First Mosin

[Andrew_D]

Hi All,

Being relatively new to the gun scene, and having shot an M1 Garand numerous times I got the itch for a big gun. Not being able to afford the M1 ( Wedding... ), I went with a 1928 Hex Mosin Nagant M91 I believe. I ended up picking up my rifle last week, cleaned her up good this weekend, hopefully i'll be able to take it out this week for some fun!

After poking around online, I figured out that she was built at the Izhevsk arsenal and that the stock is a replacement. All of the serial numbers match, except for the bayonet. I have a few questions:

1.) I turned my own head space gage out of aluminum, from the info I could find online it seems like the maximum head space (Cartridge rim) is 0.071". My gage was 0.069 +- .0005, bolt wouldn't close on it. I know that thats good news. Can anyone positively confirm that the No-Go gage is .071"? The internet has lied to me in the past...

2.) There's a few more marks on the rifle that I cant find any info on. Heres some pics

The mark on the right is the replacement stock mark, any idea on the mark on the left?



Couple more marks on the rear of the stock.



Back of the reciever.




Picture of it complete





Andrew

[martin08]

To be honest. I've never headspaced a Mosin Nagant.

Yours is not an M91, but instead an M91/30 which has been refurbished from a Dragoon model rifle. Nice choice for a first one!

[Junk Yard Dog]

Checking the headspace yourself is easy with one of Okie's coin style gauges, see the banner at the top of the page, it comes with instructions how to do it step by step. Martin, in seventy or eighty refurbs I found four that failed the No/GO gauge, all four were fixed with bolt head swaps. These were refurb rifles bought from the useual suspects who are rumored to check headspace, all bullshit, they check nothing. I have also found missing and busted small parts, badly worn crowns, and so on. With the issued rifles there was less of a problem, the only ones prone to failing the No/GO are the older M91's from Bulgaria, the Finns have never failed me, not even the older M91's. CHeck the headspace, better to be surprised at home with the gauge showing a failure rather than find out at the range.

[Darryl]

Andrew_D ,

Welcome to the forums!

The first photo you posted is a "inspectors mark" to the left, and a refurbishment mark to the right.

Second photo is a nice stock patch!, and more (thought to be) inspector marks. No one knows for sure, but inspector marks seem to be the consensus.

Third photo is unusual marks. Again, probably inspector marks, but very interesting. They don't usually mark on the top of the tang like that. If you pull the rifle a part, under that spot (on the other side) should be a makers mark and year.


Last photo on the far right is the same refurb mark (on the metal).


Very nice, a ex-Dragoon on your first rifle! She is a beauty!

Dolk

[bunkysdad]

Very nice Andrew. A ex-dragoon is a great find. Like Folk said a really nice first one. If you have never heard of dragoon or ex dragoon rifles that is a great place to start learning the history of these firearms. Just Google it. Welcome to the forum

Tapatalk

[Andrew_D]

Thanks for all the information! I'm looking into the Dragoon rifles to learn the history on them, I really enjoy the history...almost as much as shooting it!

Junk Yard Dog- I turned my own gage to dimensions I found online, seemed to be fine. I just wanted to confirm that the measurement was correct, as the internet can be misleading.

Heres a pic of my gage.




Thanks!

[Junk Yard Dog]

Nice job on the gauge, the 'net is full of bullshit, this goes triple for the Mosin as there is just so much we don't know. The Russian government does not like to talk about weapons production even from far off times as WW2, so we will have a long wait to learn much about the production of these rifles, yet this has not stopped people from guessing, and then publishing the guess. 20 years ago we only had books that might have a paragraph or two about the Mosin, much of the information outright wrong, but there are some serious researchers who are working on digging out real information one nugget at a time.

[desdem12]

Just love ex dragoons, very nikce

[Andrew_D]

I took the rifle to the range last Thursday and ran into an unfortunate problem. When the round was inserted into the chamber the bolt wouldn't close, which I initially thought was a headspace issue. I quickly found out that this wasnt the problem, because the round was stuck in the chamber. I tapped it out, and tried a few other rounds, still the same issue. Brought the gun to a local gunsmith and he noticed that the edge of the chamber adjacent to the extractor was rounded over. I dont have a picture, but ive highlighted the area in the picture below.

Have any of you seen this before?


Again, this is not my picture, I feel bad for the poor dude who it belongs too though.

[desdem12]

Never heard of that one, usually you might have to clean the chamber extra good but thats all i ve heard of