I thought it would be interesting to view what was generally acknowledged as the prime sniper rifle of World War II. Certainly in numbers it was the most prolific, and the combination of rifle and scope was both accurate and strong enough to withstand combat action.
This pretty young woman was Roza Shanina, one of many Russian women who served their country against the Germans in WWII as snipers. Following the death of a brother, she volunteered to serve, and then bravely went AWOL to get in the thick of the fighting. She racked up 59 kills and actually captured 3 Germans single-handedly. The odds finally caught up with her, and she was brutally ripped open by a large artillery fragment. She laid disemboweled, unattended in agony for a day. When found after her screams were finally heard, she was trying to hold her intestines in. She told her discoverers that she wanted them to shoot her right there. She died in spite of valiant efforts to save her on January 28, 1945 after being taken to a field hospital. She had not reached her 21st birthday. In her effects was a (then prohibited) diary of her frontline life. It was preserved by a medical doctor in that hospital. It was only recently re-discovered. That diary has now been translated into English in the form of a book, Stalin's Sniper, which can be ordered from Amazon. I read it cover to cover, and it's riveting.
Note the rifle she is carrying, one of the large number of scoped Mosin-Nagants used then. Successful male and female snipers were idolized by the Russians during the war.
Here are two views of the rifle she and many other snipers in the Russian Army used. This is an original and correct Model 1891/30 Mosin-Nagant rifle, fitted with a 3.5X PU scope, which was the one most often used in the war from 1942 on. The .30 caliber (7.62mm) x 54mm rimmed cartridge used in this rifle was on a par with our .30-06 in power. The high mount of the scope permitted the use of both the scope and the iron sights. The effective range of this combination was around 400 yards. The barrel measured 28 and 3/4 inches, and the bore diameter was .311". You can click on either image for an enlarged view.
This is a closeup of the scope. It was quite rugged and securely mounted. It was considered quite superior to the Weaver scopes used on our M1903A4 sniper weapons. In fact, there are documented instances of some of our U.S. snipers adapting the PU scope to their rifles. This one was made by the Izhevsk arsenal in 1942.
Here is a view through the PU scope, showing the reticle. I took this picture looking through the scope while it was close up to some shrubbery, so it's out of focus, but you can get an idea of the type of reticle.
I recommend the movie "Enemy at the Gates" which documented the Russian snipers' lives during the war. It addressed a sniping dual between an actual noted Russian sniper and one from Germany, which was probably fictional, but some claim to be true. These rifles were featured in the film.
I thought you'd enjoy this bit of history. This gun was covered in my book "101 Classic Firearms" where many more details are provided.
John
This pretty young woman was Roza Shanina, one of many Russian women who served their country against the Germans in WWII as snipers. Following the death of a brother, she volunteered to serve, and then bravely went AWOL to get in the thick of the fighting. She racked up 59 kills and actually captured 3 Germans single-handedly. The odds finally caught up with her, and she was brutally ripped open by a large artillery fragment. She laid disemboweled, unattended in agony for a day. When found after her screams were finally heard, she was trying to hold her intestines in. She told her discoverers that she wanted them to shoot her right there. She died in spite of valiant efforts to save her on January 28, 1945 after being taken to a field hospital. She had not reached her 21st birthday. In her effects was a (then prohibited) diary of her frontline life. It was preserved by a medical doctor in that hospital. It was only recently re-discovered. That diary has now been translated into English in the form of a book, Stalin's Sniper, which can be ordered from Amazon. I read it cover to cover, and it's riveting.
Note the rifle she is carrying, one of the large number of scoped Mosin-Nagants used then. Successful male and female snipers were idolized by the Russians during the war.
Here are two views of the rifle she and many other snipers in the Russian Army used. This is an original and correct Model 1891/30 Mosin-Nagant rifle, fitted with a 3.5X PU scope, which was the one most often used in the war from 1942 on. The .30 caliber (7.62mm) x 54mm rimmed cartridge used in this rifle was on a par with our .30-06 in power. The high mount of the scope permitted the use of both the scope and the iron sights. The effective range of this combination was around 400 yards. The barrel measured 28 and 3/4 inches, and the bore diameter was .311". You can click on either image for an enlarged view.
This is a closeup of the scope. It was quite rugged and securely mounted. It was considered quite superior to the Weaver scopes used on our M1903A4 sniper weapons. In fact, there are documented instances of some of our U.S. snipers adapting the PU scope to their rifles. This one was made by the Izhevsk arsenal in 1942.
Here is a view through the PU scope, showing the reticle. I took this picture looking through the scope while it was close up to some shrubbery, so it's out of focus, but you can get an idea of the type of reticle.
I recommend the movie "Enemy at the Gates" which documented the Russian snipers' lives during the war. It addressed a sniping dual between an actual noted Russian sniper and one from Germany, which was probably fictional, but some claim to be true. These rifles were featured in the film.
I thought you'd enjoy this bit of history. This gun was covered in my book "101 Classic Firearms" where many more details are provided.
John
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