| Mosin-Nagant | |
|---|---|
Mosin-Nagant |
|
| Type | Bolt-action rifle |
| Place of origin | Russian Empire Soviet Union |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1891–1998 |
| Used by | See Users |
| Wars | Boxer Rebellion Russo-Japanese War World War I Finnish Civil War Russian Revolution (1917) Russian Civil War Turkish War of Independence Chinese Civil War Spanish Civil War Second Sino-Japanese War Winter War Continuation War World War II Great Patriotic War First Indochina War Korean War Cuban Revolution Vietnam War Laotian Civil War Cambodian Civil War Cambodian–Vietnamese War Thai–Laotian Border War Afghan civil war Soviet War in Afghanistan Yugoslav Wars First Chechen War Second Chechen War War in Afghanistan (2001–present) Iraq War others |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Captain Sergei Mosin, Léon Nagant.[1] |
| Designed | 1891 |
| Manufacturer | Tula, Izhevsk, Sestroryetsk, Manufacture Nationale d'Armes de Châtellerault, Remington, New England Westinghouse, many others |
| Produced | 1891–1965 |
| Number built | approx 37,000,000 (Russia/Soviet Union) |
| Variants | see Variants |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 4 kg (8.8 lb) (M91/30) 3.4 kg (7.5 lb) (M38) 4.1 kg (9.0 lb) (M44) |
| Length | 1,232 mm (48.5 in) (M91/30) 1,013 mm (39.9 in) (carbines) |
| Barrel length | 730 mm (29 in) (M91/30) 514 mm (20.2 in) (carbines) |
|
|
|
| Cartridge | 7.62x54mmR 7.62x53mmR (Finnish variants only) 7.92x57mm Mauser (Polish variants) |
| Action | bolt-action |
| Muzzle velocity | Light ball, ~ 865 m/s (2,838 ft/s) rifle ~ 800 m/s (2,625 ft/s) carbine. |
| Effective range | 500 m (550 yards), 800+ m (with optics) |
| Feed system | 5-round non-detachable magazine, loaded individually or with five-round stripper clips. |
| Sights | Rear: ladder, graduated from 100 m to 2,000 m (M91/30) and from 100 m to 1,500 m (M38 and M44); Front: hooded fixed post (drift adjustable) |
The Mosin-Nagant (Russian: Винтовка Мосина, ISO 9: Vintovka Mosina) is a bolt-action, internal magazine-fed, military rifle invented under the government commission by Russian and Belgian inventors, and used by the armed forces of the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union and various other nations.
Contents |
During the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78, Russian troops armed with mostly Berdan single-shot rifles engaged Turks with Winchester repeating rifles resulting in heavy casualties. This emphasized to commanders a need to modernize the Imperial army. The Russian Main Artillery Administration undertook the task of producing a magazine-fed, multi-round weapon in 1882. After failing to adequately modify the Berdan system to meet the requirements, a "Special Commission for the testing of Magazine fed Rifles" was formed to test new designs.
Sergei Ivanovich Mosin, a captain in the Imperial army, submitted his "3-line" calibre (.30 cal, 7.62 mm) rifle in 1889 alongside a 3.5-line design by Léon Nagant (a Belgian) and a 3-line design by captain Zinoviev. When trials concluded in 1891, the units which tested the rifles were split in their decision. The main disadvantages of Nagant's rifle were the following: more complicated mechanism, long and tiresome procedure of disassembling (which required special instruments - it was necessary to unscrew two screws). Mosin's rifle was mainly criticised for lower quality of manufacture and of materials used which resulted in a bit larger number of stoppages. The Commission voted 14 to 10 to approve Nagant's rifle. However, the head of the commission general Chagin insisted on subsequent trials held under the Commission's supervision during which Mosin's rifle showed its advantages, leading to its selection over the Nagant.
The 3-line rifle, Model 1891, its original official designation, was adopted by the Russian Military in 1891. There have been several variations from the original rifle, the most common being the M1891/30, which was designed in 1930. Some details were borrowed from Nagant's design. One such detail is the attachment of the magazine spring to the magazine base plate. In Mosin's original design the spring was not attached to the base plate and, according to the Commission, could be lost during cleaning). Another detail is the form of the clip that could hold five cartridges to be loaded simultaneously into the magazine.
The other is the form of the "interrupter", a detail in the feeding mechanism preventing stoppages due to feeding two cartridges at the same time. The initial rifle proposed by Nagant lacked an interrupter, leading to numerous failures to feed. This detail, as well as the new configuration of the feed mechanism, was introduced in the rifle, borrowing from Mosin's rifle. Although the form of the interrupter was slightly changed, this alteration was subsequently borrowed back by the Commission for the Model 1891 Mosin Nagant. During the modernization of 1930 the form of the interrupter was further changed as the part had turned out to be one of the least reliable parts of the action. Only the clip loading cartridges and the attachment of the magazine spring to the magazine base plate in subsequent models were designed by Nagant. Considering the rifle could be easily loaded without using a clip, one cartridge after another, the magazine spring attached to the magazine base plate is the only contribution of Nagant to all rifles after 1930.
Despite the failure of Nagant's rifle in the patent trial he claimed he was entitled to the sum the winner was to receive. It also appeared that Nagant was the first to apply for the international patent protection over the "interrupter", although he borrowed it from Mosin's design initially. The reason why Mosin could not apply for a patent was that he was an officer of the Russian army and the design of the rifle was owned by the Government and had the status of a military secret. A scandal was about to burst out with Nagant threatening he would not participate in trials held in Russia ever again and some involved officials proposing to expel Nagant from any further trials as he borrowed the design of the "interrupter" after it was covered by the "secrecy" status given in Russia of that time to military inventions and therefore violated Russian law. Taking into consideration that Nagant was one of the few producers not engaged by competitive governments and generally eager to cooperate and share experience and technologies, the Commission paid him a sum of 200,000 Russian roubles equal to the premium that Mosin received as the winner. The rifle did not receive the name of its real inventor Mosin in order not to provoke further debates with Nagant. This turned out to be a wise decision as in 1895 Nagant's revolver was adopted by the Russian army as the main side weapon. However for the same reason and because of Nagant's attempts to use the situation for publicity the "Mosin-Nagant" cliche appeared in the western literature (the rifle was never called this in Russia). The cliche is deficient from the legal point of view (taking into consideration the legal provisions of Russian law at that time, i.e. the law of the country to adopt the rifle) and from technical point of view as none of the borrowings from Nagant's design even if removed would prevent the rifle from firing. Moreover from the technical point of view the rifle that can be called "Mosin-Nagant" (or "Nagant-Mosin") is the design proposed by Mosin, as further amended by Mosin with some details being borrowed from Nagant's design.
Production of the Model 1891 began in 1892 at the ordnance factories of Tula Arsenal, Izhevsk Arsenal, and Sestroryetsk Arsenal. An order for 500,000 rifles was placed with the French arms factory, Manufacture Nationale d'Armes de Châtellerault.[2]
By the time of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904, approximately 3.8 million rifles had been delivered to the Russian army, though not many were used during the conflict. Initial reactions by units equipped with the rifle were mixed, but any adverse reports were likely due to poor maintenance of the Mosins by infantrymen more familiar with the Berdan and who were not properly trained on the Mosin–Nagant.
Between the adoption of the final design in 1891 and the year 1910, several variants and modifications to the existing rifles were made.
With the start of World War I, production was restricted to the M1891 dragoon and infantry models for the sake of simplicity. Due to the desperate shortage of arms and the shortcomings of a still-developing domestic industry, the Russian government ordered 1.5 million M1891 infantry rifles from Remington Arms and another 1.8 million from New England Westinghouse in the United States.[2] Remington produced 750,000 rifles before production was halted by the 1917 October Revolution. Deliveries to Russia had amounted to 469,951 rifles when the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk ended hostilities between the Central Powers and Russia. The remaining 280,000 rifles were purchased by the United States Army. American and British expeditionary forces of the North Russia Campaign were armed with these rifles and sent to Murmansk and Arkhangelsk in the late summer of 1918 to prevent the large quantities of munitions delivered for Czarist forces from being captured by the Central Powers. Remaining rifles were used for the training of U.S. Army troops. Some were used to equip U.S. National Guard, SATC, and ROTC units.[3] Designated "U.S. Rifle, 7.62mm, Model of 1916", these are among the rarest of American service arms. In 1917, 50,000 rifles were sent via Vladivostok to the Czechoslovak Legions in Siberia to aid in their attempt to secure passage to France.
Many of the New England Westinghouse and Remington Mosin–Nagants were sold to private citizens in the United States before World War II through the office of the Director of Civilian Marksmanship, the predecessor to the federal government's current Civilian Marksmanship Program.
Large numbers of Mosin–Nagants were captured by German and Austro-Hungarian forces and saw service with the rear-echelon forces of both armies, and also with the German navy. Many of these weapons were sold to Finland in the 1920s.
During the Russian Civil War infantry and dragoon versions were still in production, though in dramatically reduced numbers. The rifle was widely used by Bolsheviks, Black Guards and their enemies, the White Russians (counter-revolutionary forces). In 1924, following the victory of the Red Army, a committee was established to modernize the rifle, which had by then been in service for over three decades. This effort led to the development of the Model 91/30 rifle, which was based on the design of the original dragoon version. The barrel length was shortened by 3½ inches. The sight measurements were converted from Arshins to meters; and the front sight blade was replaced by a hooded post front sight less susceptible to being knocked out of alignment. There were also minor modifications to the bolt, but not enough to prevent interchangeability with the earlier Model 1891 and the so-called "Cossack dragoon" rifles.
Finland was a Grand Duchy in the Russian Empire until 1917, so Finns had long used the Mosin–Nagant in service with the Tsarist military.[4] The rifle was used in the short civil war there and adopted as the service rifle of the new republic's army. Finland produced several variants of the Mosin–Nagant, all of them manufactured using the receivers of Russian-made or (later) Soviet-made rifles. Finland also utilized a number of captured M91 and M91/30 rifles with minimal modifications. As a result, the rifle was used on both sides of the Winter War and the Continuation War during World War II. Finnish Mosin–Nagants were produced by SAKO, Tikkakoski, and VKT, with some using barrels imported from Switzerland and Germany. In assembling M39 rifles, Finnish armorers re-used hexagonal receivers that dated back as far as 1894. Finnish rifles are characterized by Russian, French or American-made receivers stamped with a boxed SA, as well as many other parts produced in those countries and barrels produced in Finland, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium and Germany. The Finns also manufactured two-piece "finger splice" stocks for their Mosin–Nagant rifles.[5]
In addition, the rifle was distributed as aid to anti-Franco forces in the Spanish Civil War.[6]
When the Soviet Union was invaded by Nazi Germany in 1941 the Mosin–Nagant was the standard issue weapon of Soviet troops. As a result, millions of the rifles were produced and used in World War II by the largest mobilized army in history.
The Mosin–Nagant was adopted and modified as a sniper rifle Model 1891/31 in 1932 and was issued with 3.5-power fixed focus scopes to Soviet snipers. It served quite prominently in the brutal urban battles on the Eastern Front, such as the Battle of Stalingrad, which made heroes of snipers like Vasili Zaitsev and Ivan Sidorenko. The sniper rifles were highly respected for being very rugged, reliable, accurate, and easy to maintain. Finland also employed the Mosin–Nagant as a sniper rifle, with similar success. For example, Simo Häyhä is credited with killing 505 Soviet soldiers, many using his Finnish made M/28-30 Mosin–Nagant rifle.[7] It should be noted Häyhä did not use a scope on his Mosin. In interviews Häyhä gave before his death, he said that the scope and mount designed by the Soviets required the shooter to expose himself too much and raise his head too high, increasing the chances of being spotted by the enemy.
In 1935-1936, the 91/30 was again modified, this time to speed production. The hex receiver was changed to a round receiver.[8] When war with Germany broke out, the need to produce Mosin–Nagants in vast quantities led to a falling-off in finish of the rifles. The wartime Mosins are easily identified by the presence of tool marks and rough finishing that never would have passed the inspectors in peacetime. However, the basic functionality of the Mosins was unimpaired.
By the end of the war, approximately 17.4 million M91/30 rifles had been produced.
The gun is thought to be referenced in Hirsh Glick's "Zog Nit Keyn Mol", the well-known song of the World War II Jewish partisans, which includes the words "This song a people sang amid collapsing walls / With Nagants in the hand" (Yiddish: מיט נאַגאַנעס אין די הענט, mit naganes in di hent); though this refers to the Nagant revolver, not the Mosin rifle. In the USSR and Russia, the rifle always was called just "Mosin" not "Mosin-Nagant" (nickname Mosinka).
In the years after World War II, the Soviet Union ceased production of all Mosin–Nagants and withdrew them from service in favor of the SKS series carbines and eventually the AK series rifles. Despite its growing obsolescence, the Mosin–Nagant saw continued service throughout the Eastern bloc and the rest of the world for many decades to come. Mosin–Nagant rifles and carbines saw service on many fronts of the Cold War, from Korea and Vietnam to Afghanistan and along the Iron Curtain in Europe. They were kept not only as reserve stockpiles, but front-line infantry weapons as well.
Virtually every country that received military aid from the Soviet Union, China, and Eastern Europe during the Cold War used Mosin–Nagants at various times. Middle Eastern countries within the sphere of Soviet influence — Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestinian fighters — have received them in addition to other more modern arms. Mosin–Nagants have also seen action in the hands of the Mujahadeen in Afghanistan during the Soviet Union's occupation of the country during the 1970s and the 1980s. Their use in Afghanistan continued on well into the 1990s and the early 21st century by Northern Alliance forces.
Even after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Mosin–Nagants are still commonly found on modern battlefields around the world. They are being used by insurgent forces in the Iraq War and the current war in Afghanistan. Separatists have also used the rifles alongside more modern Russian firearms in the Second war in Chechnya.[9]
After the Estonian War of Independence, Estonia had around 120,000 M/1891s in stock, later the Kaitseliit, the Estonian national guard, received some Finnish M28/30 rifles, a few modernised variants were also made by the Estonian Armory;
Most Finnish Rifles were assembled by SAKO, Tikka or VKT (Valtion Kivääritehdas, States Rifle factory, after wars part of Valtion Metallitehtaat (Valmet), State Metalworks). The Finnish cartridge 7.62x53R is a slightly modified variation of the Russian 7.62x54R, and is considered interchangeable with 54R; however, there is a difference between Finnish military ammunition manufactured before and after 1939, cartridges from before 1939 use .308 in bullet while those manufactured later use .310 in bullet, change was made due to introduction of M39 "Ukko-Pekka" barreled to use .310 in Soviet ammunition. Handloaded cartridge for Finish rifles should however use a 0.308 inches (7.8 mm) bullet for use with other Finnish Mosin–Nagant variants instead of the 0.310 inches (7.9 mm) one which gives best results in M39, Soviet and other Mosin–Nagant rifles.
During the interwar period, the rifles which had been taken over by the US military were sold to private citizens in the United States by the Director of Civilian Marksmanship, the predecessor agency to the current Civilian Marksmanship Program. They were sold for the sum of $7.00 each. If unaltered to chamber the US standard .30-06 Springfield rimless cartridge, these rifles are prized by collectors because they do not have the import marks required by law to be stamped or engraved on military surplus firearms brought into the United States from other countries.
Mosin–Nagants have been exported from Finland since the 1960s as its military modernized and decommissioned the rifles. Most of these have ended up as inexpensive surplus for Western nations.
In Russia the Mosin–Nagant action has been used to produce a limited number of commercial rifles, the most famous are the Vostok brand target rifles exported in Europe in the 1960s and 1970s chambered in the standard 7.62x54mmR round and in 6.5x54mmR, a necked down version of the original cartridge designed for long range target shooting.
A number of the Model 1891s produced by New England Westinghouse and Remington were sold to private citizens in the United States by the U.S. government through the Director of Civilian Marksmanship program between the two World Wars. Rifles from this program are valuable collectibles. Many of these American-made Mosin–Nagants were rechambered by wholesalers to the ubiquitous American .30-06 Springfield cartridge; some were done crudely, and others were professionally converted. Regardless of the conversion, a qualified gunsmith should examine the rifle before firing, and owners should use caution before firing commercial ammunition.
With the fall of the Iron Curtain, a large quantity of Mosin–Nagants have found their way onto markets outside of Russia as collectibles and hunting rifles. Due to the large surplus created by the Soviet small arms industry during World War II and the tendency of the former Soviet Union to retain and store large quantities of old but well-preserved surplus (long after other nations militaries divested themselves of similar vintage materials), these rifles (mostly M1891/30 rifles and M1944 carbines) are inexpensive compared to similar surplus arms, and possibly the cheapest firearm of the day, often found at under $100 USD.
There is serious collector interest in the Mosin–Nagant family of rifles, and they are popular with target shooters and hunters, though a downfall of these rifles in their new hunting and target shooting roles is the lack of elevation-adjustable sights. The notched rear tangent iron sight is adjustable, and is calibrated in hundreds of meters. The front sight is a post adjustable for elevation in the field. Windage adjustment is done by the armory before issue. The battle setting places the round within +/-33 cm from the point of aim out to 350 m (380 yd). This "point-blank range" setting allows the shooter to fire the gun at any close target without adjusting the sights. The field adjustment procedure for AK-47, AKM and AK-74 family requires 4 rounds to be placed in a 15 cm group at a distance of 100 meters. Longer settings are intended for area suppression. These settings mirror the Mosin–Nagant and SKS-45 rifles which the AK-47 replaced. This eased transition and simplified training.
The "point-blank range" setting of the Mosin–Nagant is due to the necessity of quick instruction of conscripted soldiers. However, the lack of fine adjustment leaves some hunters with the desire to add a scope and, as of this writing, two companies make adjustable sights for the Russian version of this rifle, Mojo and Smith-Sights. Generally viewed as highly accurate, these rifles show a capability of two-inch groups or better at 100 yards/meters when used with good ammunition and are capable of taking most game on the North American Continent when correct ammunition is used.[22] If the barrel is free-floated or bedded and has a sound bore, and if the trigger is worked on to lighten it and improve let-off, accuracy of minute of angle is possible with scoped Model 91/30s.
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||