The Gear of Team Bogatyr

Those of you who have been following the story of Three-Line Rifle may be wondering what kind of equipment they use. I'd love to go into detail about it (especially since in the latest installment of Three-Line Rifle they've deployed to their mission and things are going to get shooty soon), but going all gun-nerd about it would bring the story to a screeching halt and I don't want to do that.

On the other hand, I am a gun nerd and like talking about things like this, so here's a non-immersion breaking blog post about it that I suppose I could add to the story as an appendix or something.


Insignia
The symbol of Team Bogatyr is the yerihonka, the helmet of the Russian knights who were also known as bogatyrs. Therefore, calling themselves "Team Bogatyr" carries the same connotations as a western team calling themselves "Team White Knight" or "Team Dragonslayer".

The yerihonka is the onion-y looking helmet on the right. Yes, it manages to look somewhat Viking and somewhat Turkish at the same time. Some yerihonka extend further downward to protect the nose and/or the nape of the neck.

(If you want to get into deep nerdery regarding Russian medieval armor, this page is an amazing place to start.)

The patch for Team Bogatyr is a silver yerihonka on a black background.


Uniform
Their standard field uniform is a black ripstop blouse and trousers with riot armor covering their arms from shoulders to wrists, and their legs from knees to feet. Their helmets have visors to protect them from things like infectious blood spatter and sprayed toxins. A plate carrier covers their chest and abdomen.

Armor
All front-line combatants wear Level 4 body armor inserts (rated to stop six 7.62×51mm NATO rifle shots or a single 7.8mm AP round). Support personnel like the Professor, Irka, or snipers Bronia and Grisha when shooting from a blind can wear Level 3A soft body armor, which will stop knives (both slashing and stabbing attacks) as well as .44 Magnum rounds.

Weapons

Unlike their American counterparts, Bogatyrs have standardized weapons that they take from the team armory as mission parameters dictate.

Sidearm: All Bogatyrs, even the support personnel, carry 9mm GSh-18 pistols with a minimum of three magazines.

Submachine gun: The PP-19 Bizon is the team's preferred choice for close-in fighting. It is based on the Kalashnikov platform and each helical magazine holds 64 rounds of 9x18mm Makarov.

Battle Rifle: Various AK-74 pattern rifles are used by the team. For urban work, they use the AKS-74U; for more open areas, the AK-74M with universal upgrade is chosen. In either case, 60-round casket magazines of 5.45x39mm are used.

Sniper Rifle: Grisha's main rifle is a Dragunov SVD and he is quite adept at using it in the role of designated marksman. However, when he has the time to set up a sniper's nest, he prefers the 12.7mm (.50 cal) KSVK anti-materiel rifle.

Bronia's M91-30 Mosin Nagant is categorically non-standard, and would not be allowed were it not for the fact that Grandmother Rifle is obviously magical and that it shares the same 7.62x54mmR ammunition as the SVD.

Shotgun: The Saiga-12, another Kalashnikov pattern firearm, has been modified for select fire and is the weapon of choice for those Bogatyrs whose job is to be the first through a door. 30-round drums serve as primary magazines, with 10-round box magazines carried on-body. In situations where a high volume of fire is needed or resupply is limited, a backpack capable of carrying several hundred rounds uses an electric motor to force aluminum-hulled shells down a linkless feed system into the magazine well. The feed can be easily removed and replaced with a magazine in the backpack runs out of ammunition, the system malfunctions, or the Bogatyr needs to un-encumber himself. 

It's a lot like this, only with 12 gauge shells and no disintegrating links.


Vehicles
Team Bogatyr's transport, lovingly (?) called The Crotch, is a 6x6 KamAZ-63968 Typhoon-K MRAP vehicle.

It has room for three people in the cab and 16 in the troop compartment. The engine compartment is between the first and second set of wheels, and there is a passage that connects the cab to the troops.

The top picture is from the inside of a 16-person Typhoon-K. The one on the bottom is from a different model but demonstrates the door between compartments. The Bogatyrs ripped out one of the seats, installed a door, and made the other seat at the back into a computer & communication system.

It has a drop-down ramp in back and six roof hatches (three per side). It is sealed against nuclear, biological and chemical hazards. (Supernatural hazards are a different matter.)

It is 29.5 feet long, weighs 23 tons, has a top speed of 65 mph and a range of 746 miles. Its tires are run-flat.

Team Bogatyr may, or may not, have a heavy weapon that can be mounted on the crotch for heavy engagements. If so, it is not mounted for this mission.

I Have Begun Writing Fiction Again

It's been years since I had both the urge to write fiction and an idea for a story, but I currently have both so I've started again.

It's a short story about a young woman named Bronislava Artemievna Vinogradova and her heirloom Mosin-Nagant named Grandmother Rifle.

It's basically a love letter to the M91/30 set in an urban fantasy setting.

If you're a Patron of mine, you can read part 1 here and part 2 here.

If you aren't a Patron.. why aren't you?  Go here and sign up today!

Image found on Pinterest. I don't know who originally made it or where it's from. 

Archangel OPFOR Stock for the Mosin-Nagant

Today I'm doing something I really should have done sooner, but I felt I needed to test it thoroughly before I reviewed it. That feeling of "needing to test it a bit more" lasted for over a year. During the course of that year, not only did I shoot it extensively, but I allowed other people to shoot it as well and they all had good things to say about it.

As I am not a hunter I did not take it hunting, nor did I deliberately abuse it as I do not believe in testing to destruction. However, it is my opinion that this stock is rugged enough to take whatever punishment you dish out, as the plastic is definitely not flimsy.

Archangel Mosin-Nagant Rifle Stock

[This space is reserved for all the purists who will undoubtedly object to modifying an old rifle. Consider your opinions voiced, noted, and ignored.]

The Price: 
$205.75 MSRP, $174.95 Amazon, $152.99 MidwayUSA
I'm going address the elephant in the room first: Why would anyone buy a stock that costs as much as the rifle it goes on?

The first and best reason is "Because of the magazines." Archangel has created a 10-round detachable box magazine for the Mosin that is still reloadable from the top via stripper clips. The sheer convenience of this is not to be underestimated:

• Do you have a scope over the action that prevents you from using stripper clips? This solves your problem permanently. 
• Do you get tired of loading via clips and wish there was a faster, easier way to reload? This is your answer. 
• Would you like to double the ammunition capacity of your Mosin and you haven't been able to get in touch with Riflemods to order an extended magazine? Not only does this answer your prayer, you get a more convenient way to reload your rifle. 

A word of warning: Archangel makes both 5-round and 10-round magazines. If you buy the stock, make sure you get one with the magazine you want! I believe the stocks on Amazon are 5-round magazines only. Price at MidwayUSA: $13.79 for a 5-round magazine, $16.49 for a 10-round.

The other two reasons are "Better ergonomics than any other Mosin stock out there" and "It automatically floats the barrel." Combine this with being lighter than the typical wooden Mosin stock and the ability to pick the color you want, and it's a winner.

Now, if you were to ask me "But is it WORTH paying the cost of a second Mosin?", then I'm afraid I can't answer that, as worth and value are not the same thing as price and cost. What I can tell you is that for about $350 to $400 and some elbow grease, you can buy a surplus rifle and turn it into a really nice shooter. It may not perform as well as a $1,000 Remington 700, but you'll also end up paying half that Remington price.

What You Get
The basic package comes with a single magazine and a stock that "Fits most M1891 rifles, hex / round receivers on 91/30, Soviet M-38 / M-44 / Chinese T-53 carbines" and "Fits Finnish M39 models with some modification". However, given the large variation in styles and manufacturing standards of Mosin Nagant rifles (especially WW2 era), some mild fitting may be required.

The stock also comes with two action screws, a wrench for same, and a barrel tensioner (in case your barrel doesn't shoot properly while floated and needs to be seated).

Installation

Other than one issue explained under "Cons" below, installation was drop-in simple for me. I understand, however, that this is not the case for everyone, and some fitting may be required. 

Pro:

The stock comes pre-inletted for a Timney trigger and bedding pillars, so no extra work is required to install those either initially or later.  

Con:

The stock does NOT come pre-inletted for a bent bolt, which will require modification. This is nothing that a Dremel tool won't solve, but it is both annoying and a strike against the product in my book, because 

1. A notch for the bent bolt should have been part of the design from the beginning, and
2. There is a hex screw for a completely pointless "OPFOR" plate right where the bolt goes, and
3. The plate covers an even more pointless hole into the action of the rifle. Simply removing the plate would not be a good idea. 

So not only will you need to Dremel out a notch for your bolt, but you will also need to remove one of the screws. Fortunately, the OPFOR plate is just plastic, so a single screw will hold it in place. 

Ergonomics

This is where the Archangel stock shines. The gooseneck pistol grip with palm swell feels great in my hand and makes reaching the trigger far more comfortable for my Hobbit-sized hands, and the adjustable comb riser allows me to achieve a proper cheek weld instead of my previous chin weld. 

Similar to the comb, the buttstock also extends for anyone who desires an increased length of pull (for my readers who don't speak Gun Lingo, length of pull or LOP is the distance from the trigger to the butt of the gun. If you're a short person with short arms, you want a short LOP; taller people with longer arms will be happier with a longer LOP).

There's also a groove for you to place your support hand under the rear of the stock, sniper-style.

Pro:
Everything feels comfortable and natural, which helps improve accuracy.

Con:
If you are kind of person who needs to elevate the comb for a good cheek weld, you had best memorize how many clicks you need to get there, because after 15 there is no way you are removing the bolt for maintenance without lowering the cheek pad.

Other Features

Pro:
The stock comes with a half-inch thick rubber recoil pad already installed. However, the 7.62x54R cartridge can weary a shoulder quickly after a day of shooting (especially if you're shooting more often due to the convenience of magazine changes), and so I am pleased to report that a large (one inch thick) Limbsaver pad will fit over the buttstock for added comfort. 

There is also a small storage compartment within the pistol grip itself, suitable for holding things like hex wrenches, lens cleaning cloths and broken shell extractors.

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41uEFTzWJwL.jpg

Con:
Notably absent, however, is a rail system for mounting accessories like a bipod. For that you must separately purchase and install a forend rail. At $16 and Prime shipping from Amazon it's not a major dealbreaker, but (aside from the principle of the thing) installation requires you to remove the action from the stock. If you think you will want the rail, get it along with the stock and install it at the same time to save yourself the hassle.

Both:
Neither good nor bad is the sling attachment system. Rather than providing eyelets for traditional sling swivels, the stock instead sports three cups (one in front, 2 on either side of the buttstock) for quick-detach push-button swivels. If you have these kind of swivels lying around, that's great; if not, you're going to have to buy a pair before you can sling your rifle. 

Magazines
I know I talked these up earlier, but I want to address a curious feature about how the magazines interact with the rifle. I may end up horribly butchering firearm terminology while explaining this, so please forgive and correct me if I do.

The Mosin-Nagant has an internal magazine, and because of this there is a feed interrupter inside the action which prevents all of the cartridges from ejecting up and out every time the bolt pulls back. However, this feed interrupter has made devising detachable magazines for the Mosin tricky at best.

http://www.archangelmanufacturing.com/#!AA76R 02/zoom/c188b/image_1v34

Archangel gets around this dilemma by making the feed interrupter in integral part of the mechanism instead of trying to bypass it. When a magazine is inserted, the feed interrupter interacts with the magazine and causes the top cartridge -- which had been held in place with a retaining loop --to come out of the magazine and advance upwards until it is stopped by the ejector.

If you aren't certain what I'm talking about, watch this video starting at the one minute mark for a better explanation.



What this means is that when you insert a magazine, that top round is going to pop free regardless of whether or not the bolt this closed. If you then decide to remove the magazine without chambering that top round, it's going to be loose and will fall away. This can result in lost ammunition.

There is a way around this, however:

1. Move the bolt fully to the rear. 
2. Apply downward pressure to the topmost round until it fully depresses into the magazine. 
3. Eject the magazine before re-seating the bolt. 

The magazine is ejected via an AK-47 style release lever that is easily worked by the thumb of your supporting hand, but the magazine does not need to be "rocked" in or out like AK mags. Here is a video of the magazines being swapped. 

My Grade: A
I would have given the Archangel Mosin-Nagant OPFOR Stock an A+ if it had an already inletted notch for a bent bolt and came with a forend rail standard.

I think that this stock is definitely a worthy upgrade to an already dependable rifle. Having detachable magazines that can still be top-loaded via stripper clips is worth the price alone; that fact there are other ergonomic features and performance improvements (like the floated barrel) make this stock worth getting.

As an example, here is the tightest shot group I have ever made with this rifle, and it was made with this rifle stock installed.

I cannot say how much of this grouping is due to the performance increases made by the stock, and how much is simply my shooting technique improving over time. The answer is likely some degree of both. What I can say is that the Archangel OPFOR stock is incredibly comfortable, and that makes everything about operating the rifle easier.

Con: 
Stock costs as much (or nearly so) as the rifle.

Pro:
The stock improves the rifle immensely. The entire magazine system is, in my opinion, enough to justify buying the stock.

I recommend this stock to all Mosin-Nagant owners, despite its price tag. 

Mosin May

McThag is doing A Mosin a Day for the Merry Month of May, so send him a picture of your Mosin and he'll post it on his blog.

The preferred format is with your camera directly over the rifle and one of your feet still in frame, like so:

The angle of  your rifle and the choice of background are up to you, although "horizontal" and "indoor carpet" seem to be favorites.

Email your sexy Mosin pics to mcthag at gmail dot com. He doesn't have enough to fill up the month (only 21 days so far), so let's all help him reach his goal!

Monday Gunday: Phoning it In

I took a mental health day today because the stress levels in my house are getting toxic, so here's a picture from last weekend (I think) where I took my Mosin-in-its-Archangel-stock out to the range and ran about 50 rounds through it... the scope had gotten jostled a bit while I put it into the new stock and I decided to re-zero it. I decided that I wanted it to be 2 inches above center mass at 25 yards because, through some ballistics that I barely understand*, that means I ought to be dead-on at 300 yards.

That's a 21mm grouping, if you don't count the flyer. (Damn gravity fluctuations... grumble.) I believe that's pretty close to 3 MOA, which is a much tighter grouping than previous tries with the rifle. I'm not certian if it's because the Archangel stock delivers better performance, or if I've just become a better shot through practice, or some combination of the two.

Clearly I need to shoot it more so I can give it a better report, but like the title says... I'm phoning it in today. 

* I shall try to explain. 

Because a scope is mounted above a rifle's barrel, the focal point must be adjusted downward so that it intersects the path of the bullet. This means that when you are looking through your scope at a target in front of you, your rifle's barrel is actually pointing slightly upwards, so your bullets will arc upwards for a bit until gravity and air friction slow it enough that it starts to come down.

Interestingly enough, all bullets do this, so the thing about ballistics is finding the points where the rising equals the falling. If you do that, then you can zero your scope at the shorter range where it's easier to see the grouping and know that you're good to a further distance. 

So looking at the Mosin-Nagant round, you see that it intersects at both 25 yards and 200 yards, so if you zero a Mosin at 25 you're good at 200. Based on some vaguely-recalled calculations from other people, 2" high at 200 ought to be dead-on at 300. 

Why 300? I dunno. Maybe I'm just feeling badass. 

http://www.7.62x54r.net/MosinID/20041231001.jpg

Monday Gunday: Riflemods' Mosin-Nagant Magazine Extension (Palette's Product Reviews)

Back on February 8, blog-buddy Awelowynt posted this video to my Facebook wall:





I was immediately thrilled by this, because not only is my love for the Mosin-Nagant well-known, but also because various people have been promising magazine extensions for my beloved "nugget" for quite some time now, and yet none of them have followed through on it. (Datamancer, I'm looking at you.)

And then comes along Bryan Cathey of Riflemods, who in the span of less than a year has gone from idea to prototype to purchasable product.


It Must Be Mine

http://www.dorktower.com/

Naturally,  I had to have one of these.

I sent Mr. Cathey an email asking if I could get one for review, and not only did he send me one, but he talked to me on the phone for over an hour, telling me the history of how he developed the Mosin Magazine Extension, and what it's made from.

Let me tell you, friends, this is a seriously well-built piece of kit. Per the inventor, this magazine extension has:

• all steel construction
• every piece precision laser cut
• all TIG welded construction
• a heat-treated spring clip
• high quality hardware
• black oxide coated finish
• the adjustability to fit tightly to variations in the Mosin mag/trigger guard

Best of all, it's 100% made in the USA !


Unboxing & Assembly

A few days later, I received a package from Riflemods.  Top to bottom, left to right:  magazine latch and hex key; magazine extension in shipping configuration with spring held down with a rubber band; a spare spring.

It must be noted that a regular purchase does not include the second spring. It was included with mine so that I could test its durability without damaging the extension itself.

My initial impression is that, just like the Mosin-Nagant, this is a durable piece of equipment. Everything is coated, even the spring, and while I am not a believer in "testing to destruction" I feel it's safe to say that this extension will handle just about anything you can throw at it, with one possible exception:

If you dropped a fully-loaded magazine from waist-height or higher, and it landed such that there was lateral (shearing) force on the connection points, it could possibly bend or break. However, looking at how this beast is installed -- hinge in front, latch in back, and the flanges on either side to prevent wobble -- it might just survive even that.

(One square = 1 inch)

Here is the magazine extension  in its natural configuration. You will note that the spring extends upwards into the receiver, which means that it cannot hold ammunition while detached. This is why I have been very careful to refer to this as a magazine extension and not a magazine in its own right.

The good side of this, however, is that you can still perform an ammo dump with the extension like you could with the stock magazine; you just need to rotate the body of it out so that the spring clears the magazine, and the rounds fall right out.

It was very easy to install the extension to my Mosin. Given the differences in tolerances between models, years of production, and countries of origin, any "one size fits all" product will require room for adjustment. Mine was ready to go in under 15 minutes.

When you buy this extension, you also receive an email with a link to a private video which shows you how to install it. As it is private I will not be posting the link to it here. However, I have received permission to share it with anyone who is seriously considering this purchase. If you are so interested, let me know and I will send you the link.


How It Performs

I took it to the range yesterday, and fired 65 rounds through it. (I had intended to shoot 100 rounds, but my shoulder pulled a Will Smith and went Aw HELL naw! after I tried to load the next 10.)

Between my first volley of only five rounds (I wanted to make sure the spring would feed properly) to my final volley of 55-65, I did not experience a single jam, malfunction, or failure to feed. 

I didn't have any problem charging it with two stripper clips full of cartridges. I didn't  have any problem dumping the unfired rounds when the range went cold, nor did I have a problem when I put it back in place after going hot.

I can't think of anything better I can say about this magazine extension. It makes a promise, and it delivers on that promise with 100% effectiveness. It does what it says it does. It just works.

This is bad. Never do this.

There is, however, one thing a user needs to know:  when inserting the bolt, the spring has a tendency to catch on the lip of the bolt face. If the operator were to slam the bolt forward without first checking, this could result in damage to the spring. However, this problem is easily alleviated by simply waiting to insert the magazine extension until the bolt is already in place.

This is proper position. 

It is worth noting, though,  that simply cycling the action will not cause this problem. It only occurs when removing the entire bolt from the rifle's action, and not when cycled back to the loading position.



Is It Worth Buying?

This is always a loaded question, as there is a certain amount of disdain for Mosin modifications by the purists.  "Why would you want to bastardize a perfectly good piece of history?" is a frequent critique, as is "Why would you spend X amount of money on a cheap rifle that's only worth a hundred bucks?"

Generally, these boil down to either "You're polishing a turd" or "Stop doing this thing I don't like."  With this made plain, I usually ignore and/or mock the people asking the questions. However, as this is a review (and I've been lectured told that I have a responsibility to my readers to tell you if it's worth buying, and so I must address these concerns.

Really, the only strike this product has against it is its price tag of  $140. Yes, that's quite expensive, but in return you get a 7.62x54R rifle with double the ammo capacity, and given that Mosin-Nagants are cheap, you could look at the situation like "Well, I could spend $600+ on a 10-round .30-06 rifle, or I could spend $100 for the rifle and $140 for the magazine extension and still have $360 to spend on ammunition and other fun things."

If you like having increased ammo capacity for your Mosin, it's worth it.

If you enjoy modding your Russian beast, it's worth it (and a quick and easy mod to make, as opposed to bedding the action).

If you like the idea of other people looking at your rifle in awe, going "Is that a Mosin with a ten-round magazine?", it's worth it just for the expression on their faces.

But if you're a purist, or you can't abide spending that much on a $100 rifle, then it's not for you.


My Rating: A+.  I wish the price was lower, but given the quality of design and the fact that's a specialized item without a lot of demand driving the price down, I can't argue with Mr. Cathey's decision. I sincerely hope that he achieves great commercial success with his products  (he makes muzzles brakes as well), and perhaps that increased demand will reduce cost somewhat.

If you wish to order either a magazine extension or a muzzle brake for your Mosin, you may reach Mr. Cathey at info@riflemods.com.



Obligatory FTC disclaimer:  While I received this product for free, when I contacted the manufacturer I inquired as to the price and offered to buy one. The manufacturer chose to send me one for free and in no way required me to give a good review in exchange for product. If you've ever read my reviews, you'd notice that if I have a problem with a product I will say as much. Now go away. 

PPR: Timney Trigger for the Mosin-Nagant

Before I begin this review, I need to make a few statements:

1.
This review is four months late.  While I have semi-good reasons for this -- Christmas holidays, my mother's hospitalization on December 26th, her subsequent surgery in February and her slow recovery while I took over her duties, general health issues on my end -- these are not sufficient excuses in my mind. If I'm going to be thought of as a professional writer and reviewer, I need to act like one, and being this far past a deadline (even if that deadline was self-imposed) is not at all professional. Therefore, I must beg the forgiveness of the Timney Trigger corporation, and hope that the thoroughness of this review will make up for its tardiness.


2. 
Any time I review a product for a Mosin-Nagant, I can always expect certain comments from the purists. "Why would you want to bastardize a perfectly good piece of history?" is one of them. "Why would you spend X amount of money on a cheap rifle that's only worth a hundred bucks?" is another.

The answer is simple: "Because I want to. This is my rifle, so I can do what I like with it, and who are you to demand I justify myself?"

Therefore, if you are inclined to ask these questions, I am going to warn you now:  This review is not for you.

ALL THESE WORLDS ARE YOURS EXCEPT EUROPA ATTEMPT NO LANDING THERE. 

If, however, you like modifying firearms, or at the least are tired of the 8-9 pound trigger pull on your Mosin, then these words are for you.

USE THEM TOGETHER USE THEM IN PEACE.

Palette's Product Review: 
The Timney Trigger for the Mosin-Nagant ($103.95)

When I first contacted Timney for a test & evaluation trigger, there were several things I wanted to discover:

1. Will it drop in like they say it will?
2. Will this trigger reduce the horrible pull weight of the stock trigger?
3. Will it improve my accuracy?
4. Is it, in fact, worth the price of a (pre-panic) Mosin-Nagant?

Little did I know that this simple request would send me on what can best be described as "An adventure in gun modification."  

1) Ease of Installation

Let me immediately clear the air about something:  When I first groused about "Not all drop-in triggers actually are," I was operating from an incorrect assumption.  I had seen that Timney triggers for both the AR-15 and the Ruger 10/22 were "drop-in"  (meaning no modification or gunsmith needed), and I foolishly assumed that all Timney triggers were drop-in.  This is not the case, and nowhere on their website, in their marketing literature, or on the product pages do they claim that all of their triggers are drop-in. This was my fault.

However -- and this is where I feel a bit vindicated -- any instruction manual which says "Step 7: Using a Dremel tool, remove enough wood [from the stock] so the trigger area will partially insert" without having previously warned you, either on the product webpage or at the beginning of the instructions with "Tools you will need" that you will, in fact, need a Dremel tool, has dropped the ball in a significant manner. I was quite irritated to have gotten my nifty new trigger only to find that, before I could install it, I needed to buy a power tool. 

 

This is the only bad thing I can say about the instructions, though. They are clear, concise, and well-illustrated. I particularly love Diagram B with its clearly labeled "Save these parts" and "Discard these parts."  Other accessory makers could take a lesson from the clarity of these instructions.

In addition, were it not for the required inletting of the stock, the trigger itself is, essentially, drop-in: Drift out trigger pin and unscrew trigger screw; insert Timney trigger; re-insert trigger pin and trigger screw. Assuming you've already removed the action from the stock, the entire procedure takes five minutes, tops.

The real time sink is in Dremeling out material from the stock in order to make the trigger fit, and that is where things got a bit crazy for me. Never having used a Dremel before, I became too aggressive with it and took off too much material. (I hope this is a common malady among new Dremel owners.)  This left me with a stock that might be dangerous to use due to the gaps and amount of slop and wiggle that would surely follow.  I decided that I might as well use this opportunity to bed the action; not only would this fill in the gaps, but I had read that a bedded action allowed for greater accuracy. 

I will spare you the details of the procedure. If you like, you may hum the MacGyver or A-Team theme while imagining me putting Vaseline on the contact surfaces of the action and forming Loctite Repair Putty * into the gaps while watching The Walking Dead. Instead, I will simply show you the final result, although this picture will no doubt shock and horrify the purists:

The reason it looks uneven in places is because I used a Sharpie marker to color in the places where the gray epoxy was peeking out past the stock. It's ugly, yes, but it works -- which is basically the entire point of the Mosin-Nagant, after all, so it all coordinates thematically.  More importantly, I did it myself without needing to pay a gunsmith to do it for me. If I can do this, then so can you.

* Why Loctite epoxy putty?? Because it's what I had on hand, and I was impatient. Considering the epoxy has a bond strength of 1400 psi and can be sanded, I think it's a fine choice. I've since shot several hundred rounds of milsurp 54R through the bedded rifle and haven't had a single problem.

2) Trigger Pull

If you have ever shot a Mosin with a stock trigger, you know how terrible it is: that long, slow, painful draw until the rifle finally, mercifully goes "bang!"  It's a Russian design in every bad sense of the word.

The best way I can describe the difference between it and the new trigger is like this:  you know how instructors are always telling shooters that the gunshot should come as a surprise?  At the range  with this new trigger, I settled in and started pulling -- and promptly went "Holy crap!" when the rifle fired about a quarter through my expected pull. I was, literally, startled by how smooth and easy it was. Not only is the Timney trigger an absolute pleasure to shoot, it made my shots more accurate simply by eliminating over half of the pressure needed to squeeze the trigger. This meant I didn't have to concentrate on keeping the rifle from shifting as I applied pressure and could instead focus on aim and smoothness of pull.


3) Accuracy

This is me at 50 yards. I needed to fine-tune my scope a bit, hence the "walking in" effect.

And this is me at 100 yards, with the scope fully zeroed and having gotten used to the new trigger:

Compare this to the last time I shot my Mosin at 100 yards:

Considering that the time between these two pictures is about 9 months, I can't attribute all of that to an increase in skill. Clearly, the lighter and smoother pull is reducing trigger jerk, and that results in increased accuracy.


4) Reduction of Barrel Whip

Interestingly enough, after this I noticed that my Mosin did not do its expected "jump several inches into the air and come down on its bipod in a different place" dance like it usually does. (Note: I did not use the Armadillo Bag for this test.) Now, I do not for one second believe that the Timney trigger is responsible for this; I believe it's due to the action having been bedded. More contact area with the stock means more mass and surface area to counteract any twisting and whipping that will occur as the barrel (and therefore the action) attempts to twist out of the stock. Even indirectly, Timney has helped tame my beast of a rifle, and for that I am quite grateful.


5) Is It Worth Buying?

As always, the answer is "It depends."

If you enjoy having a cheap, no-nonsense rifle, do not buy this product.  If you enjoy abusing yourself or your friends with a nine-pound trigger pull, or if you cannot accept paying for a trigger that costs as much or than your rifle is worth, then do not buy this product.

On the other hand, if you enjoy having a manageable, adjustable trigger, buy this product. 

If you like having a safety that you can actually use (during hunting season, say), buy this product. 

If you enjoy shooting a Mosin for fun and want to increase that fun, buy this product. 

In short, owning the Timney Trigger has improved both the experience of shooting a Mosin-Nagant, and my performance with it. While it is expensive, if you are a serious Mosin shooter you will find it worth every penny. I highly recommend it all of my comrades in the Mosin Militia (especially AGirl, whom I know owns a Mosin), and I would consider it an essential upgrade, second only to a recoil pad.

Just make sure you have access to a Dremel tool.

My Rating:  A+

Obligatory finger to the FCC:  Timney provided this trigger to me for free and with no expectation of a good review. However, they did include a Watermelon-flavored Tootsie pop in their packaging, which is something that I wholeheartedly endorse. In fact, more manufacturers should include goodies in their T&E packages. Just sayin'. 

The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters

That's basically what Oleg said when he first saw my heavy modified Mosin-Nagant, although he was quoting Goya at the time. (Click link for more sexy pics of my Mosin.)

“Fantasy abandoned by reason produces impossible monsters: 

united with her, she is the mother of the arts and the origin of their marvels.”

As much as I adore that quote (because it sums me up so very well), I have to say that I am far more flattered by his own words here: "This visual offense against good design actually shoots fairly well". "Visual offense" actually tickles me, since I've never found the stock Mosin configuration to be anything more than "Is rifle. It works. What else you expect?"

I have sporterized this rifle so much that the only original parts are the bolt, receiver, barrel, and bayonet. I am certain that the purists will begin howling with outrage at how I've bastardized and bubba'd it, but my response to them is the same as always: 

Fuck you, this is my rifle. I can paint it pink and put glitter on it if I want. Nothing I do to my rifle affects yours in any conceivable way whatsoever. 

Some can argue whether or not I've improved it over the original. I can state without reservation that I've improved how it performs for me when I fire it. Whether it's improved for anyone else is irrelevant, because fuck you it's my gun. You're more than welcome to laugh at it, because even I will admit it's a Frankenstein's Monster of a rifle; just don't think you can argue with me about it. 

Modifications are as follows:

• ATI fiberglass stock with Monte Carlo grip
• Limbsaver recoil pad
• UTG all-steel scope mount 
• 2-7x32 long eye relief scope
• Winchester bipod (bought at Wal-Mart)
• Accu-Shot monopod
• Pull-ring safety/cocking knob (single machined piece, not brazed or welded)
• Timney trigger  (review of which will come later)
• Bedded action
• Floated barrel
• Limbsaver barrel de-resonator 
• Buttstock shell holder and pouch
• "Avada Kedavra" written in silver nail polish

This is my killing curse. 

There are many like it, but this one is mine.

Monday Gunday: Cleaning your Mosin-Nagant

This weekend, two important things happened:

1. I took Izzy to the 100 yard range and shot nearly 40 rounds of ammo;
2. A Girl and Her Gun bought a Mosin-Nagant!

Is gun. Is meant to be big, strong like horse.

Therefore, to welcome A Girl to the Mosin Militia, today's post is all about how to effectively clean your Mosin after shooting a bunch of rounds through it.

But first, pictures! You guys want to see what I did to my targets at 100 yards, right? Of course you do!

This is how I set up my targets, one on top of the other, because I didn't know how much my bullets would drop at 100 yards and I wanted to make sure I'd be on paper.  The answer? Not very damn much. Not sure if it was my posture, or the ammo if I was using, but damn if the first few rounds didn't seem like they were rising. Eventually I just stopped worrying about bullet drop altogether and was firing pretty much straight-on, elevation-wise.

As for windage... there was some pretty impressive wind that day, and it was swirling through the berms of the range, sometimes crosswise and sometimes straight at me. I'm not sure if that was the big difference, or if the windage on my scope was off, but either way I needed to aim slightly to the right of the target in order to hit it.

Anyway. My first few shots were higher than expected. You can see two of them at the bottom of the top target, and some others were off-paper. I fired 38 shots, and if you count all the holes you'll find 35 of them. Not bad, I'd say! I was using milsurp ammo, a bipod, and a 7x scope.

This was my first target. 13 holes punched in it. While half aren't in the inner ring, they'd still be hits on a human torso.

My second target, once I'd settled in a bit (still had some windage problems). The very bottom two holes are from shooting at the bottom target. I had 20 shots on paper here. Anything in black is a torso hit, and anything inside the middle ring is a cranial hit.

I'm actually quite shocked at how well I did, as this was my first time with Izzy at a hundred, and there was lots of wind, and 7x magnification with long eye relief isn't what I'd call a good sight picture (but then, I have crappy vision).

So after shooting 40 rounds -- about twice what I've ever fired on previous trips -- Izzy needed a good cleaning. Since A Girl said she had trouble determining how to clean her Mosin, I offered to tell her how to do it.

First, if you haven't already, remove all cosmoline from the gun. I did that after buying Izzy in 2010 and all I used were paper towels and a can of WD-40, but my friend Jeff swears by B-12 Chemtool: "spray the metal parts with it," he says, "and the cosmoline will literally drip off it in about five minutes, even if the barrel is clogged."

I've also been told that Nevr-Dull works great to give your barrel a mirror shine. Pinch off a wad of it, and ram it down the bore like it was a cleaning patch. If it comes out a blueish-gray, you're good; that's just the natural color of the polishing agent within the cotton. But if it comes out tar-black, you still have cosmoline or carbon buildup. Alternate swabs of Nevr-Dull and clean patches until it stops coming out black. I am assured that residual cosmoline within the barrel will adversely affect accuracy.

If you've already shot your gun, then I'm assuming cosmoline isn't an issue.So now let's get on with the post-shoot cleaning.

The absolutely first thing you need to do is neutralize whatever corrosive salts may be lingering inside your rifle from shooting military surplus rounds. (If you're using commercial cartridges, this isn't an issue, but you're paying a dollar a cartridge for the privilege when the rest of us are paying $30 for a box of 100.)  There are various schools of thought as to how best to accomplish this, from the old-fashioned "soap and hot water" technique to various pricey chemical neutralizers. I was told that ammonia works great for this, so I just grab a bottle of Windex a for the task. I live in hot, humid Florida -- aka corrosion central -- and I've never had a problem.

I find that it works best to remove the receiver from the magazine and clean them in three parts: the bolt, the magazine, and the barrel. The first two get sprayed down while sitting on my cleaning mat, and then wiped with a paper towel. Then I take the barrel into the bathroom, and after spraying the receiver I give several good squirts into the chamber, rotating the barrel in my hands so that the Windex coats the entire bore surface before dripping out into the toilet. Now take your bore inspection light (you do have one, right? You can buy one at Wal-Mart for about $7) and make sure everything looks wet & shiny.*

Foreplay is over. Now let's get to cleaning this bad boy!

Take your bronze brush and scrub the heck out of your bolt-face until there's no carbon left. Use a scraper if necessary. Coat with a lubricant of your choice (I prefer Break-Free CLP) and set it aside.

Take the hinge plate off the magazine and give everything a good squirt of CLP. Wipe down the excess and set it aside.

Time to get serious with the receiver and barrel. There are a few tools I swear by that make my life easier:

• Otis Tactical Cleaning System
• Hoppe's Boresnake in 30 caliber (model 24015)
• Mosin-Nagant cleaning rod guide

Take your Otis cleaning rod, select a #30 brush, and pull it through the bore a few times. If you're using the cleaning rod guide, you'll need to affix the additional pistol piece to accommodate the length of the rifle. 

Next, take the cleaner of your choice and spray or squirt it onto the boresnake. I like to put some right at the leading edge, and again after the bristles where it widens. Thanks to the cleaning rod guide you can do the easy thing and clean from muzzle to breach -- which is technically a no-no, but isn't a big deal in this case, because the guide will channel all the crud clear of the gun -- or you can go breech to muzzle if you'd rather. Do that however many times you feel is necessary (I like to do it about 5-6 times) and then run a patch through the bore.

(This is where things can get a bit tricky, because if you aren't using the rod guide then your patch is likely picking up crud from the outside of the chamber and pulling it through the bore. This is not what you want, because it makes your life harder and you think the barrel is dirtier than it actually is.)

Once you're happy with the condition of your bore, having run boresnake and patches down it a few times, and visually inspected it with a light, you're ready to clean the chamber and receiver. The receiver itself is easy: get a bronze brush, the cleaner of your choice, and scrub it until you're satisfied with its cleanliness. Don't forget to lube the trigger and check the tightness of the screw holding the interrupter pin!

Cleaning the chamber is probably the hardest part of all, and I don't have a great technique for it just yet. Fortunately, I am reassured that unless my rifle starts giving me problems with extracting spent rounds, it doesn't have to be pristine. If your 50+ year-old rifle can survive illiterate conscripts and the Russian winter, it can survive you!

My best suggest for cleaning the chamber is to spray it with a strong solvent, like Gunk Out, and then attack it with either the longest bronze brush you have, or put a larger bore brush on it (perhaps .45 cal, or a shotgun brush) and scrub the hell out of it. Then wrap a patch around the brush and wipe it clean. Repeat as necessary.

Before assembly, spray the receiver, chamber, and bore with more CLP. If you have excess, just wipe it on the outside metal of the rifle.

Re-assemble your Mosin, and do a function check. I have found it's very, very easy to over-tighten one of the magazine screws while under-tightening another, and this often leads to failure to feed. Once I get each screw started, I like to go back and forth between the screws in one-revolution increments. Load up a stripper clip, shove the rounds into your rifle, and carefully work the bolt to see if they feed.

At all times during the process, be aware of the rules of firearms safety! Know where the muzzle is pointing and for God's sake, keep your booger hook off the bang switch!

Et voila -- or, more accurately, электронной Вуаля -- your Mosin-Nagant is now clean, oiled, and ready for storage. Make sure it's unloaded, slowly and carefully  take the tension off the bolt, and put your rifle into its case.


Congratulations! You're all done!


*UPDATE:  If you are in the habit of shooting your Mosin with the bayonet attached, do not forget to clean the bayonet shaft closest to the muzzle! Corrosive salts will spray from the barrel and begin to rust your bayonet (don't ask me how I know this) if you don't hose it down with Windex.

I've since discovered an easier way to clean the bore without having to take the rifle into the bathroom:  I attach the bayonet, go into the backyard, and stab the receiver into the ground like a tomato stake. From there I just spray the chamber and barrel and let the Windex work its way down while I clean the bolt and magazine.