What do you think of this rifle?

good bargain & big 5 will let you check it out before you pay for it. if you don't like the one they bring out have them bring out another. if they don't want to cooperate talk to a manager & keep going up the chain.

This is a very good old style military rifle, $99 is a decent price.

It's a nice high powered rifle, think a 30-06 rifle.

The only issue would be how well used it is and what condition the one they send is in. It could be very well used and pretty clapped out.

If you want a cheap reliable rifle you could do a lot worse.

2 things to look for a clean bore fee of pitting , functional action, most all of these being sold as shooters have already been head spaced

like others said they were about 79 dollars a few years ago 99 is probably a fair price to good price these days , look around se what they go for other places

i would think of it as a utility gun , they are not quite cheap enough on ammo for me to consider it a plinker but if it will fit behind the seat in yout truck they make a good truck gun

also like stated they were sighted to engage men sized targets

they don't take a scope the best because of the strait bolt handle

but as a functional very durable solid shooter for 99 dollars they are usefull if you have a use for them

pros: functional solid usable rifle , decent acuracy , round comparable with a 308 or 30-06 , reasonably easy to find ammo moreratly priced , and for 100 dollars and tax

cons : long , heavy , strait bolt makes a standard scope mount not possable without modification, clumsy safty sights are not scaled in meters or yards but in an imperial rusian measurment

We have one, I call it the elephant gun. It's a great gun in excellent shape, it was used in the Hungarian Revolution. The old guy we got it from had had it forever and took care of it. I agree with the other posters they can be a crap shoot, some have been taken care of and some have been dug out of goodness only knows where!

I seen a few at a local shop today priced at $129ea. There was a carbine also for a little more $$.

Never mind history - they are a very useful calibre - about equivalent to .30-06, or 8mm Mauser. Excellent deer or hog (or military man-killing) rifle.

The price is good for one with a bore in good condition. I'd work the bolt, and I'd check the bore - maybe shine a little torch from the open breech, and look down the muzzle. Until very recently, the only ammo was corrosive military ammo, and if someone didn't clean their rifle properly the bore could be badly pitted. You can't ask too much for $99, but I would insist on checking that the bore wasn't pitted, and if they didn't let me do that I'd look elsewhere.

It's a good open-sight rifle.
Hard to fit telescopic sights, but there are some mounts around. The rifle was built to load five cartridges quickly all at once through the breech into the magazine from a stripper-clip (just strip all five off the clip into the magazine by pressing down on the top cartridge with your thumb), so there are some "scout sight" scope mounts that still leave the breech clear. There are also some excellent replacement open sights and peep (ghost ring) sights; and (bent rather than straight) replacement bolt-handles.

It's a rugged construction, built to make the rifle last. They have narrow solid metal butt-plates, and recoil is a (Russian) bear. The model listed (91/30) is a heavy rifle, which is good because weight tames recoil. You can also get carbines (91/38, 91/44, 91/59), which are shorter barrelled and lighter. A lot of macho males enthuse about the brilliant muzzle flash, but the fact is the recoil is just plain awful.
YOU WILL WANT AN AFTER-MARKET RECOIL-ABSORBING CUSHIONED BUTT-PLATE with these rifles. Slip-on ones are readily available.

If you can pick up one or even better two or more of these with bores in good condition then they are a good buy and good spares. Get some of the ex-military "spam cans" of ammo to practice with. It is corrosive, so learn how to clean the rifle after shooting. It is a style of cartridge-case called "Berdan", which is so hard to reload that it's not worth it. Buy some "Boxer" cartridges (which can be easily reloaded) as well with a good hunting bullet. They are close to but just bigger calibre than .30-06, .308, 30-30, 30M1 Carbine. They ARE exactly the same calibre as .303 British bullets. I know - the numbers don't make sense.

They are military combat rifles, not competition or sniper. Accuracy is useful rather than outstanding - say 3 or 4 Minutes of Angle (about equivalent to inches of group size at 100 yards). In other words, expect 6-8" groups at 200 yards, 9-12" at 300 yards. That's still useful accuracy in a fire-fight, or a venison hunt. There are Mosin-Nagant rifles which will do better with military ammo, but you need to be lucky. Commercial rather than ex-military ammo will help accuracy too.

These folks have the rifle and towards the back of the catalog they sell bolt handles and scope mounts (p 45), also replacement stocks:

http://www.myvirtualpaper.com/doc/Centerfire-Systems-Inc/centerfire_aug_sept_cat_2010/2010073001/[/URL]

Doug

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He got his Rifle for like $79. And the Carbine was about $150.
Carbine makes a lot more NOISE and FLASH.
His Rifle has no bayonet. But the Carbine does.
He likes them both.

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We have 3, a 91/30, 91/59 and a M44
The first time I brought one home (The 91/59), I couldn't wait until the next day so I went outside and touched one off in the dark.
I thought it blew up.
There was a blinding flash, a huge boom and the blast was just awesome.
The windows rattled in the house, a guinea fell out of the tree, the dog pooped, I lost a filling and I couldn't find my hat until the next day.
I couldn't stop smiling.
These things are the best bargain out there IMHO.

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This is a picture of my son firing the Mosin Nagant M44.
It's a little grainy, I cropped it out of a video file.

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I would see if I could find a Turkish Mauser for maybe a little more $. Basically the same design as today's Brownings and probably better quality.

Or a used Marlin 336.

Most of Europe is in no gun zone. One of the biggest kicks the guys get when they visit from Hungary for work is someone takes them out to a range. Most have never even had a gun in their hands. I bet Russia is the same as most of E Europe and W Europe.

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Without gunpowder there can be no freedom!

German-American proverb during the war of independence

Funny thing is, I've had a lot of Americans act that way as well when coming to visit me in Texas.. Many many Americans have never fired a gun or held one in their hands.

I have also found without exception, that their perspective changes significantly about guns after firing 5-6 different guns.

The funniest was a guy who worked for me, an artist, who was very left leaning in general, who embraced the AK47 at the range and ended up standing firing at the 100yd targets screaming die yankee pig dogs! running through a 30rd magazine.

He became much less anti gun after that, and especially after our young receptionists ex boyfriend, who was stalking her and had stabbed her in the leg with a large knife when they broke up, threatened that he was going to come to the office and shoot us all. 3 of us were carrying for the next couple of weeks, and it placed a perspective on the benefit of ability to personally defend ones self to him.

That's not a bad suggestion at all.

crazy, just got our Big 5 add yesterday, and guess what?

Same friggin rifle but priced at $119.00

gimme a break, corporate greedy $%^#@$&*

I just sold a 91/30 this summer. I bought it at Dunhams for $79. It had been arsenal refurbished before being sent to storage. I'm sure the barrel was brand new.

Mosin safeties are awkward to use fast in a hunting situation, but they work. There is no easy, accurate scope mount available that doesn't raise the price to that of a Savage or Mossberg. Please consider all surplus ammo to be corrosive, and wash the barrel with hot water before oiling every time you shoot it. Wash and oil the bolt face too.
No surplus ammo is appropriate for hunting, but winchester and others make good hunting ammo.

My 91/30 was one of my most accurate milsurps, far better than any of my many mausers, similar to my Swiss K31's. I could hit 4 of 5 on a steel plate(20" x 8") at 275 yards off sand bags with the issue sites and Czeck silver tip ammo.


If you want a hunting rifle, you will be happier buying a rifle made for it. Look at Savage, Stevens, Mossburg, or used rifles.

I'd love to have one of those old military rifles, especially if I had $99 to blow on something like that. I'd be looking for a good example out of their stash.

Then again, I am a military buff that loves old military rifles!

I just took my M44 out last night and blasted a few rounds through it.
Way too much fun

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Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.
Mark Twain
______________________________________________

Enforced tolerance is oppression

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