My Picture with the Mossin I bought my Son

[TX Hunter]

Here is a picture my wife just took of me, holding the beautifull Mossin Rifle I bought yesterday for my Son.
We have not shot it yet, but it is in excelent condition.
It has the Hex Reciever and is dated 1933

[jsmaye]

If you go here - http://7.62x54r.net/MosinID/MosinMarks01.htm - you can tell at which arsenal it was built.

Where in East Texas are you?

[DiscoRacing]

just got one a those awhile back myself.... shoots really good

[SigP6Carry]

welcome to the very exclusive club of Mosin owners. We're an elite and secretive group that numbers in the bazillions. You are more than welcome to pick our brains for information and such. The 1933 Hex receivers are very interesting weapons, as they may in fact be ex-Dragoon (or in very rare occasions: ex-Cossack) 91/30s.

How's the bore look? Headspace checks out? All matching? Have you guys gotten a chance to shoot it yet? There's a lot of little quarks about these guns that you'll pick up on, ways to improve them and ways to keep them working. Even if you don't follow a lick of advice, that gun'll last almost forever.

A bit of initial advice, though, when you guys shoot it, you'll get much tighter groupings using stuff like Wolf, Brown Bear, Sellier & Bellot and Winchester Metric than with surplus ammo, but you'll pay about 2-3 times a round for that privilege. The surplus ammo is corrosive (I'm not sure about the exact composition, but something in the primer leaves salt in the barrel), which is why so many Mosins out there are pitted and nasty barrels. If you do a short search on the forum, you'll find quite a few threads about Mosins and what they can do.

Congrats!

[TX Hunter]

JSmae, Im in Pineland Texas, thats Sabine County, almost Lousiana
Thomme than you for the welcome to your exclusive club. Im very proud to make your aquaintence
The bore is great, lots of strong rifiling, we need to order some more ammo, this box of Norma, is too precious to shoot at targets with.
Im more of a Mauser guy, but I do love the feel of this Mossin, my Son however wants to turn it into an Enemy at the Gates Sniper rifle.

[tater134]

Nice find! Your rifle is MO marked which is the marking for the Soviet Ministry of Defense.More info on the MO mark here: http://7.62x54r.net/MosinID/MosinMO.htm

[SigP6Carry]

Well, you've actually got a bit of a special rifle there. It's nothing super-exceptional, but it's MO marked, which, IIRC, indicates that it's been dated twice. If your son wants to pop a PU on a Mosin, it won't be accurate to put it on this one. If anything, you'll want to put a PE scope and mount on this one. Generally, the PU scopes (as seen in the movie, I believe Vasili actually used a PEM in real life on a round receiver) would be seen, more often than not, on the Izzy 1943 and onwards. Is there a second date anywhere on your receiver or barrel? Some of the MO marked Mosins carry a second date (usually a two numeral code on the barrel, near the original date), indicating when they were integrated into the armory of the "Ministry of Defense." You should also be able to find a date on the rear tang near the safety/cocking knob, as well, to further match the receiver and barrel. Judging from the markings, though, this is just a run of the mill Soviet Tula Hex Receiver 91/30, still a great gun, but not as spectacular as I made the possibilities.

But, yeah, for a truly accurate representation of Vasili's rifle, you need a more "run of the mill" Mosin than this one, like the $70 bargain bin rifles you see everywhere. Yours is a bit more special.

Edit: tater beat me while I was typing! BAH!

But, yeah, congrats on a great find.

Edit, again, upon further examination, these are loafers. I kid, Simpsons reference. But, yeah, looks like a 51 on your barrel, which should indicate that the Russians moved this rifle to the Ministry of Defense in 1951.

[TX Hunter]

Thank you Mr Thomme, I believe that in this case it would be a shame to desicrate this one with modifications. So we will leave it as it is, and It may be time for me to seek out a regular round reciever model, for myself.
I can alwayse justify it with my wife, as if we both have one we wont have to wrestle over who gets to shoot.

PS, on the second numbers there is a 48 with a slash above a 51

[SigP6Carry]

A triple date? I'm not sure, but I believe that there's a bit more revere and want for a triple dated MO Mosin. And, yeah, for $80 for a round receiver, they're well worth the price of admission. If you can find some in a store, you can check out the barrels before paying and make sure it looks nice. I got lucky with mine, when I bought it, I bought it solely for the "Hey, a Mosin," factor and figured for the cost, I couldn't go wrong. The hex receiver the store that I had the gun shipped to was a 1934 with a black and nasty barrel, so I took the chance of ordering one. I assume the TX in your name means Texas, right? If that's the case, my knowledge of this wonderful store in Pekin, Il wouldn't go too far.

[TX Hunter]

MR Thomme

Yes sir I am in Texas, I sure wish we had a store like yours near here,
I bought this rifle from a Gentleman that had a private collection, for a grand total of $95 it has a really nice bore. Good clean rifiling.
I also have a Yugo Mauser, with a bent bolt handle, but I had to order it, it was shipped to my Taxidermist, who also has a FFL.
Im glad I have been fortunate eneough to give him some business over the years, as he didnt charge me anything for the transaction.
I have alwayse been involved with firearms, but the Surplus Rifles to me are so much more interesting than the new models.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge of this rifle with me, I was wondering about it. I also have a Video of my Son and I firing it, I will post later.
Rick

[SigP6Carry]

My pleasure. I've taken it upon myself to learn and love the Mosins. Which really makes people around me confused. My friends all buy and want M4s and Mini-14s and AKs, while I drool over Mosins and Mausers. Don't get me wrong, I love the aforementioned platforms, but there's so much more to be said about a 60 year old piece of lumber with a barrel shoved in it that survived WWII and beyond. Even if it's a Mosin that needs some TLC to be made into a decent shooter and kicks like a mule on steroids. When you start to come upon the Russian pieces that predate the Bolshevik Revolution, you really start to wonder about who was against the wall. You wonder where that 90 year old revolver and 80 year old rifle have been and who held it and what it was used for. Did it change hands in the revolution? Was it put away and forgotten? Did it see the battle of Stalingrad? The Winter War? Was it some peasant's only protection that he squirrelled away for years, only to have it torn from his grasp when the KGB came for him and then found its way into the arsenals and eventually over here? You don't get that with a brand new M4 or Mini-14.

Plus there's nothing like putting a little elbow grease into a gun and making it truly yours, you know?

Edit: I just noticed those two little plugs in the left side of your stock... no clue what those are. Odd... you might want to spend some time on 762x54.net to see if there's anything behind those wood plugs if you got the time.

[TX Hunter]

Thanks Mr Thomme

I will check them out, Im sorry about the bluriness of the pictures they were taken with a Cell Phone.
I wonder what all this rifle went through, looking at it though, I feel that at some point at time it was cherrished by someone, as you can tell that it was well cared for, Its an interesting part of history, I gave it to my Oldest Son, and hope that some day, he will pass it on to his children.
It will become a cherrished part of my family history, because once we buy a firearm we never sell them. I am so proud that we live in a Country in which we are able to enjoy these freedoms, that many take for granted.
Rick

[TX Hunter]

Here is My Son, He loves his new Rifle, and is excited about our new hobby together.

[Chris_B]

Good for you and your son, Hunter! I wish I'd started with this hobby sooner with my Pop

A critique though: finger off the bang switch

[Fullthrottle]

Besides "finger off the trigger" untill ready to shoot,
Tell him his hat is on crooked(fix that)!
Just joking, I know you can't fix the new "cool" styles!

Glad to see a father showing his son the pleasure of fierarms! Better yet, C&R type of firearms! Much history there!

[voodoo54]

Nice Mosin! I live in Beauregard Parish, so were pretty close. I have a Izzy '43 Mosin and love to shoot it. It's a fun rifle to shoot and the ammo is still cheap and plentiful.

[TX Hunter]

Thanks Guys,
Im working on teaching him to keep his finger off the Boom Boom Switch, guess I missed it there thanks for catching that.

Here is a Short Cell Phone Video Clip of us test firing. Enjoy