Chinese Type 53 (Mosin Nagant) Carbine: Fun to shoot, cheap to feed (pic)...

I have owned and shot several Mosin Nagant rifles over the years, the full size versions. Bought several of them when they were being sold at Rose's Departmemnt Store for $39. They were fun to shoot, but a bit clumsy to carry. Very long and heavy, saw the carbine version, but didn't find one to my liking and price till recently.

A local gun store got a bunch of the Chinese Type 53 carbines in recently. These are the ones Russia supplied the tooling to China for them to manufacture the rifle, they in turn gave them to anyone with a red star on thier flag. Many G.I.'s faced them in Vietnam.

I bought one of these rifles the other day, they were priced at $125 apiece, the dealer gave me a package deal, $140 tax included for a rifle and 180 rounds of 7.62 X 54 ammo. A friend also gave me an assortment of ammo, probably 300 rounds of 147 grain and 180 grain stuff. Brass cased 147 grain ammo, steel cased 180 grain ammo with the yellow tips, and some steel core 147 grain ammo with the silver tip.

Took it to the range today and was very satisfied with the results. After checking the zero at 25 and 50 yards, I found it shot close to point of aim (I was afraid it would shoot high as some of the Mosin Nagant's do). Took it to 100 yards and shot 20 rounds into a group measuring approximately 3", 15 rounds were fired off from a sandbag rest, 5 rounds were fired standing (offhand). These 20 rounds were a mixture of the ammo I had available, 147 grain and 180 grain, all shot into the same POI. The rifle has a nice trigger, much better than some of the Russian Mosin Nagant's I've fired. The group was centered and about 3" high, very useable.

Pic of the results:



Recoil is not bad, as the rifle still weighs nine pounds in carbine form, but it does have a formidable muzzle blast. You definately want to wear good hearing protection while shooting it.

In today's "Post Apocalyptic" world of ammo shortages, there still seems to be lots of cheap 7.62 X 54R. I think you can find the 440 round Spam cans around .20 cents per round, $88-$90 per can.

7.62 X54 is also a very effective cartridge, ballistically similar to 30/06, with soft point bullets should be enough to take any game in North America. And, the Chinese Type 56 is so cheap to buy it is a rilfe you won't mind showing it hard use in a truck or canoe. If your canoe flips and you lose the rifle, you aren''t out a lot of money...

I am experimenting with the corrosive ammo cleanup, today I did the Windex spray down followed by a normal cleanup with Hoppes #9. Years ago I had a bunch of the "Poisonous" G.I. bore cleaner that was good for corrosive ammo, but most of that stuff is gone.

I like this rilfe, I think with a little practice I can get good enough with it to shoot our clubs annual "Military Rifle" competition. At least I'll be able to afford some ammo to practice with it!

The Type 53 is, of course, the Chinese variant of the Russian M44 carbine. Following the end of the Russian production in 1948, the Soviets provided tooling to a number of their satellites, including Hungary, Poland and Romania, as well as China. In about 2002 you could buy 5 M44s from Century for $250. The last batch I bought had 2 Hungarian, 2 Polish, and 1 Romanian; the Romanian being unissued and the rest ranging from VG to EX condition. I've disposed of most of my collection and am down to just one M44, a rare 1944 Tula arsenal version built on a hexagonal pre-WWII receiver. 99% of the Russian M44s were built in the Izhevsk arsenal, as were all but a few of the M38 carbines. My truck gun is a 1943 M38, retrofitted with an improved trigger and a scout-mount scope. The 7.62x54R round is one of the few ammo types that seem to still be in adequate supply.

I have one just like yours. The folding bayonet is the neat part, I think. Mine was "appropriated" on my senior trip to SE Asia. The previous owner was not using it anymore and I decided to give it a good home.

The really neat thing is that I carried it into the San Francisco airport in 1969. I just carried it like a 2X4 over my shoulder-no gun case or wrapping. Nobody said a thing. The TWA ticket lady asked me to take the bolt out and then she put it into a box w/ the rifle and away it went w/ the other checked baggage.

I was in a dress Army uniform but no one said a thing--not even many odd stares. I wonder what would happen if tried that today?

Mine has not been fired since 2/1/68 and I have no plans to fire it but I can attest to the accuracy of the rifle. Thanks for the reminder.

Lone Jack,

Thanks for your service! And, you have a neat trophy rifle....

Canoeguy

Ballistol is supposed to be good for corrosive ammo.

Not a bad price for an m44 version. I have a 91/30 and would love an m44 to add to it. My brother has one that my parents bought from a pawn shop. No newer s/n and what looks like original everything, not even refinished.

I use a method for corrosive ammo in bolt actions that I do for muzzle loaders. Remove the stock and put the muzzle in a bucket of soapy water. Dish washing detergent works. Then I wet a patch and run it in from the back of the action and use the rod and patch like a plunger to pump the soapy solution in and out until just soapy water comes out. Be sure to dry everything well and then coat all of the metal parts with RIG inside and out.

With muzzle loaders I put aquarium air tubing in the bucket and on the nipple and plunge from the muzzle.

Excellent reference site: 7.62x54r.net