For under $200, you can buy a relatively accurate and well-built rifle that can take down just about any game in the lower 48 states.
That rifle is the Mosin-Nagant.
English: Mosin Nagant Model 1891 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
It is a great gun if you need a rifle and need one quick or if you want to have extra rifles to give to family members for prepping or for the holidays.
Some things to remember about it.
- Get a sling for it!
- PROTIP: Zeroing your rifle improves your groupings!
- You may want to consider a butt stock ammo pouch.
- You may also want to consider purchasing quality Hornady ammunition.
- Cosmoline from surplus storage can be a pain to clean off sometimes
- Some older 7.62x54R ammo is corrosive so be sure to clean the gun thoroughly after shooting.
- Google Search “corrosive mosin nagant ammo” to find out which batches of surplus ammo are corrosive
- Be sure to put on a rubber recoil pad on the buttstock, the felt recoil from the rifle can be rather stout.
- Unless the wood stock is rotted or cracked, I am inclined to keep the wood stock as opposed to installing a synthetic stock.
- For what they are, the sniper editions of the Mosin-Nagant are more collector’s pieces than serious utility pieces in this day and age.
- There are better scoped long-range guns out there for the same price as a Sniper Mosin-Nagant.
Remember, the gun really does have a safety switch, it isn’t that intuitive as to where it is located though.
English: Soviet Mosin-Nagant m/91-30 sniper rifle, captured by Finland. Photographed in Mikkeli Infantry museum. Suomi: Neuvostoliittolainen Mosin-Nagant m/91-30 sotasaaliskiikarikivääri. Kuvattu Jalkaväkimuseossa. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
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RealDefense 
The Mosin is cheap,reliable and lots of surplus ammo around.
It is a bit clumsy to handle to those used to a Mauser,but it does make a dandy club and spear with attached bayonet.
ALL SURPLUS 7.62x54R COMBLOC AMMO IS CORROSIVE ! The Com Bloc countries used corrosive primers long after Western countries abandoned them because corrosive primers have long shelf life and cheaper to make.
After you shoot corrosive ammo,run a few patches down the bore with some sort of water based liquid,even spit will work. Then some regular bore solvent. Oil if you cannot give it a good cleaning for a day or so.
Corrosive primers leave a salt deposit in the bore,water dissolves salt.
Some of the newer(post1990) ammo is non corrosive,but very little shows up here.
Original Mosin sniper rifles are pricey,but you can find recently made reproduction sniper rifles for about $400. Not really a bad deal,and with proper zero and good ammo they can be about MOA .
Some of the best surplus ammo tried so far has been Hungarian Light Ball,gray lacquered cases,red primer and neck sealant with or without a silver tip.If you can find it there was some match grade ammo imported about 15 years ago. Comes in Yellow and white box marked EXTRA with a bullseye on it. 200 gr FMJBT,very accurate stuff.
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