accuracy and usefulness of the Mauser. The Mauser rifle nearly ended the Lee Enfield rifle prior to World War I, as the British started to develop a Mauser pattern rifle. The design was not ready for the First World War, so the Enfield became part of British history, not a Mauser.

Another example is the Model 1903 Springfield. The rifle is a very good copy of the Mauser action. So good a copy, that the United States payed patent infringment/royalties to Germany prior to World War I.

Finally, the Winchester Model 70 action is based, albeit loosely, off the Mauser action.

Would I hesitate to use a Mosin, no...but I would choose a Mauser every time given the choice.
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Old August 15, 2011, 11:20 PM   #6
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Though ballistically speaking, the mosin does have a better b.c. so in theory it would be better for long range.
Bullets have a ballistic coefficient, not rifles ....... what bullet weights were used by the Wehrmacht and the Red Army?
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Old August 15, 2011, 11:34 PM   #7
Scorch
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Hands down, the Mauser. Mauser rifles were the rifle to field for the militaries of the world from 1871 well up to the early 1950s. The Mauser brothers had an excellent design acumen, and were able to refine the rifles and field an excellent weapon from the very start. Rather than trying to sell rifles and manufacture them all themselves, they would sell rifles made to specification, or complete tooled up factories complete with consulting engineers (thanks to the excellent business mind of Loewe).

Mosin-Nagant rifles are an excellent example of a peasant-proof rifle, sturdy, and rugged.
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Old August 15, 2011, 11:59 PM   #8
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I find the Mosin's sights better, and it disassembles and assembles easier.
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Old August 16, 2011, 12:45 AM   #9
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The Mauser is a high-precision, beautifully designed rifle, and my example has good sights. Kicks like a team of ******-off mules - or feels that way, with the metal butt-plate.

My m44 Mosin Nagant is one of the simplest firearms I've ever seen, and works every time with commie ammo from heaven-knows-when. It is more accurate than I ever expected. Still kicks, but not like the 8mm.

If I needed a full-power carbine, it would be hard to pick between them! Neither of mine are scoped, and ballistically they're really not that different. I think I would take the Mauser hunting just because of the better sights.

Still, there's nothing like the unique smell of surplus Russian ammo from the Cold War.
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Old August 16, 2011, 12:57 AM   #10
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I voted Mosin for no other reason that its just a heck of a lot of fun to shoot.
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Old August 16, 2011, 01:04 AM   #11
savage1r
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Most 7.62x54r ammo is steel core and has a few hundred fps over 8mm. With a Mosin, you better hope you're hiding behind a very thick rock.
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Old August 16, 2011, 01:15 AM   #12
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I killed a doe at over 200yrds. with a mosin nagant m-44 with open sights that some commie put on that rifle along time ago. Comrade did a fine job.
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Old August 16, 2011, 02:05 AM   #13
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I have 8 M/Ns and a couple of Mausers but the simplicity of the M/N wins hands down for me. Im not a soldier so I want a dead nuts reliable rifle with a good round.
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Old August 16, 2011, 06:08 AM   #14
twins
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For trench warfare, bayonet-style fighting, I'll take the MN91/30 over the Mauser.

For everything else, Mauser for me please.
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Old August 16, 2011, 06:27 AM   #15
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I have both and prefer the Mosin. But my Mosin is a Finn M39.
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Old August 16, 2011, 06:35 AM   #16
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The common mauser and mosin are both 3-4 MOA rifles. However if you look at particular mauser variations such as the Swedish M96 and the Czech M98/22 or at the mosin variations such as the Finnish M39 or the M91/59 you will find that these rifles are 1-2 MOA. I have dozens of both rifles and enjoy the accurate ones best as I target shoot and hunt with these rifles. What separates the rifles for me is the much more available and generally cheaper 7.62x54 ammo. Both rounds are pretty close in power and ballistics and both were designed well over one hundred years ago. Except for the variations I mentioned above, prices for the mosin are generally much lower than the mausers.
Because of the Finnish mosins, I would have to vote for the mosin.
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Old August 16, 2011, 09:14 AM   #17
aarondhgraham
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In the movie,,,

The guy with the Mosin beat the guy with the Mauser.

But that's Holly-Weird.

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Old August 16, 2011, 09:31 AM   #18
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When the Russians adopted the Mosin Nagant in 1888 the competition was not that much better. However in 1892 Paul Mauser released the M1892 action which was so advanced that every other military rifle actions became obsolescent. In its various forms, including the M1894/M1895/M1896, the 1892 stuck around until WW2. The Swedes were still making m1896’s during WW2.

The M98 action is the best overall bolt action every built. Given that all actions are compromises between strength, safety, function, cost, the M98 is still the best. Once the M98 went into production I will say that all other bolt actions were obsolete.

The Russian Nagant action is crude, clunky, five round magazine box sticking well below the stock, awful trigger pull, and it is uses a rimmed cartridge. The safety is positive but slow. There are better safeties. To the mechanically challenged, the bolt is easy to take apart but hard to put together. I was surprised that twice a retired Army Major, a Vietnam combat veteran, brought me his Nagant bolt to reassemble. Seemed obvious to me, but not so obvious to him. Some people have to be taught by rote how to do some simple tasks. It is better if the task is simple to start with.

However once a Government commits to a project, changing things costs just that much more. So the Russians stayed with the Mosin Nagant, the British the Lee Enfield, and the French the Berthier.
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Old August 16, 2011, 10:06 AM   #19
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Tough choice. I have 2 Mauser's, and 3 Mosin Nagants. Accuracy is great for both, I get a 1 inch group at easy at 50yds with the Mauser's, and consistantly hit 6 inch plates at 300 yds with the Mosin's. One of my Mosin's is even a certified sniper.

The Mauser's action is a little smoother, has a bent bolt, safety is good, and it doesn't let you bolt if there isn't any rounds left. Mosin's safety is awful, has a straight bolt, and the trigger is a little heavy.

Don't get me wrong they are both great rifles, but I am going to go with the Mauser (Awful safety really hurt the Mosin.)

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Old August 16, 2011, 10:30 AM   #20
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I can't vote: I liked both of mine....
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Old August 16, 2011, 11:11 AM   #21
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I find the Mosin's sights to be much better than my mauser's I can hit at longer range and more rapidly than with a mauser. My hunting rifle a 98 mauser derivative and thats a great gun but in its stock wartime configuration in my eyes its the mosin all the way!!
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Old August 16, 2011, 11:52 AM   #22
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Mauser.

No contest as to which is the "better" action/rifle.

The pre/early war mausers were absolute works of gunmaker art. Actions that were practically hand-fitted, no machine marks visible, smooth, SMOOTH actions, deep lustrous bluing... just beautiful. And they were BATTLE rifles. Positive controlled feeding, extraction and firing. Solid action, not a split rear ring.

I'm not that familiar with the "K" version, but the overall design is just head and shoulders above the Mosin.

.... and I LIKE the Mosin. But, as stated before, it was more of a "peasant-proof" design. It functioned well, but had some design compromises.
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Old August 16, 2011, 02:38 PM   #23
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I can't vote, unless the scope of the question is narrowed a bit.

Best in terms of production cost and time?
Best in terms of battlefield performance?
Best in terms of reliability?

They are both good designs, but they both have their shortcomings and strengths.

The Mosin is a better rifle for arming massive armies of uneducated conscripts.

The Mauser has a better home in the hands of a precision shooter, or civilian.
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Old August 16, 2011, 04:31 PM   #24
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Didn't even hesitate to pick the K98.
Better handling, better round, better built, better safety= better rifle
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Old August 16, 2011, 04:46 PM   #25
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I can't vote, unless the scope of the question is narrowed a bit.
The best all around is the best all around. You will have to figure that out. Everything is a factor in a gun. That's why some choose the AR and others the AK.
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