Our fifth offering in the ‘Bargain Basement’ series is a 1938-dated Soviet Moisin Nagant Model 1891/30 rifle made in the Izhevsk factory. This is an opportunity to acquire one of these very affordably, and also get 100 rounds of 7,62x54R thrown in the deal. Read on for another LSB journey in firearms history…

The Russian army’s standard rifle from 1870 was the single-shot Berdan. During the Russo-Ottoman War of 1877–1878, Russian troops suffered heavy casualties against Turkish troops equipped with Winchester repeating rifles. This convinced the Russian command that they had to modernise their standard infantry rifle.

In 1889, three rifles were submitted for evaluation. Army Captain Sergei Ivanovich Mosin submitted a ‘3-line’ calibre (7.62mm) rifle, Belgian designer Léon Nagant submitted a ‘3.5-line’ (9mm) design and Captain Zinoviev submitted another ‘3-line’ (7.62mm) rifle. The trials, which ended in 1891, were inconclusive. Mosin's rifle had a complicated mechanism and disassembly required special tools, while Nagant's rifle was considered to be poorly manufactured. However, the latter design was initially chosen by the commission. Further requirements were presented to the designers until the Commission Moisin’s modified design was selected and put into production under the designation трёхлинейная винтовка образца 1891 года (3-line rifle M1891). It is colloquially called the Moisin Nagant rifle is the West. The M1891 rifle was a bolt-action rifle with a five-shot internal magazine chambered for the 7.62×54mmR cartridge. It had an overall length of 1,232mm and a barrel length of 730mm.

In 1924, a new Commission was established to modernise the rifle, which had by then been in service for over three decades. This led to the development of the Model 1891/30 rifle, which was based on the design of the original dragoon version of the M1891. The barrel length was shortened to 560mm and the sight measurements were converted from arshins to meters while the front sight blade was replaced by a hooded post front sight. Some features were borrowed from Nagant's original design for the M1891, such as the attachment of the magazine spring to the magazine base plate and the introduction of a five-rounds clip to load cartridges into the magazine. A further modification was introduced between 1935 and 1936 with the intention of reducing production time and cost. The octagonal breech was changed to a round one. Rifles that gave higher accuracy results in factory testing were set aside to be set up as sniper rifles.

Production of the M1891/30 rifle during WWII reached considerable proportions so that by the end of the conflict, almost 17.4 million pieces of this rifle had been built in two Soviet factories, namely the Тульский оружейный завод, (Tulsky Oruzheiny Zavod) and the Ижевский Механический Завод (Izhevsky Mekhancheskiy Zavod). The M1891 was finally declared obsolete when the Russian army adopted the semi-automatic SKS-45 carbine and soon after the AMK assault rifle, both of which were chambered for the intermediate 7.62x39mm round. However, the M1891 continued to serve with the armies of other nations, such as Albania, Finland Hungary, Romania, Korea, Vietnam and China.

The Moisin Nagant M1891/30 that we are offering today as part of our Bargain Basement deals is an example that was produced in the Izhevsk factory in 1938. It was refurbished in the 1950s during the Soviet Army’s programme, which lasted several years. It is now in the same condition as it was after the refurbishment.

This rifle is being offered on a first come, first served basis, You can snap it up together with 100 rounds of ammunition at a considerable discount based on how fast you react to our post to confirm your order with a deposit:

• Within 1 hour: 20% discount, or € 340

• Within 3 hours: 15% discount, or € 365

• Within 24 hours: 10% discount, or € 390

This could be the opportunity that you have been waiting for – act fast to avoid disappointment! A sale will be considered as closed only if you contact us (SMS, WhatsApp or Messenger) and follow up with a 50% deposit by BOV Mobile Pay or Bank Transfer to our account. Details will be provided in our reply to your message.

Thanks to LSB’s knowledge and experience in historical firearms, all the pieces that we offer are covered by a lifetime warranty that you get is what we describe in detail, to ensure that you will never be disappointed with your purchase.

You will require a 2020 Collector Licence A Special to purchase this firearm.

We take great pleasure in bringing you these daily snippets of firearms history and we hope that you enjoy reading them.

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