What Is You're Mosin History? If Known

[howitzer]

So at first I knew that my mosin was just sitting on the wall for decoration since I was like 5....I'm 23 now. I asked about the rifle because in a couple days I'll be shooting it. The rifle I will hold in my hands is the same rifle my grandpa escaped from Germany after being captured and forced to help build roads. it turns out...before he died due to cancer he told his life story to my aunt..about how he and another guy..killed german medics while they were working...took the truck....and headed back to Poland where he grew up...I dont know much else about the story but knowing I can hold a peice of his life in my hands means more then anything you can imagine. And as of tomorrow....when I go to shoot this weapon without a headspace check.....if it takes off my face...I have only him to laugh at and blame

[tjtM38]

Welcome to the forum. If your rifle was a recently acquired refurb with matching numbers like the ones that are currently sold on the open market today, I would say you might be okay to test fire without having it checked. Your rifle is obviously a battlefield bring back with a lot of your family history tied up in it. You and your face want to survive the operation of the weapon and you want to preserve it as the piece of history it is. Therefore, I suggest you have it checked by a competent gunsmith prior to firing. You can check it yourself with the proper tools like a good set of headspace gauges. One of our sponsors, Okie headspace gauges, on this forum can provide those tools.

I must say, if it were my rifle with the family history you described. I would clean it, preserve it for the future, and go out and buy a similar rifle on the surplus market to shoot in it's place.

[Ironnewt]

Welcome to the forum. If your rifle was a recently acquired refurb with matching numbers like the ones that are currently sold on the open market today, I would say you might be okay to test fire without having it checked. Your rifle is obviously a battlefield bring back with a lot of your family history tied up in it. You and your face want to survive the operation of the weapon and you want to preserve it as the piece of history it is. Therefore, I suggest you have it checked by a competent gunsmith prior to firing. You can check it yourself with the proper tools like a good set of headspace gauges. One of our sponsors, Okie headspace gauges, on this forum can provide those tools.

I must say, if it were my rifle with the family history you described. I would clean it, preserve it for the future, and go out and buy a similar rifle on the surplus market to shoot in it's place.

First Welcome aboard
Pretty much what he said. If you do want to fire this relic (and I'm torn as to Yes/No) could I suggest the "Tire" method? Put a old full size tire on your bench and try it down. Try the rifle to the tire with the butt in the "inside" of the tire. Generally aim it down range and tie a string to the trigger. once all this is done, load one round. lay the string out to an area behind a tree,car, least favorite shooting buddy and once you are hunkered down, pull the string. The rifle SHOULD go off and still be in the tire and relatively intact. If it's not all you have lost is a tire and something that wasn't safe to shoot as opposed to your fingers/eyesight/hearing/facial features. I've seen a gun "let go" because of a hot round and it wasn't pretty.

[WeldonHunter]

So at first I knew that my mosin was just sitting on the wall for decoration since I was like 5....I'm 23 now. I asked about the rifle because in a couple days I'll be shooting it. The rifle I will hold in my hands is the same rifle my grandpa escaped from Germany after being captured and forced to help build roads. it turns out...before he died due to cancer he told his life story to my aunt..about how he and another guy..killed german medics while they were working...took the truck....and headed back to Poland where he grew up...I dont know much else about the story but knowing I can hold a peice of his life in my hands means more then anything you can imagine. And as of tomorrow....when I go to shoot this weapon without a headspace check.....if it takes off my face...I have only him to laugh at and blame

I take it since your Grandfather grew up in Poland he was polish and so are you. I'm Polish too so take some advice from one old Pollack to another. You shouldn't make light of this. You have no idea what condition that rifle is in and trust me you won't be laughing if it blows up. You really need to do some saftey checks before using it. Headspace is a great place to start. I saw before where you asked about resetting the firing pin protrusion after taking it apart and not having the tool to recheck it. I hope you took the user up on his offer to send you one. That in itself not being correct can also be very dangerous. If you can't afford the headspace guages or didn't/couldn't get the protrusion tool then you should wait until you can. Believe me if you fire this rifle and it has a problem you didn't detect or caused by not preparing it correctly it won't be fun. Plus I grew up in a time when we were called dumb Pollacks all the time and we don't need to ressurect that old stereotype.

[Junk Yard Dog]

Cool story, most of the Mosins we have came without a story unless it's one of the great deal we scored on it. Rarely will you get a milsurp and be able to discover much about it's individual history past manufacture dates, and a general idea of the history it was around to see and might have been a part of. I do have some milsurps that I know the history of, but only two Mosin's, the Hungarian PU sniper, that one was captured in Vietnam, I bought it from the man who captured it, and a Chinese type 53 also brought back from Vietnam. Beyond that I have no idea the personal history's of the other Mosins. Even with the two rifles I only know the circumstances of their capture, not what they were doing for the years before that.

[Simo]

So at first I knew that my mosin was just sitting on the wall for decoration since I was like 5....I'm 23 now. I asked about the rifle because in a couple days I'll be shooting it. The rifle I will hold in my hands is the same rifle my grandpa escaped from Germany after being captured and forced to help build roads. it turns out...before he died due to cancer he told his life story to my aunt..about how he and another guy..killed german medics while they were working...took the truck....and headed back to Poland where he grew up...I dont know much else about the story but knowing I can hold a peice of his life in my hands means more then anything you can imagine. And as of tomorrow....when I go to shoot this weapon without a headspace check.....if it takes off my face...I have only him to laugh at and blame

I take it since your Grandfather grew up in Poland he was polish and so are you. I'm Polish too so take some advice from one old Pollack to another. You shouldn't make light of this. You have no idea what condition that rifle is in and trust me you won't be laughing if it blows up. You really need to do some saftey checks before using it. Headspace is a great place to start. I saw before where you asked about resetting the firing pin protrusion after taking it apart and not having the tool to recheck it. I hope you took the user up on his offer to send you one. That in itself not being correct can also be very dangerous. If you can't afford the headspace guages or didn't/couldn't get the protrusion tool then you should wait until you can. Believe me if you fire this rifle and it has a problem you didn't detect or caused by not preparing it correctly it won't be fun. Plus I grew up in a time when we were called dumb Pollacks all the time and we don't need to ressurect that old stereotype.

you guys want to hear some Polish jokes? its ok my wife is Polish

[Junk Yard Dog]

She hears the jokes and you better sleep with one eye open .

[desdem12]

That is a great story. Clean and check over before shooting.

[Starshina]

So at first I knew that my mosin was just sitting on the wall for decoration since I was like 5....I'm 23 now. I asked about the rifle because in a couple days I'll be shooting it. The rifle I will hold in my hands is the same rifle my grandpa escaped from Germany after being captured and forced to help build roads. it turns out...before he died due to cancer he told his life story to my aunt..about how he and another guy..killed german medics while they were working...took the truck....and headed back to Poland where he grew up...I dont know much else about the story but knowing I can hold a peice of his life in my hands means more then anything you can imagine. And as of tomorrow....when I go to shoot this weapon without a headspace check.....if it takes off my face...I have only him to laugh at and blame

Interesting story. Was your grandfather a Polish POW or a civilian brought to Germany for slave labor? Where did he get the rifle?

[Simo]

"What Is You're Mosin History?

Of the Mosin Nagants I own there is one I really wish I knew the history of. My 91/59. It's inconceivable that the history of these rifles is not truly known...

I suspect they were Cuba bound but were forced back.

[Junk Yard Dog]

Rob has an interesting story about the origin of the 91/59, perhaps he will see this later and tell it again