Why do Military Surplus Rifles have so much Wood??
- Thread starter bryan.14
- Start date
StrelokM38
CGN Regular
Don't quote me on this. But im assuming since these rifles tend to get incredibly hot throughout firing. It would be to protect them from getting burnt on their own gun while handling it on the battlefield.
Aside from that, I think they look fantastic with so much wood. Getting tired of the Plastic Fantastic everything of modern firearms. Tacky and awful looking.
Aside from that, I think they look fantastic with so much wood. Getting tired of the Plastic Fantastic everything of modern firearms. Tacky and awful looking.
- Location
- Southern ontario
Probably so your not running around in the freezing cold holding onto frozen steel. And a bit more bulk to add for carrying
The full wood keeps the barrel the same uniform temperature when firing, if these rifles did not have full wood, the top of the barrel would be cooler causing the barrel to warp upward and shoot high.
It gets worse when you are tasked with giving suppressive covering fire and firing long bursts of ammo.
It gets worse when you are tasked with giving suppressive covering fire and firing long bursts of ammo.
Last edited:
dragansrbin
Regular
- Location
- Stoners Creek
because made in the day before plastic..........
The full wood keeps the barrel the same uniform temperature when firing, if these rifles did not have full wood, the top of the barrel would be cooler causing the barrel to warp upward and shoot high."
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Wow, they thought of that in the 15th century????
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Wow, they thought of that in the 15th century????
Eaglelord17
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Sault Ste. Marie
A full stock does many things, it allows you to grasp the rifle even when warm (if your climbing out of a trench to bayonet someone after firing 30 or 40 rounds that barrel is going to get hot, trust me having done the whole grab a rifle barrel by the wrong point when getting out of the trench it does ruin your day), provides better support for bayoneting (something they put a fair bit of thought into back in the day), and it helps protect the rifle from the elements.
In regards to the full handguard helps accuracy it depends on who you are asking. The main reason countries added the front handguard was to make the rifle easier to grab when warm (the early 1891 Mosin Nagants didn't have a top handguard, and several other rifles didn't have the handguard or only had a partial one like G98).
Personally I would rather have a full wooden stock then a plastic stock, probably why I love Milsurps so much.
In regards to the full handguard helps accuracy it depends on who you are asking. The main reason countries added the front handguard was to make the rifle easier to grab when warm (the early 1891 Mosin Nagants didn't have a top handguard, and several other rifles didn't have the handguard or only had a partial one like G98).
Personally I would rather have a full wooden stock then a plastic stock, probably why I love Milsurps so much.
- Location
- Where the sun shines
Not sure about other rifles, but holding a Mosin by the barrel with both hands makes for a very effective club. The forestock makes for a very sure grip.
And there is another point, apart from protection from heat/cold which nobody has mentioned.
Militaries generally have not been too bothered about the weight of a Service weapon for a very good reason: pick up a rifle, run across a field, dodging shell-craters and machine-guns, hiding behind things and then running flat-out and finally doing a charge "straight at 'em"..... and your heart will be pounding like a triphammer. The elevated blood-pressure makes accuracy of any quality more a dream than an ambition. But a good, solid, heavy rifle tends to waver around MUCH less in the hands of an exhausted man or a man with elevated blood-pressure, than would a light rifle.
So they left the rifles heavy, despite their being a chore to carry around..... and at the same time left their MEN better able to survive.
Militaries generally have not been too bothered about the weight of a Service weapon for a very good reason: pick up a rifle, run across a field, dodging shell-craters and machine-guns, hiding behind things and then running flat-out and finally doing a charge "straight at 'em"..... and your heart will be pounding like a triphammer. The elevated blood-pressure makes accuracy of any quality more a dream than an ambition. But a good, solid, heavy rifle tends to waver around MUCH less in the hands of an exhausted man or a man with elevated blood-pressure, than would a light rifle.
So they left the rifles heavy, despite their being a chore to carry around..... and at the same time left their MEN better able to survive.
The full wood keeps the barrel the same uniform temperature when firing, if these rifles did not have full wood, the top of the barrel would be cooler causing the barrel to warp upward and shoot high.
It gets worse when you are tasked with giving suppressive covering fire and firing long bursts of ammo.
Where do I get one of theses??? Every milsurp collection should have one!!!
You beat me to it. Wondering if that would come up.
