Operation Smile Lines

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Yesterday I went to the gun show with John and my hubby.  We were on a mission for magazines for my 9mm M&P and other items I might need for an upcoming training.  Also, I had never been to a big gun show, so it was time I put a check in that box.  If you have been with me for any amount of time, then you know two things happen every time I attend a gun show.  I buy a ton of beef jerky and I have a habit of accidentally stealing things.  I have turned myself  well before the po po shows up and I always pay for said items in full.  Still, I have been trying to break this habit of mine.  I may well have succeeded, too.  Yesterday was the second gun show in a row that I did not steal a single thing.  Impressive I know.  That is the good news, but it gets better…I bought some stuff.

My Favorite Jerky
A New Shirt
A New Flashlight
Some Ammo For

1943 Mosin Nagant

*I did get to the range today and I did shoot this baby.  Met some amazing people.  I will tell you all about both tomorrow.

41 thoughts on “Operation Smile Lines”

  1. Welcome to the Mosin Militia! You are going to LOVE shooting it! Be prepared to get lots of interesting looks from the boys at the range, too. If they’re anything like mine they’ll be going “Why is that tiny girl shooting a gun as tall as she? And why is she having such fun with it?”

    I’ve written a LOT about owning, shooting, and customizing a Mosin. If you have any questions, please ask! If I can’t answer them for you then I have friends who can.

    What arsenal is yours from? Mine is also a 1943, from Izhevsk.

    Also, if you find you have the urge to speak in outrageous Rrrrussian accent, clipping articles from your speech, and saying things like “Is gun, is not meant to be safe” and “strong like bull”… well, don’t resist! That’s half the fun!

    In conclusion, I leave you with some hearty Mosin humor.

    Harasho and happy shooting! (Invest in a recoil pad.)

  2. Thank you!! I am sure I will be asking:) I like that shirt!! I actually already have a funny story about when I bought the gun. I will share in tomorrow’s post.

    We looked it up online and I believe it is the same, an Izhevsk. Based on length, rear site leaf, and the hammer & sickle, it seems to match.

    • (Blogger is acting a little weird, so I have to piggyback on a “reply” post. Thanks, George. 😉 )

      I was doing just fine with the whole post, nodding and saying “Uh-huh, yep, uh-huh. . . then came the picture of the Mosin.

      Great gun, to be sure. My little brother got one a few years ago when he and our dad went to a gun show in Lubbock. Did they buy oldest son and big brother (me) one?

      No. I think they forgot about those genuine Chinese SKS new, unfired rifles I bought them twenty something years ago during my U.S. Marshals days when I was broke all the time.

      I couldn’t write them out of the will fast enough. (grin)

      We’re also trying to get together a Texas blog-shoot for the first weekend in April. Right now, it looks like it will be in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

      I’ll have more about it on my blog in a few days.

      Congrats on the beautiful gun.

      –AOA

  4. Love the shirt! Nice rifle, and you will have fun shooting it. Some of the best deals on guns I have purchased have been from gun shows, did you buy it from a private seller or a exhibitor?

    • Agirl: You probably already know this, but your Mosin is NOT an M44. It is an M91/38. An M44 muzzle brake will categorically NOT work on your rifle. At all.

      And the muzzle brakes claiming to work on 91/38s have a bad, bad reputation for having their screws fail from the recoil, losing alignment, catching a round and flying downrange while self-destructing.

    • I didn’t already know that. I have heard of the Mosin Nagant before I bought one, but didn’t know anything about it. I am just now researching and learning what’s what. Thanks!

    • Oh, there are tons of variations on it, but the most common are the 91/30s which you and I have, and the WW2 M44 with a permanently-attached, folding bayonet. The M44 comp locks onto the bayo lugs.

  9. Wow! Rifle envy! That is one sweet gun! I had a hard time passing the rifles by yesterday at the gun show. I was on a mission to find a pistol and pick up some other little things. If I hadn’t found the pistol I was looking for, I probably would have come home with a rifle. Have fun!

  12. Other vintage shooters don’t like it when I take mine to the vintage match. They keep catching me cheating. I don’t know, poking holes in the target with bayonet should count, shouldn’t it?

    Have two M91/30s myself, one of them I’ve sporterized. They’re like potato chips: you can’t just have one.

    Also, when the apocalypse arrives (heh), they’ll be great currency. $120 a pop on average, and you might be able to trade one plus some ammo for a handsome sum (not likely cash, but other needed commodity). Remember, a rifle with a relatively small amount of ammo can mean a lot of meals.

    Enjoy it!

  13. You go! You Shoot! Kill many Nazi on Steppe, you! Tonight is for wodka!

    make sure you clean the bore with hot, soapy water first to dissolve the corrosive salts. then use a nitro solvent for the powder residues. failure to do so will result in a red, pitted bore in less than 24 hours.

    my moisin was built in 1893, two years after Russia adopted the design. it has Czarist, Commie and Finn markings on it and still shoots as well as the day it was made. it was also made under contract in France cuz the ruskies couldn’t build enough for themselves.

    ammo is cheap, the rifle is so tough that even Ivan the Oafish can’t hurt it. enjoy!

    • I was told that ammonia would work just as well. I pour Windex down my barrel and haven’t had a problem after 100+ rounds, and I live in Florida which is corrosion central.

    • most anything will work if it dissolves the salt deposits left by the priming compound. the old russian way was soap and water and it seem to work well. also, it’s a good idea to treat any ammo from Russia or China as if it’s corrosive. they still have a lot of those old state factories churning out old style primer compound and just putting it in boxes labled “non-corrosive”. this is especially true of anything in “spam cans”.

  17. Mine is also a 43 model, the big star on it says it’s a Tula. They may have advanced on Berlin together. 😉
    +1 on the gel filled recoil pad, your shoulder will thank you.

    • That’s exactly why I bought mine. Wish there were some way to track its history. I also have a British Enfield from 1913, but have had no luck trying to find information on it from anyone in England.

  18. Ha! I think there might be enough Mosins for everyone that wants them. Everyone I know has them, including me.

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