Great movie!!! I just got through watching this Movie again few days ago and thought it might be neat to own a sniper rifle like the one the russian sniper was using. it is a Mosin Nagant 1891/30 from what I can tell. Little did i know that these rifles can be found very easily and for what i feel is a great price but not knowing much about them, was just wondering whether I should expect to buy a shooter or just a worn out collector's item. I would love to actually have an accurate gun which i could shoot well, I am not sure that would be the case. Has anyone here had any experiences with one that may be able to give me a heads up?

There are LOTS of arsenal-refinished Mosins on the market. They can be had as cheaply as $70 from AimSurplus and others. Generally speaking, they aren't as accurate as a modern rifle, or even a Garand or Springfield 1903 from the same era. That said, they were the service rifle for Russia and several other countries for a long long time - and they killed a lot of Germans (and others) with 'em. A good "shooter" will be a 2-minute rifle in the right hands.

If you're going to get serious about collecting them, it's worth it to get your FFL03 (Curio & Relic) so you can simply mail-order them to your door instead of paying transfer fees for each one you order. If you only want one or two, the gun shop or show or ordering and paying a couple transfer fees is well worth it.

There's LOTS of good info out there on the Mosins, good luck and have fun!

Not just any MN's were qualified to be snipers. The sniper rifle receivers were drilled and tapped.

Beware, though. Some resellers have altered run-of-the-mill 91/30's to resemble snipers. They also used original scope mounts and scopes.

My advice is to buy from a reputable dealer or from a milsurp gunboard's classified forum.

If it's just a shooter that you're looking for, local gun shows have lots of them. Some do mark them up too much, IMHO. A nice shooter shouldn't cost you more than around $125 or so without a C&R. Most are only 'battlefield' accurate so don't expect to do any bullseye shooting with them.

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Spend some time here:

Military Surplus Collectors Home Page

Collecting and Shooting the Military Surplus Rifle (2006) - Surplusrifle.com

I really appreciate all the info, I had actually planned on building it up to resemble a snipers version, is that not necessarily a good thing?? I would rather have one accurate enough to shoot regularly than a collectable. I actually found a link of exactly what i had in mind by looking around on one of the hyperlinks n4zov posted. So please tell me what you think.


http://www.surplusrifle.com/shooting...iper/index.asp

I didnt care for the movie much but the actual history is of merit to say the least.
There is a saying by the MN crowd referring to the rifle...
"Recoil is for resetting a shoulder dislocated by the previous shot"

you have to respect the Russians for at least that

The Mosin doesn't recoil that bad,just makes a hell of a racket and flash.

You have to watch the snipers,some of them are re-snipered with some junk pot metal east block **** mounts.

There are snipers that were "re-furbished" and the scopes taken off and the holes plugged,with some work you can unplug the holes and get a new made mount and scope rings of excellent quality,you can also cheat some and get one inch rings and stick a modern scope on it.

If you need some help PM me and I can point you to where to get new mounts and such.

Here's my '43 Izzy ex-sniper,I don't intend to resniper it,though,fine as it is.
The shellac came peeling off so I just took it all off and put a coat of linseed oil on it.

I suppose recoil is mostly a subjective thing ... say ... is that blood in the snow in that pic?
Lip or forehead? Krull

No that's from the guy I shot,the Mosin does make a mess

I've got 2 of the 9130 full size rifles that I pay'd under $100.00 for one has a laminate stock and the other a beech stock.I also have a m44 carbine with the folding bayonet and a m38 carbine without the bayonet these cost around $80.00 or so. I 've only shot the with the heavy 175 grain yellow tip ammo if you do your part these rifle's will shoot 1 1/2"- 2" group's with not to much trouble. If I remember correctly I got the carbine's and the beech stocked rifle from S.O.G. and the laminate rifle from Aim several year's ago with my C&R Lic. They are fun to shoot along with my Arisaka's.Enfield's ,Mauser's and my other American mil-surp's

Recoil is not a lot different than that from a straight-stocked 03 or 03A3. The Russian stock is straight and slams back and can lift and kiss your cheek if you hold it loosely when shooting from the bench. Off-hand it is nothing to worry about.

The M38 or 44 Carbines are another story-not a lot of fun to shoot from the bench, but still capable of amazing accuracy.

I recommend reloading the 7.62X54 as one can really make some match quality loads. Cast bullets work fine, too and are a lot softer shooting.

Bob

hard to find a better beater rifle. I have one that I take boar hunting. Don't have to worry about dents or scratches, as they might actually make it a better looking gun.

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Don't the sniper rifles have a turned down bolt? It is necessary to clear the scope when working the bolt.

yeah from what i have read they do have a turned down bolt, they are easy to find and are about 70$ for a higher end bolt. I hope to get mine in hand next week, then take it to a gunsmith to have it checked out before heading to the range.