The Mosin–Nagant (Russian: Винтовка Мосина, ISO 9: Vintovka Mosina) is a bolt-action, internal magazine-fed, military rifle invented under the government commission by Russian and Belgian inventors, and used by the armed forces of the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union and various other nations.
The Mosin-Nagant series of rifles. From top to bottom:
- Mosin-Nagant M91
- Mosin-Nagant M91 "Dragoon"
- Mosin-Nagant M07 Carbine
- Mosin-Nagant M91/30
- Mosin-Nagant M91/30 PU Sniper
- Mosin-Nagant M38 Carbine
- Mosin-Nagant M44 Carbine
- Mosin-Nagant M59 Carbine
History
Initial design and trials
During the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, Russian troops armed with mostly Berdan single-shot rifles engaged Turks with Winchesterrepeating rifles and suffered heavy casualties. This emphasized to commanders a need to modernize the Imperial army. The Russian Main Artillery Administration undertook the task of producing a magazine-fed, multi-round weapon in 1882. After failing to adequately modify the Berdan system to meet the requirements, a "Special Commission for the testing of Magazine fed Rifles" was formed to test new designs.
Sergei Ivanovich Mosin, a captain in the Imperial army, submitted his "3-line" calibre (.30 cal, 7.62 mm) rifle in 1889 alongside a 3.5-line design by Léon Nagant (a Belgian) and a 3-line design by captain Zinoviev. When trials concluded in 1891, the units which tested the rifles were split in their decision. The main disadvantages of Nagant's rifle were the following: more complicated mechanism, long and tiresome procedure of disassembling (which required special instruments - it was necessary to unscrew two screws). Mosin's rifle was mainly criticised for lower quality of manufacture and materials. This resulted in a slightly larger number of stoppages. The Commission voted 14 to 10 to approve Nagant's rifle. However, the head of the commission, General Chagin, insisted on subsequent trials held under the Commission's supervision during which Mosin's rifle showed its advantages, leading to its selection over the Nagant.
Technical Detail
The Mosin has a commonality with Mauser rifles in that it uses two front-locking lugs to lock up the action. However that function is implemented in very different ways from the Mauser. The bolt assembly is multi-piece instead of unitary. It uses interchangeable bolt-heads just like the Lee-Enfield. Unlike the Mauser which uses so called "controlled feed", the Nagant has a recessed head for the cartridge base, what modern terminology calls "push feed". However unlike modern push-feeds which use a "plunger" ejector, the Nagant has a slotted head similar to Mausers. Also, the extractors are spring-loaded - unlike the fixed Mausers.
The bolt lift arc on the Mosin-Nagant is 91 degrees like the Mauser versus 60 on the Lee-Enfield. The major unusual feature of the Mosin-Nagant is the location of its bolt handle. Rather than connected to the bolt in the rear it actually protrudes out of the ejection/loading port. Furthermore, the handle is attached to a protrusion on the bolt which serves a similar function Mauser's "third" or "safety" lug.
The rifling is right turning (clockwise looking down the rifle) 4-groove with a twist of 1:9.5" or 1:10".
Refinement and production
The 3-line rifle, Model 1891, its original official designation, was adopted by the Russian Military in 1891. There have been several variations from the original rifle, the most common being the M1891/30, which was designed in 1930. Some details were borrowed from Nagant's design. One such detail is the attachment of the magazine spring to the magazine base plate. In Mosin's original design the spring was not attached to the base plate and, according to the Commission, could be lost during cleaning. Another detail is the form of the clip that could hold five cartridges to be loaded simultaneously into the magazine.
The other is the form of the "interrupter", a detail in the feeding mechanism preventing stoppages due to feeding two cartridges at the same time. The initial rifle proposed by Nagant lacked an interrupter, leading to numerous failures to feed. This detail, as well as the new configuration of the feed mechanism, was introduced in the rifle, borrowing from Mosin's rifle. Although the form of the interrupter was slightly changed, this alteration was subsequently borrowed back by the Commission for the Model 1891 Mosin Nagant. During the modernization of 1930 the form of the interrupter was further changed as the part had turned out to be one of the least reliable parts of the action. Only the clip loading cartridges and the attachment of the magazine spring to the magazine base plate in subsequent models were designed by Nagant. Considering the rifle could be easily loaded without using a clip, one cartridge after another, the magazine spring attached to the magazine base plate is the only contribution of Nagant to all rifles after 1930.
Nagant's legal dispute
Despite the failure of Nagant's rifle in the patent trial he claimed he was entitled to the sum the winner was to receive. It also appeared that Nagant was the first to apply for the international patent protection over the "interrupter", although he borrowed it from Mosin's design initially. The reason why Mosin could not apply for a patent was that he was an officer of the Russian army and the design of the rifle was owned by the Government and had the status of a military secret. A scandal was about to burst out with Nagant threatening he would not participate in trials held in Russia ever again and some involved officials proposing to expel Nagant from any further trials as he borrowed the design of the "interrupter" after it was covered by the "secrecy" status given in Russia of that time to military inventions and therefore violated Russian law. Taking into consideration that Nagant was one of the few producers not engaged by competitive governments and generally eager to cooperate and share experience and technologies, the Commission paid him a sum of 200,000 Russian roubles, equal to the premium that Mosin received as the winner. The rifle did not receive the name of its real inventor Mosin in order not to provoke further debates with Nagant. This turned out to be a wise decision, as in 1895 Nagant's revolver was adopted by the Russian army as the main sidearm. However for the same reason and because of Nagant's attempts to use the situation for publicity, the "Mosin-Nagant" name appeared in the western literature (the rifle was never called this in Russia). The name is a misnomer from the legal point of view (taking into consideration the legal provisions of Russian law at that time, i.e. the law of the country to adopt the rifle) and from technical point of view, as none of the details borrowed from Nagant's design, even if removed, would prevent the rifle from firing. Moreover, from the technical point of view the rifle that can be called "Mosin-Nagant" (or "Nagant-Mosin") is the design proposed by Mosin, as further amended by Mosin with some details being borrowed from Nagant's design.
Production of the Model 1891 began in 1892 at the ordnance factories of Tula Arsenal, Izhevsk Arsenal and at Sestroryetsk Arsenal. An order for 500,000 rifles was placed with the French arms factory, Manufacture Nationale d'Armes de Châtellerault.
By the time of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904, approximately 3.8 million rifles had been delivered to the Russian army, though not many were used during the conflict.[citation needed] Initial reactions by units equipped with the rifle were mixed, but any adverse reports were likely due to poor maintenance of the Mosins by infantrymen more familiar with the Berdan and who were not properly trained on the Mosin–Nagant.[citation needed]
Between the adoption of the final design in 1891 and the year 1910, several variants and modifications to the existing rifles were made.
Source Mosin-Nagant
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