My buddy brought his Russian Mosin Negant to the range
My buddy brought out his Russian Mosin Negant tonight because I wanted to go to the range and walk all of the ranges and get farmiliar.
We plinked a little with my 9mm and then headed over to the 25 yard utility range where we could shoot the Negant.
A little history on this gun;
Data & Facts
Produced from 1943 - 1948
Arsenals - Ishevsk,Tula (Tula M44's considered rare)
War year models feature a bayonet mount with one "ear" - post war has two. Many war year production M44's had laminated stocks.
The M/44 was the natural extension of the M38 carbine. Soviet battle experiences showed that the M91/30 was still too long of a rifle to be practical in urban and confined war fighting environments. Bolotin, in his book, Soviet Small Arms and Ammunition -reported that a number of requests had been made for an improved infantry weapon. Several sources indicate that although a carbine was desired, the troops wanted to also have the benefit of being able to utilize a bayonet. Unlike the M91/30, the Soviets came up with a unique solution, a side mounted, permanently affixed folding bayonet. The bayonet was a cruciform spiked affair with a point shaped like a screw driver. It was extended by pulling down on the guard and rotating it up and letting it seat on the muzzle. To collapse it, one simply pulled it up and rotated it back into it's stored position on the right side of the weapon.
The M/44 stock was mostly a shortened version of the M91/30 and later was produced in a laminated version. Production of the carbine was started in 1943 for prototypes and trials, and continued under license in the satellite Soviet states and China well into the 50's. By 1944, the development of the 7.62x39mm M43 round was underway and new auto-loading rifles were making their appearance. The Model 1944 features a folding bayonet that replaced the detachable type on older models. As late as the Viet Nam War, the Type 53 (Chinese) was standard issue to the Viet Cong. Polish examples of this rifle were captured in Granada during the invasion by U.S. Troops. More recently, M44's have seen service in the Balkans and Chechnya as well as during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.
Stats
Length: 1020mm
Weight (unloaded): 3850 kg.
Barrel: 517mm, 4 groove, right-hand twist
Magazine: 5 round integral box
Rate of Fire: Bolt-action, 10 - 12 rounds per minute
Caliber: 7.62x54Rmm vintovochnyi patron obr 1891g
Muzzle Velocity: 820 mps
He has a wartime version with the bayonet attached.
He had some ammo that he got with the gun but never bought any more until he got to use it and see if it was worth getting more.
It was...
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwzWxrYqfRU[/youtube]
He corrected the way I held it after shooting this.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8dvFVn8ljA[/youtube]
The results were impressive. The first 4 shots I took were at about 10 yards because we wern't sure how well it was sighted in. the 3 leafed clover hole low and right of the staple is my last three shots. Not sure which was my first.
At about 25-30 yards is where we fired the viedos from. The square section is what we were aiming for. His shots have an x on them and mine are the unmarked. We each took 4 shots. He told me I could be very proud of that grouping for a rookie and not holding it exactly right.
That cemented it for me. Lever action over the highpoint for now.