I was reorganizing the safe yesterday and pulled this old dude out of the back. My father bought my brother and I each a Mosin Nagant back in 2010 for around $75 each lol. This rifle represents my “gateway” into any kind of marksmanship outside of shooting milk jugs with a Marlin .30-30.
Mine is a 1939 Tula (pictured), and his is a 1941 Izhevsk. We learned how to strip them down, boiled the cosmoline out of the barrels and action, cleaned up the stocks, polished the bolt and chamber, and checked headspace before taking them to the range. Back then you could buy the paper wrapped 20pk of 7.62x54r for $5 at any gun show. We had access to a range with steel out to 350yds and quickly learned how to hit any target out there at will.
Fast forward 12yrs and I have owned a shit pile of bolt action competition and hunting rifles (including four AIs and a few custom builds) and nice scopes to go with them. This cheap, fun, reliable, and surprisingly accurate surplus commie POS started it.
Mine is a 1939 Tula (pictured), and his is a 1941 Izhevsk. We learned how to strip them down, boiled the cosmoline out of the barrels and action, cleaned up the stocks, polished the bolt and chamber, and checked headspace before taking them to the range. Back then you could buy the paper wrapped 20pk of 7.62x54r for $5 at any gun show. We had access to a range with steel out to 350yds and quickly learned how to hit any target out there at will.
Fast forward 12yrs and I have owned a shit pile of bolt action competition and hunting rifles (including four AIs and a few custom builds) and nice scopes to go with them. This cheap, fun, reliable, and surprisingly accurate surplus commie POS started it.
