The Russian Mosin Nagant Forum

and he did it with an iron sighted M28 rifle, his hunting rifle. No fancy scopes, no spotter, just an M28 and later a sub machine gun, an M28 built from antique Russian parts and a new barrel. There was also the great skill this man had as well, a natural with the rifle.

That was great

I enjoy reading about him. Also Carlos Hathcock, Sgt. York and others in their class. Highly skilled patriots.

Interesting piece

Great post, Dog. Thanks.

That was very interesting. Thanks for posting that.

Awesome story! What a hero!

great vid , a scope dosen't make up for poor marksmanship , its said he preferred iron sights because the glare of the scope gave up his position , and that was how he killed so many soviet snipers , by shooting at the glare of their scoped PU rifles..

Iron sights don't bust near as easy as a scope either. Simo reminds me of Alvin York, Alvin liked the old M1903 rifle because the iron sites were like the ones on his old Muzzle loader squirrel rifle back home, but hated the 1917 rifle because the sights were moved back to the rear of the receiver a combination foreign to him. Simo was a farmer, he put meat on the table with iron sites and was very good at it, when he went to war he wisely stuck with the rifle he was best at shooting with.

Iron sights don't fog up. Was a problem for me in S.E.Asia and my uncle was a Marine in the S. Pacific during WWII with the same problem with any kind of glass optics including his eye glasses and binoculars. Starlight scopes at night were helpful but heavy. JGC

I never liked glass on a weapon, it's fine for the range or when hunting Bambie, but when it's my ass on the line I want something dead simple, and that's iron sights. I am not a sniper, I have no such training, and at this time in my life my vision just isn't up to it. If I have to stand and fight it's because I have no other option, I intend to fight as dirty as possible, gut shooting, ball shots, and all from as much concealment as possible. The last thing I need is scope complications of any kind.

Oh, that was... impressive. Now wanna take my gun and keep training and training.
At 2 a.m.
Really. A great topic.

Welcome to the forum Lala, in the old days I watched hunters shoot deer every season with old lever action rifles and iron sights. No scopes, no other tricked out crap on their rifles, just skill, cast lead bullets in handloaded ammo, and rifles they had shot for many years. What Simo had was skill, and good old country woodscraft.

This man was truly amazing. It would have been a real honor to meet him and others like him.

He was a hard working farmer who was called upon to defend not just his farm and country, but the very right for his people and their culture to exist. He knew the price of failure, talk about walking the high wire without a net, he put his skills to the best possible use. You probably have met men like him, they are among the stooped, gray old men with the VFW caps who stand when the flag goes by during Independence day parades, and you will find them among the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines who are even now fighting for us in some of the worst shitholes that can be found in the world.

Junk Yard Dog wrote:He was a hard working farmer who was called upon to defend not just his farm and country, but the very right for his people and their culture to exist. He knew the price of failure, talk about walking the high wire without a net, he put his skills to the best possible use. You probably have met men like him, they are among the stooped, gray old men with the VFW caps who stand when the flag goes by during Independence day parades, and you will find them among the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines who are even now fighting for us in some of the worst shitholes that can be found in the world.

And it's amazing how quickly a spine snaps when a flag unfurls. You have to admire that conviction.

So long as this nation can still produce young people of this Marines character we have a future.

He was an ordinary man living in interesting times who had to rise up and fight for not only his home, and freedom, but the very right of his people to exist. He had skill, a natural ability with a rifle not unlike that of Annie Oakley the great shooting champion of the 19th century. He was also a country boy who had been using firearms to put meat on the table since he could walk, our Alvin York learned his great marksmanship skills like that. He also had balls, he wasn't afraid to face the enemy despite the great odds against him, he did not cut and run, he stood and fought.