On Russian Rifles

I am a gun owner, shotguns heretofore - but not a NRA nut case, but just a person who likes to shoot on occasion (I don't take vacations to shoot, or buy gun magazines). I agree with gun control laws regarding handguns, and the quite reasonable restrictions from the Brady Bill. The assault weapons ban that lapsed under the previous president was a silly law as it really did regulate weapons based on how they looked. The ownership of automatic weapons by private citizens has been illegal since the 1930s. I also don't buy into the craziness that Obama is going to tax bullets 500% or enact insanely restrictive gun laws and start confiscating guns from law-abiding citizens. To be honest, I would not be surprised to learn that much of that hysteria and the incredible upsurge in guns sales that has followed was fomented by the gun industry during a period of economic recession to bolster their profits.

Anyway, I have very fond memories of going shooting with my grandfather on the farm, mostly target but some varmint (with his old .22LR), and I did some skeet shooting in college on a friend's family farm. So I have been thinking about buying a rifle for a few years, but I wanted to get something vintage and bolt action, perhaps a 1903 Springfield or a Enfield SMLE, but these are expensive. Well, apparently a few years ago, a trove of Russian rifles (called Moisen-Nagants after the two designers) mostly WWII vintage and some from the 1920s, have come onto the market, supposedly from Cold War caches in eastern Europe and several former Soviet Republics. The rifles share some basic similarities with the German Mauser, solid wood full stocks, straight pull bolts, etc and can be had for around $100 (at least here in the mountain West).

Two of my teaching assistants over the past year were pretty serious gun guys and offered to take me shooting which we finally did in early May. As it turns out one can shoot on public land, like National Forests (not parks) so we just drove out to some federal land out near the Colorado border and did just that, pulled off the forest service road, set up some targets against a dirt bank and plinked away for several hours. They both owned Moisen-Nagants, one pretty much stock, the other kitted out with a scope, sling, and butt plate. I shot both (along with the other rifles and side arms they brought) and really enjoyed the M-N, and the fond memories it brought to mind of my grandfather. So they helped put me in touch with a gun dealer out this way and I finally decided to call him up and see if he had any M-N's. He did (he also had some Turkish Mausers which were also quite nice and would have fit the bill in terms of vintage bolt-actions - but he said ammunition for those [8mm] was harder to get than the 7.62 for the MN).

I don't really know what I'll do with this rifle (well aside from ward off the Klan when I move to Georgia), but perhaps I'll look into some shooting ranges down there so I can think of my grandfather.