Shooting a 70-Year Old Rifle

"That is not your Mosin Nagant you have. It belonged to others before you and will belong to others after you are gone. Look after it and pass it on with pride. It deserves it."

- Author Unknown

Finally, I took the Mosin Nagant 91/30 rifle out to the range.  It had been almost a year since I bought it, and I hadn't been shooting recently, either.   Of course, I still blogged about this Russian rifle twice: once when I first got it, and second when I left them outside in the summer heat to get some of the Cosmoline off of them.  In this second posting, I made an interesting observation on the 'religiosity' of the Mosin Nagant.

Before taking it to the range, I took the gun apart.  I did it to check  out all the parts, make sure they all looked intact, and to clean all  that Russian version of Vaseline known as Cosmoline.  At the end of World War II, these rifles were refurbished and then dipped in vats of Cosmoline, a petroleum-based substance used to limit rust and corrosion.  Then they were set aside, ready for the start of the Great Patriotic War against the Capitalistic American Enemy.  That never happened, and so at some point people in Russia realized that people all over the world would pay under $100 for these surplus firearms, even if they were still smothered in a cake of old Cosmoline.

Notice that the economy has even hit the surplus firearm market.  I payed a little bit more than $100 for mine, but not much.

One other thing was done for each Mosin Nagant.  Each one was blessed, considering it could have been used for more than just defending Mother Russia.  Combatants often abandon morals - recall news of some atrocious behavior by our Marines in Afghanistan - and I did not want to have what could have been a weapon of oppression in my house.

As I said, I took this gun apart to clean it.  If you don't do this, the cosmoline tends to ooze out of all the nooks and crannies as the rifle heats up.  Then you have to clean off more than just the usual metal and gunpowder reside off of your hands.

It got really hot when we shot it, by the way.

I noticed that there was an additional bolt in the stock of this rifle.  When I looked inside I saw that there was a break in the stock where the wood bridged from one side to the other

Another thing I forgot to mention was that the armorers seemed to be a little stamp-crazy when they worked on these.  Nearly every flat surface would have some sort of symbol or letter - some of them Cyrillic - indicating Lord only knows what about the rifle.  There are online resources which can help decipher the marks.  In the case of this rifle, it was made in 1942 at the Izhevsk weapons manufacturing plant in Russia.  Typically the serial number is stamped on the receiver, the base plate of the magazine, and the butt plate.  In my case, all three serial numbers are the same, indicating that those were probably the original parts rather than those scavenged from another rifle.


After I put it back together, this is what it looked like.  Of course, I still don't know what those few leftover pieces were supposed to go.......

Then I put it on my bedroom floor and took another picture, complete with my unpolished boots.

Game Day.  We took it to Elm Fork Shooting Sports in Dallas.  It is located in a bad part of town, unfortunately.  I told the children to avoid looking at the advertisements; most of the businesses around there were the kind that one finds around firing ranges, airports, and military installations.  Sad.

Still, the folks there were really nice.  I realized that the business card I had gotten from them last year - complete with holes punched in it - was actually a ticket for 10 visits to the rifle/pistol or shotgun ranges.  In other words, I had already paid for our shooting that day.  Woo-hoo!

We got a lane in the 'tactical' part of the range so we could shoot both rifle and pistols without moving around a lot.  Here the Mosin Nagant is lying on the bench, and the target is 30 yards away.

I wanted to shoot it first, not only because IT'S MY TOY, but also because I knew from my reading that there was a small chance that the firing pin could penetrate the primer too much and cause some of the escaping gases to spray back toward the operator.  I donned protective eyewear to go over my glasses, and assumed the position.  I lined up the center 'X' with the sights, and tried to control my breathing and steadying my aim.  I suddenly glanced at the end of the bolt, where a scratch made by some armorer long ago indicated that the firing pin was positioned correctly.  I started to think about that Canadian rifle from World War I, the one with the straight-pull bolt, which had a nasty tendency to occasionally slam back into the eye of the soldier.  I said a quick prayer to my guardian angel, took aim, breathed in, exhaled slowly, and gently squeezed the trigger.

Bam!

Not bad.  The kick wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  I studied the target.  I was sure I must have hit the target.  I mean, there was no way that this old rifle, well known for its accuracy, could have not hit the target.  Nothing.  I was dumbfounded.  I slid back the bolt, ejecting the first spent shell, and fed in the next cartridge into the receiver.  I still couldn't believe it.  I had totally missed the target!

Just then I noticed that there was an unusually large hole in the target to the right of mine.  Two men at the station next to us were having a field day shooting off .223 caliber rounds.  They had a whole bunch of weapons laid out, including at least one AK-47, but at that time they were shooting the smaller caliber AR-15 bullets.  They either did not notice, or did not care, that a larger bullet (approximately .30 caliber) had suddenly joined their groupings.

Well that was it.  Here I am firing it.  We tried using the little stripper clips to speed load it, but they did not work.  We shall have to try it some other time. This is me:



Here Benedict(15) shoots the Mosin Nagant from a standing position.  You can get a good look at the rifle and how fun it is to shoot.



As we continued firing, eventually putting 60 rounds through it, I noticed a few things.  One is that the barrel and receiver got really hot.  I burned my thumb when I touched it one time, and I noticed that the heat coming off the barrel made the target seem to swim in the sights.  I also noticed that the action seemed stiffer and harder to work.  Then there was the shoulder discomfort.  My shoulder is still a little sore today.  When you watch Cornelius (11) shoot, you can see how the bolt seems to be fighting us and that the recoil could really do a number on one's shoulder or collarbone:




Each of us shot almost 20 rounds through the Mosin Nagant; one of my daughters did accompany us and at least shot it once just to see what it was like.  By the end of the day, all I could think about was how hard it must be shooting that rifle while German soldiers charge at you.  Another reason to pray for peace.

The next day, I shot pellet guns in the back yard with some of the younger boys.  That will have to be another story for another day:

And now for something completely different:

The Most Catholic of Firearms

What is the most Catholic of all firearms?

One would assume an Italian rifle or shotgun would take this prize. Perhaps something which was given to Pope Benedict XVI, or one of his predecessors, is right now gathering dust in the corner of a storage room where gifts are placed until they can be put on display somewhere in the Vatican.

Think about it: every gift received by any head of state must be kept in some sort of place of honor, because they cannot be cast aside without offending the giver. Unless, of course, one is the current president of our fair country, and decided that a bust of Winston Churchill given to President 'W' Bush after 9/11 could be returned to the British. Hopefully, President Obama kept the pen and box made from the hull of a British Navy ship which combated slavery.

I would argue that the award for the most Catholic firearm would not go to any Italian firearm; nor would I give that distinction to the M1 Garand, the World War II rifle designed by John Cantius Garand. That is a statue of St. John Cantius above, and the M1 Garand rifle below:



No, I think the award for the most Catholic of Firearms belongs to a Soviet rifle which has many names but is generally referred to as the Mosin Nagant rifle. Back in February, I wrote a little essay about something I picked up at a local gun store. It was a Mosin Nagant 91/30, built in 1942, and was only about $120. Over the past few months, I have been slowly reading up on this weapon, taking it apart, cleaning it, and putting it back together again. I found the experience fascinating, as the history behind this rifle is almost as interesting as its function as a weapon.

Here is the Mosin Nagant when I first took a picture of it:


Now look what has happened. Where once there was one, now there are three! They are almost as prodigious as Tribbles, and that is why they are considered by me to be the Most Catholic of Firearms:



The original Mosin Nagant is at the top of the picture. Another 91/30 is at the bottom; in between is an M44, which is a carbine version of the Mosin Nagant rifle and comes with an attached bayonet. I am still in the process of cleaning up those other two rifles, and thought that I would let them sit out in the sun to loosen up some of the lubricant encasing them. Today is another day with strong winds out of the South, and temperatures above 100, and it did not take long before I had my hands full wiping off the 'cosmoline' lubricant.

I think cosmoline is the Russian version of Vaseline, only darker. Perhaps Vaseline gets dark after a couple of decades.

Along with the rifles, I pulled out the cartridge holders, oil and solvent cans, and the cleaning and tool kit which came with the 91/30's. They were also encased in cosmoline, and I thought I would remove the cosmoline using the North Texas heat rather than the household oven like this man did:



Ew. Instead I put the tool and cleaning instruments as well as the oil/solvent cans out in the back yard. I love my wife and children too much to do this kind of stuff inside. All that brown stuff is the cosmoline:

Note that the two cans are shaped differently. There are collectors who know all about anything that is associated with the Mosin Nagant, and they could tell me where the can originated and how it was designed. I am not that interested in that, though.

The only tool needed to service the Mosin Nagant is this little piece of metal. It has a screwdriver blade on one end, and the oval shaped hole is to help placement or removal of the bayonet. The most important thing on this tool are the series of cuts made into the side of it. Those cuts are used to verify the distance which the firing pin extends out of the bolt. If it does not come out enough, the pin won't contact the primer. If it extends too far, hot gases may spray back at the user when the firing pin penetrates the primer cover. So this is a vital tool to keep the rifle functioning.


I hope that my next blog entry on firearms will be me shooting one - or all - of these rifles.

Psychologist Dr. Ray Guarendi, who along with his wife adopted 10 children, likes to talk about the 'unplanned adoption' they had, when they ended up with one more child than they expected. Well, since we are doing the Dave Ramsey Total Money Makeover, there is no room for impulsive buying at gun shows - at least not without consulting with Carolyn. So while I would consider the Mosin Nagant to be gifted with the ability to reproduce quickly, I don't expect to see any more new additions to the family gun collection.

We would rather see other, more human, additions to our family:

New Topic, New Toy

I bought a Russian Rifle. This rifle is commonly known by its two developers; hence the name, Mosin-Nagant. For the history behind this rifle, I direct you to the Wikipedia page dedicated to it. My rifle would be referred to as the Model 91/30.

There are several reasons why I purchased this rifle. One, it has a simple design, with a bolt action. The children and I have been looking into getting a bolt action rifle, and this one has a history of being very reliable and fun to shoot. Two, it is very inexpensive. Some of these are advertised for less than $100. Three, they are very accurate, even with just iron sights. Four, it is an historical item; ours was manufactured in 1942. Five, they are very tough. The ammunition leaves a corrosive residue in the barrel, so one has to clean the rifle immediately after shooting. Some folks recommend pouring boiling hot water down the barrel to clean it. This was intriguing to me. Everything about this gun is fascinating, and to really understand all aspects of it will take some time and study.

I went to a local gun store on Thursday, taking my student driver with me so he could get some icy road condition driving experience. We saw a lot of cars and trucks in the ditches, and Gus got to slide along on the ice for a while. It was worth it to give him some practice in adverse weather, and to patronize a local merchant.

As one can see below, this is a rifle with a bolt action, and a non-detachable magazine which carries 5 cartridges. This model has a wooden stock and a detachable bayonet. It also came with two magazine pouches, a sling, a can for holding oil, and a small pouch of tools. I need to figure out what all the tools are for.


The rifle was packed in a substance called 'cosmoline,' which looks like brown vaseline. It appears as if the gun was dipped into a container of this stuff. This will be one of the first things I shall do with this. Note the goo in the action below:

One thing I did do was bless it with holy water. It occurred to me that this rifle probably saw action in World War II, and with the Russian troops it may have been an instrument of oppression of civilians as well as a combat weapon. Carolyn and the children and I recently read of some of the horrible things that were done by the Russians as they drove through Germany - and how the Russian people suffered as well under Josef Stalin. I recommended that some of the older children consider reading One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn to get an insight into life in the Soviet Union. I felt better after blessing the rifle.

Even with all the goo in it the action is smooth. There are an assortment of markings on the receiver, including a new serial number placed on it when it was imported into the United States. There is a website which lists all the markings known and the explanation for most of them. This type of rifle was made in Russia, the United States (during World War I), all other Soviet bloc countries, and Finland. The Finnish versions were taken from Russian soldiers who died while fighting Finland; these rifles were then revised and put back into service against the Russians. Like I said, the history behind this rifle is really fascinating.

These guns are accurate. They were used by snipers during the Second World War. Here are some women soldiers/snipers proudly displaying their 'scoped' versions of the Mosin Nagant.


I shall keep the blog posted as I take this thing apart and get it ready for some target shooting.

Guys Named Steve, and the Guns they Like:

North Texas Saturday Scenes

Another reason to thank God: Diaper manufacturers have stopped putting cute pictures on the back of the diaper. This means that I won't be putting diapers on backwards in the middle of the night

Today we are celebrating Benedict's birthday; it is next week, but there are other things going on that day. Ben wanted ribs, so I have been cooking them 'low and slow' on the grill.

Better get extra dental floss.

Here is a YouTube website which I find inspirational when trying to think of new ways to grill. These guys really love bacon:



This young man likes grapes:

Here are flowers for Carolyn; those in the foreground are from our fields, while the ones in the back are from a florist. Which do you suppose she likes more?


Another variety of flowers from our property:

There is a conspiracy in the Airsoft industry. They are determined to get an airsoft gun in the hands of every red-blooded American. This one was less than $20. It shoots well, too.


Speaking of guns, I can't get this song out of my head:



I like guns, and I love Carolyn and my children.

Somehow those two things are inter-related.

I hope to shoot an AK-47 someday.

DFW Street Scenes

New this Lent. Purple Sno-balls from Hostess. Unfortunately, I could not find any of the 'rose' ones which were sold only on Laetere Sunday - that's last week for those of you who don't know.

They taste the same as the white, orange, and green ones:
Here is a sweet little boy with bacterial conjunctivitis shopping while his prescription is filled. He demonstrated 'purulent discharge' from his nose all over Dad's shirt while at the pediatrician on Saturday morning.

If Obamacare takes effect, I foresee no more Saturday hours....

A fifteen year old shows off his size 15 boots. Smooth ostrich. I hear once you wear ostrich, you will never want any other kind.

I am sticking with cowhide for now.

A typical scene in a dining room at a restaurant in Fort Worth. Riscky's makes a good hamburger. I recommend it for those visiting the Fort Worth Stockyards.

Hey! Someone with more vanity than me:

Lenten Meditation: Gun Shows, Harley's, Costco, and Mortification

Today, the first Saturday of Lent, I started out by going to the TSRA (Texas State Rifle Association) meeting. Actually, we only went to the gun show part of the meeting, since we did not have time to stick around for the seminars and meetings. acouple of thoughts came out of walking around the displays.

One is that one part of the economy is really booming; all the folks reported a brisk sale of guns and ammunition. Signs indicating accessories which might be outlawed in the future by our present regime were everywhere. The only down side of this economically stimulated niche was that ammunition was in short supply, and the prices were higher than a few months ago.

Another thought is that some of the vendors at gun shows don't seem to be there to sell guns. There were some tables full of food, perfume, cameras, knives (well I guess that is okay), and books. While most displays were very professional and organized, there were other tables that looked as if they were selling stuff left over from a garage sale. The only thing I saw in common with all these tables was at least one gun for sale on each table. I spent the longest time talking to a man who had a collection of old cameras.

The kids wanted me to buy an AR-15, but I don't know what I would do with one. We couldn't shoot it on our property without the bullet traveling to the next county. I did enter a drawing for a few things. One was for a gun safe, which would be a great way to store the air guns that are literally stuffed into the first gun safe we have. The other drawing was for something which falls under the 'Harley-Davidson' category of things in this world.

Let me explain.

As a physician, I have a bad attitude about cigarettes, cigars, hang gliding, parachuting, motorcycle riding, ATV's, and accordions. All of these things are associated with bad memories from working at high level trauma centers or, in the case of the accordion, from taking my children to a piano teacher who had a picture of the 'father of the accordion' on her mantlepiece. Since I only see the down side of these things, I would never allow one in my house. For example, I would not want a motorcycle because of the danger it would expose myself and my family to. The exception is in the case of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle; if one found itself somehow attached to my estate I would keep it 'just because it's a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.'

Enter the Harley-Davidson of guns: the Thompson Machine Gun.

This is the one which was made famous during the 1920's and was used extensively during World War II. I am sure the one I probably won't win is not fully automatic(I am not licensed to have a machine gun, to the great disappointment of my sons), but it still would be cool to fire, kinda like this one:



Cool.

After going to the gun show, we stopped off at Costco. It was lunchtime, so I sent the two Noisykids with me to grab a slice of pizza and a drink for all of us. In the meantime, I went shopping. Within minutes, I had entered the free samples zone, and soon found myself full of goodies. I had pot roast, baked tilapia, smoked salmon, almond butter, pizza(two kinds), organic pasta sauce, apple slices, sliced turkey, sugar cereal, chicken salad, bagel and cream cheese, and some muffins. After all that I did not want what the boys brought back from the food court. I ran into one of the workers at Costco who recently graduated from our homeshooling group, and he smiled at me and said,

"Ah, Lent!"

All this sample testing went well until I stopped by one table and popped a handful of what looked like granola into my mouth. Not much taste, I thought.

"That's cat litter you just put into your mouth, son," the man at the display said.

All this indulging in food, and the comment about Lent made me remind the children(and myself) that I have to try all the samples for the good of Costco as well as for the good of my family. I mean to say that if I did not try something, I would not know if it would be acceptable for my family. How else would we have known that peanut butter filled pretzels were better than they looked?

About Mortification:

Lent is here, and there are some things I have decided to give up. They are three simple things which go along with the family sacrifices.

They are:

1. 15-minute rule on the computer, which I am flagrantly violating by typing this post. This includes not putting anything on Facebook unless it is in response to another person's message on Facebook.

2. Custody of the eyes. This is something any male must practice, and I am cracking down on myself this Lent.

3. I am taking a temporary vow, not punishable by sin if it is violated. This vow is to:

NEVER AGAIN EAT FISH WHICH HAS BEEN BREADED AND FRIED OR BAKED; TO EAT ONLY FISH WHICH IS UNCOVERED IN ORDER TO DETERMINE THAT ALL OF SAID FISH IS PART OF THE SAME PARTICULAR FISH OR PORTION OF FISH BODY, THEREBY AVOIDING THE CONSUMPTION OF INFERIOR FISH WHICH HAS BEEN PROCESSED INTO PORTIONS BY CONGLOMERATION OF FISH FLESH WITH THAT WHICH WILL HOLD IT TOGETHER.

Please pray for me.

A New Year, A New You/Me?

This year the Noisykids and I have endeavored to be more active in the great outdoors. We have been preparing for a garden, working on some sort of exercise program, and doing some totally new things.

Well, sort of new things. We have always enjoyed shooting air rifles, and now we are branching out into air shotguns!

Air shotguns are not new(check out this link), but recently a company from Spain called Gamo started selling an air shotgun in the U.S. Several of the older Noisykids wanted one, and they made a great Christmas present.

Here is a video of one of the Noisykids shooting a can.



I was trying to set up this shot so that you could see the can after it was peppered with #9 shot. What should have happened is that the water in the can would stream out of the holes, giving it a kind of 'cartoon' look about it. Do you recall seeing Saturday morning cartoon characters who would take a drink, with the liquid just running out of them?

Am I the only one who remembers Saturday morning cartoons?

Anyways, as you can see the can was so close to the shotgun that it just got blown away. Not very impressive. You can see how the water sprays back towards the shotgun.

Here is another Noisykid who just reached the age to shoot some of the smaller 'big' guns:



Note how the camera makes it look as if the bottle just disappeared. This video was taken by my cell phone, and it is not the highest quality.

Air shotguns are fine for the back yard, but to go after bigger and better targets, we needed a shotgun. We have taken up skeet and trap shooting, and some day we shall go hunting for little birds that turn into little chickens in the oven.

I need a lot of practice to become proficient at trap and skeet, but here is a video of one of my sister-in-laws hitting a 'clay' thrown out by a machine. I stopped the video a little early, so you missed the victory dance:



Oh well. It is late and I have to clean that shotgun before I go shooting tomorrow.

I shall have to write later about how we have taken up the martial art of Taekwon Do!

How about a baby picture?


Here is Bernard, earlier this week, ready for his visit to the pediatrician on one of the few cold days we have had this Winter.

Today was 80 degrees....I love Texas - but I love my wife more.