Mosin-Nagant
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The Mosin-Nagant (Мосин-Наган) is a military rifle of Imperial Russia and later the Soviet Union, in service in various forms from 1891 until the 1960s, when it was finally replaced in its final function as a sniper rifle by the SVD rifle (Снайперская винтовка Драгунова - Snayperskaya Vintovka Dragunova - Dragunov's Sniper Rifle).
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.
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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.
Besides the Russian and Finnish variants of the Mosin-Nagant series rifles and carbines that are on the market today, there are Mosin-Nagant rifles and carbines that were made in countries that were under Soviet influence during the Cold War period. Countries like China, Hungary, Poland, and Romania made the Mosin-Nagant series rifles and carbines under licence and these rifles have also appeared alongside their Russian and Finnish counterparts on the ex-military rifle market in recent times.
Variations
- Mosin Nagant Rifle Model 1891 and Model 1891/1930 (Russian name: Трёхлинейная винтовка образца 1891 года (Three-line Rifle model year 1891), трехлинейка, винтовка Мосина)
- Mosin-Nagant Model 1938 Carbine
- Mosin-Nagant Model 1944 Carbine
- Mosin-Nagant Model 1891/1959 Carbine
Reference
Official Soviet Mosin-Nagant Rifle Manual, Paladin Press, (paperback, 2000), ISBN 158160081X
External links
Mosin-Nagant.net (http://www.mosinnagant.net/)
Russian-Mosin-Nagant.Com (http://www.russian-mosin-nagant.com)
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