So I bought my new gun ;)

[PFactorDave]

Where was it made, etc.?

Mine's a Tula Hex Receiver but... the plot thickens... it's dated 1944 and the rest of the gun was built at Izhevsk, including the bolt (obviously it was rebuilt), but all of the serial numbers match so I'm assuming it was rebuilt in 1944 at an armory on an old receiver. It's also finished like a pre-war Nagant (it's got the brass pieces on the stock loops, single piece of wood for the stock and such).
It shoots surprisingly well, got one of those 440 round surplus tins for it too.
A Mosin Nagant isn't going to pack much more punch than your average hunting rifle. Granted, if he's shooting surplus ammo, I guess full metal jacket may be illegal for range use in some states? I'm pretty sure it's illegal for hunting, here at least...


Also, Mosin Nagant 91/30 + bayonet = sweet, long arse gun

I'm interested in which markings tell you where it was manufactured.  I don't know much about my rifle.

Just forward of the bolt and behind the rear site there is a star with an arrow inside it.  Underneath the star is the date 1933.  The receiver is hex shaped forward of the bolt.  The number on the receiver matches the number on the barrel.

I don't have a bayonet for my Nagant, but I do have a bayonet for my 1777 Charleville Musket.  With bayonet attached, the weapon is about 72 inches long.  Here's a short video clip of me firing it for the first time after I reworked the lock.

http://s177.photobucket.com/albums/w220/Davis_Andrews/?action=view&current=VID_20110410_141640.mp4

[Motherland]

Two factories produced Mosin Nagants in the Russian Empire/USSR, Tula (whose mark, during the majority of production, was the star with the arrow inside of it, like on your rifle) and Izhevsk (whose mark is a triangle with an arrow inside of it).
The factory mark is on pretty much every place where there's a serial number, the receiver, buttplate, and trigger guard/magazine assembly thing (my handguard bands have them as well). My bayonet doesn't seem to have one, though.

Soviet ammunition is marked with factory # and production year as well on the rim of the casings, you can check out 7.62x54r.net for all of that.

The bayonet alone is the length of my forearm; the thought of being gored by that is even more terrifying to me than being shot.

[PFactorDave]

Two factories produced Mosin Nagants in the Russian Empire/USSR, Tula (whose mark, during the majority of production, was the star with the arrow inside of it, like on your rifle) and Izhevsk (whose mark is a triangle with an arrow inside of it).
The factory mark is on pretty much every place where there's a serial number, the receiver, buttplate, and trigger guard/magazine assembly thing (my handguard bands have them as well). My bayonet doesn't seem to have one, though.

Soviet ammunition is marked with factory # and production year as well on the rim of the casings, you can check out 7.62x54r.net for all of that.

The bayonet alone is the length of my forearm; the thought of being gored by that is even more terrifying to me than being shot.

That's interesting, thank you.  I notice that my rifle's bolt has the triangle mark, so apparently at some point the original bolt was swapped out.

[mtnman]

...but I do have a bayonet for my 1777 Charleville Musket.  With bayonet attached, the weapon is about 72 inches long.  Here's a short video clip of me firing it for the first time after I reworked the lock.

http://s177.photobucket.com/albums/w220/Davis_Andrews/?action=view&current=VID_20110410_141640.mp4

Nice!  Impressive to see a flintlock with such a nice and short ignition time!

[PFactorDave]

Nice!  Impressive to see a flintlock with such a nice and short ignition time!

Thanks!  I put a lot of work into the lock to get it striking at a better angle.  I bought a white lightning vent liner, but instead of installing it, I very slightly beveled the opening of the vent hole and got the nice results you see in the video clip.

[mtnman]

Thanks!  I put a lot of work into the lock to get it striking at a better angle.  I bought a white lightning vent liner, but instead of installing it, I very slightly beveled the opening of the vent hole and got the nice results you see in the video clip.

Well worth the effort you put into it, I think.

I've never tried the white lightning vent liners, but I've heard good things about them.  I use the beveling trick on my vent liners though, and it makes a huge difference.  On some of my earlier liners I actually drilled out the inside off the vent to a larger inside diameter, and then drilled the flash hole a bit larger too.

The increased inside diameter helped, but the larger flash hole was unnecessary.  All it did was allow me to lose a few kernels of powder out of the flash hole if I had the gun loaded for a few days while hunting, which actually slowed my ignition.  Fast on the range, but (sometimes) slow in the field.

Once I realized that, I went back to the smaller flash hole diameter.  Occasionally, though, I may bore out the inside of the vent to allow the powder kernels to be right up next to the flash hole, where I can see them.  I don't like a long "tunnel" between the outside of the vent hole and the powder.  Now I get quick ignition no matter how long it's been loaded.  I can also glance at my vent, and see dry powder kernels.  With a sharp flint and a clean frizzen, I'm more assured or a positive, quick, ignition than any "high-tech" percussion gun I've seen...

Did you need to change the angle of the hammer to get the flint to strike at the correct angle?  I've never gone quite to that extreme, although I had a rifle that performed best with an "upside-down" flint.  Have you tried mounting the flint in lead instead of leather?

Sorry to misdirect your thread, I just lose interest in military weapons after 1840 or so (except F4U's, B25's, B17's, and P51's  ).  One of my flinters is a Brown Bess, so the Charleville is right up my alley too!

[usvi]

That's crazy.  Here in the Communist People's Republic of Illinois, I can get a rifle after 24 hours and a pistol after 72 hours.

That's because there's nothing of any value left to shoot in Illinois. 

[icepac]

Tula from 1930 to 1937.



as found here.

http://7.62x54r.net/MosinID/MosinRef02.htm

[PFactorDave]

Did you need to change the angle of the hammer to get the flint to strike at the correct angle?  I've never gone quite to that extreme, although I had a rifle that performed best with an "upside-down" flint.  Have you tried mounting the flint in lead instead of leather?

I did change the angle of the hammer.  It was a flint basher when I first got it, which I am told is actually historically accurate for the Charlevilles.  But a little cutting and welding and grinding and polishing and it's hitting at a good angle now.  I was able to shoot 20 consecutive times with no misfires with nothing but a damp patch down the barrel every other shot and a pick of the vent hole after the 10th.  It did finally misfire on the 21st shot, but that was due to the powder fouling that had built up on the flint preventing a spark.  A quick wipe of the flint with a damp patch and it was sparking like a champ again.

I did try the flint up side down before I altered the hammer, but I didn't think it improved the situation much.

I have not tried mounting the flint in lead, although I have read about that.  Honestly, at this point in the game, I don't feel the need to do anything differently then what I have now.  I'm pretty pleased with my results with the hammer change.

[PFactorDave]

Tula from 1930 to 1937.

(Image removed from quote.)

as found here.

http://7.62x54r.net/MosinID/MosinRef02.htm

Yup, that's pretty much what my Nagant looks like.

[mtnman]

I have not tried mounting the flint in lead, although I have read about that.  Honestly, at this point in the game, I don't feel the need to do anything differently then what I have now.  I'm pretty pleased with my results with the hammer change.

I don't think you'd benefit from it at this point.  I was just curious about whether you'd tried it or not, and if so, what results you'd seen (if any).  I've tried it, but haven't found it to matter much on my guns.

[PFactorDave]

My next test will be priming with FFg powder instead of FFFFg.  If I still get good ignition, I plan to start making paper cartridges to load.  I like the idea of loading the same way the soldiers did.

I was actually pretty pleased with the accuracy of the musket.  I was able to consistently hit a steel torso target at about 30 yards with unpatched balls.  Sure that isn't a great distance, but it is certainly far enough to deer hunt, if I become inclined to deer hunt with it.  And if I did, I would patch the balls anyway.

[mtnman]

My next test will be priming with FFg powder instead of FFFFg.  If I still get good ignition, I plan to start making paper cartridges to load.  I like the idea of loading the same way the soldiers did.

I was actually pretty pleased with the accuracy of the musket.  I was able to consistently hit a steel torso target at about 30 yards with unpatched balls.  Sure that isn't a great distance, but it is certainly far enough to deer hunt, if I become inclined to deer hunt with it.  And if I did, I would patch the balls anyway.

I've primed with 2F, with no issues.  I'd go ahead and make some paper cartridges, lol!  I made a bunch way-back-when for my Bess, and liked them.  I even made a bunch for a Colt revolver, and they worked great.  I bought a pad of onion paper and a bottle of potassium nitrate, and made my own paper in the kitchen.

Off a rest, my Bess (which is a short-barreled copy of a trade gun) holds all of it's patched balls inside a 3" group at 50yds.  I've never shot it without patches though.  I did remove the front sight (which doubled as a bayonet lug) and soldered on a nice "turtle" blade (which is more historically correct for a trade gun anyway).

I've used it for deer, turkeys, doves, ducks and geese, pheasants, pigeons, rabbits, squirrels, and I've even shot trap and skeet with it (obviously no doubles though).  A smooth-bore is extremely adaptable for a large range of targets or critters.  That big round ball (mine's a .75) will knock a deer about 5ft sideways, and it won't go far.  I adjust my shot pattern by adjusting my load.  I can tighten it down to a 14" diameter at 30yds for turkey, or open it to 40" for doves, even though it's just a plain ol' cylinder...

[PFactorDave]

That big round ball (mine's a .75) will knock a deer about 5ft sideways, and it won't go far

I'll bet.  My Charleville shoots a .69, which is smaller of course, but still impressive in mass.  For those unfamiliar with them here's a photo of one of my .69s (actually it's .678) next to a .22LR and a 9mm.



Hard to imagine getting hit by one of those...

[mtnman]

Actually, I'm firing .69's out of my .75 Bess as well (patched).  Without the rifling you can't use a ball that's as close to the barrel caliber as you normally would.  You need a "looser" fit to patch a smooth bore.  I use .53's out of my .54 rifle and rifled-barrel pistol.

What is the bore on your Charleville?