Loading Mosin rifle

I am not familiar with how the Mosin were used - I believe the 303 British ammo arrived to the troops in the field in 5 round chargers - soldiers did not load up the chargers - that is how they came - no up or down - #2 and #4 rims were ahead of #1, #3 and #5 rims in the charger - all straighten themselves out as being loaded. Britain, Canada, Australia - must have been many millions made and used? But I do not know how the Mosin ammo was distributed - did soldiers load their own chargers??
 
Potashminer said:
I am not familiar with how the Mosin were used - I believe the 303 British ammo arrived to the troops in the field in 5 round chargers - soldiers did not load up the chargers - that is how they came - no up or down - #2 and #4 rims were ahead of #1, #3 and #5 rims in the charger - all straighten themselves out as being loaded. Britain, Canada, Australia - must have been many millions made and used? But I do not know how the Mosin ammo was distributed - did soldiers load their own chargers??
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Generally, no. Ammo was issued for rifles in cardboard packets which held 3 clips each holding 5 rounds. These packets conveniently fit inside the load bearing pouches worn by soldiers (I am referencing pre war kit and ammo). Mid to late war ammo pouches were often of more "ersatz" construction where there would be no room for the cardboard packet. The common kirza post war pouches do not hold cardboard but the East German reparation pouches which were made to pre war specs afaik will.

Staggering rounds on mosin clips to prevent rim jam is a fools errand, as mentioned the interrupter when functioning correctly will separate the next round to be chambered from the rest in the magazine eliminating any contact between the rim of the round it holds and those below. Staggering rounds in the clip to provide rigidity and even pressure while pushing the rounds into the mag is quite sensible however. Personally I have shot thousands of rounds over dozens of mosin nagants (with functioning interrupters) I have experienced precisely 0 rim jams. I really hope someday we get proper repro clips for these. The chinese copies of finnish/imperial clips are soft as butter.
 
BlackPowderBurner said:
Generally, no. Ammo was issued for rifles in cardboard packets which held 3 clips each holding 5 rounds. These packets conveniently fit inside the load bearing pouches worn by soldiers (I am referencing pre war kit and ammo). Mid to late war ammo pouches were often of more "ersatz" construction where there would be no room for the cardboard packet. The common kirza post war pouches do not hold cardboard but the East German reparation pouches which were made to pre war specs afaik will.

Staggering rounds on mosin clips to prevent rim jam is a fools errand, as mentioned the interrupter when functioning correctly will separate the next round to be chambered from the rest in the magazine eliminating any contact between the rim of the round it holds and those below. Staggering rounds in the clip to provide rigidity and even pressure while pushing the rounds into the mag is quite sensible however. Personally I have shot thousands of rounds over dozens of mosin nagants (with functioning interrupters) I have experienced precisely 0 rim jams. I really hope someday we get proper repro clips for these. The chinese copies of finnish/imperial clips are soft as butter.
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There are surplus clips available as well.
 
Out of curiosity I tried couple of different methods of loading the stripper clips. All I can say is that I’m sticking with the staggered one as the most reliable and smooth.
 
BlackPowderBurner said:
Generally, no. Ammo was issued for rifles in cardboard packets which held 3 clips each holding 5 rounds. These packets conveniently fit inside the load bearing pouches worn by soldiers (I am referencing pre war kit and ammo). Mid to late war ammo pouches were often of more "ersatz" construction where there would be no room for the cardboard packet. The common kirza post war pouches do not hold cardboard but the East German reparation pouches which were made to pre war specs afaik will.

Staggering rounds on mosin clips to prevent rim jam is a fools errand, as mentioned the interrupter when functioning correctly will separate the next round to be chambered from the rest in the magazine eliminating any contact between the rim of the round it holds and those below. Staggering rounds in the clip to provide rigidity and even pressure while pushing the rounds into the mag is quite sensible however. Personally I have shot thousands of rounds over dozens of mosin nagants (with functioning interrupters) I have experienced precisely 0 rim jams. I really hope someday we get proper repro clips for these. The chinese copies of finnish/imperial clips are soft as butter.
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I bought a bunch of Soviet surplus clips off ebay from sellers in Russia. All the ones I received are Izhvesk marked and function good. They cost a lot more than Chinese junk clips but you get what you pay for. Shop around for the best deals as some sellers charge more for 3 of them than others do for 5.
 
I suspect that all of the refurbished M91’s are waaaaaaay over sprung including the interrupter spring. That’s probably why they’re a total ##### to cycle and load.
 
Tudenom said:
I suspect that all of the refurbished M91’s are waaaaaaay over sprung including the interrupter spring. That’s probably why they’re a total ##### to cycle and load.
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I thinned the interrupter spring on mine and relieved the wood a bit to allow a bit more travel, made a huge difference.
Also did a lot of polishing on the bolt and shorten the main spring, now it cycles way better.
 
My Mosin came into the country in the 50s, or early 60s. What has been supplied, and by which refurb facility, may be different from what guys are getting today.

I got curious about this issue, as I don't remember ever having feeding problems on mine. I grabbed some 1F brass (blue and white PRVI box) and made up 5 dummy rounds. It has been below -20C, so I wasn't about to go to the range.

To load them, I pushed the first one down, then levered it forward with the second round. I pushed the second one down, with its rim behind the first, then levered it forward with the third round. This was continued with rounds 4 and 5 so that all had been put in the magazine with the rounds staggered the "wrong" way. I tried several times to cycle the rounds as fast as Mr. T-shirt, but I am a left shooter so cycling any bolt on the right is awkward. As for the cycling, all five rounds chambered and flew out of the action perfectly, every time.

One observation I have for guys with feeding problems is to load their magazine and check the top round. On my rifle the top round is clearly separate from the rounds below. You can move it around back and forth with your finger. As the previous posters have said, watch to see if there is pressure on the top round from the rounds below; this would not be correct.
 
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Just to be clear, so my apologies if I wasn't. The method I'm recommending is not addressing any issues with feeding, but only with loading. My rifle feeds quite reliably (with occasional round getting jammed sometimes on its way to the chamber, but that's not because of the rim lock and rather the angle in which it pops out from the mag). In fact I can't recollect any rim lock ever with my Mosin. I'm finding however that loading while using the top round as a leverage to push all the rounds into action when they are staggered is MUCH smoother than other methods out there. I think it may slightly helps with those occasional jams too, but I'm not 100% on that. Staggered rounds sure can't make feeding any worse in any case.
 
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