I pulled out my M38 Mosin today and looked over it. I've had it I know about 45 years. It's a 1943 with what looks like a small r after date. It has a small t in a rectangle I'm guessing its a Tula. This one has the wire sling hangers not your standard mosin sling. I have hardly shot it maybe because of the heavy recoil. Love to blast out the barrel. From what I've read they are collectables.
A few photos would be great. The wire sling hangers were only used on the Spanish Civil War ones, Finn-captured ones had sling hangers as well but there were a bit nicer than the Civil War ones. A Tula would have a Star with an arrow in it on the barrel right above the date.
With the wire hangers on my M38 be a mismatched part? Were the Russian M38s all came with the dog collar slings? Doing a little research I found to front sling slot to be early WWII production.
Heres some pics. Stamp above date I can't make out even with a magnifying glass. Below serial number is a triangle with a t or arrow in it. The sling is what came with it when I bought it. Hanger slot in fore end has a maybe brass base at bottom of hole.
I hit post button too quick. Heres 2 more. I'm starting to believe its a Finn. Didn't know Finnland made them also.Front sight shows it to be Russian. Front sight cover is round with a hole on top.
nice!
if you want to tame the recoil, put it in an aftermarket stock when you go shooting. it really makes a difference. I put mine in a cheap ATI stock and it was a lot less punishing.
You could just put a Limbsaver slip-on butt pad on it. They sell them at Walmart for about $20. Besides softening the recoil, they add almost an inch of LOP.
Verne
It is a lot of recoil for a little carbine and no rubber shoulder pad. I have a 38, three M44,s and a type 53 and all the same size carbines basically. I have many 91-30,s but I like those carbines for sure.
Finn-captured Mosins will have an "SA" stamped on them somewhere. From what I can see, the sling hangers look like Finnish ones. They also reworked the triggers into a kind of two-stage feel that was a great improvement over the Russian one.
Grab up some 147 gr ammo, it's a lot friendlier to your shoulder than the old heavy ball surplus was. Tulammo makes some in 147gr and can be found at most Walmarts. Academy also sells their house brand Monarch which is repackaged Brown Bear but it runs 180 grain. Mine prefer the Monarch over the Tulammo greatly.
No SA marks anywhere. I just may put a dog collar sling for it to make it original. I havn't felt a two stage trigger on it. I've got a .303 mold and primed brass for 7.62X54R. I might try that. I think its around 147 or 150 grn. I want to put my 15 yr old grandson on it to show me how bad he thinks he is.
Thanks. That's why I come to Gun & Game so much. I think I will. I get so much good information here. When I first got it I was put off by the recoil not looking for accuracy. About 20 years ago I shot it for accuracy and was impressed. By the way it doesn't have any import stamps.
If you can find some of this Czech 7.62x54r ammo it is a 44.8gr hollow round with almost no recoil. I can let the kids shoot my Mosins with this round. They could let you get a little more trigger time.
I saved a few ammo cans of that ammo. I figured it would not stay around long. I bought a bunch of it about 7-8 years ago. It is less recoil but still deadly at short distances. It has a round lead type bullet painted white to identify it. I don't think there is any around anymore
If you can find some of this Czech 7.62x54r ammo it is a 44.8gr hollow round with almost no recoil. I can let the kids shoot my Mosins with this round. They could let you get a little more trigger time.
Hoo boy. The very first time I bought spam cans of ammo I got two of these in the wooden crate from my gunsmith for $100 (Yeah, it was a while back!) That Czech green lacquered silvertip lite ball has been simply the MOST accurate surplus ammo I have EVER purchased. Was a bear to clean up after if I shot enough of it for the barrel to heat up enough where that lacquer would start melting, though. I think somewhere I STILL have like 50 rounds of it, having never been able to find any more of it I can't bear to shoot up what I have left of it. This is an example of how accurate it was. 5 rounds, 50 yards.
I pulled down another 91/30 sniper with PU scope and determined its a Izhevsk also 1942. Small question, what does the small what appears to be a r mean after date of manufactery?
I'm so grateful for my post on this. I took my M38 apart for a good cleaning and forgot how front sling reattached.
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