SKS or Mosin?

With an sks he's going to have fun and I love shooting an sks but with the Mosin it's not only a piece of History not that the sks is'nt but he will have to take his time to shoot and learn marksmanship more so with the Nagant then bam bam bam with the sks.

I don't have to beat the heck out of a Mosin bolt to get it to cycle. and I never learn't how to shoot a gun off youtube either.
 
To be fair I've only shot my buddies but to cycle the bolt required significantly more effort than any other bolt gun I've tried. TFB has done a number of videos on the mosin which only confirm my feelings on it. It's a cheap gun that shoots cheap ammo.
 
RSK said:
To be fair I've only shot my buddies but to cycle the bolt required significantly more effort than any other bolt gun I've tried. TFB has done a number of videos on the mosin which only confirm my feelings on it. It's a cheap gun that shoots cheap ammo.
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His Mosin must be garbage, my bolt is smoother than my modern bolt action rifles. Admittedly I have polished and worked it in well but it is butter now and it's a great gun to shoot. I have some very expensive rifles but would never sell my Mosin.
 
I wouldn't make such a bold claim about the Mosin RSK. Especially seeing that you've only fired one of millions that were made, and it wasn't even yours, but a friends.
 
Hey RSK I just saw your other post where someone was saying that our military is going to retire the BHP. and you said it should have said Browning Hipower . what what do you think BHP meens ??? I took two friends shooting one day with an sks and a Mosin Nagant . which one do you think they liked the best ?? the Mosin . I gave them a hammer so they could cycle the bolt . LOL
 
RSK said:
To be fair I've only shot my buddies but to cycle the bolt required significantly more effort than any other bolt gun I've tried. TFB has done a number of videos on the mosin which only confirm my feelings on it. It's a cheap gun that shoots cheap ammo.
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Like other people said, that particular rifle must have an issue. I personally prefer K98 and don't even own a Mosin anymore but I've fired at least a dozen of them over the years, full size ones and carbines. Didn't really notice any major issues with action/accuracy/handling etc. Only issue I had was engaging/disengaging safety while wearing thick gloves when shooting during winter months. It does what it's made for with ammo that was made for it. I've fired couple of properly setup original SVM's with original optics using commercial ammo. I was really surprised by groupings to be honest.
 
If you are a new shooter then I would definitely suggest the Mosin over the SKS. Semi's with cheap ammo usually do not create good shooting skills. You may have the discipline to squeeze off each shot but most don't. Just too much fun to bang away. Many if not most military surplus rifles are not that accurate. Exceptions are those designated for snipers and my personal favorites the Swedish Mauser and the Swiss K11/K31 rifles. Stay clear of Finnish M39's (Excellent rifles BTW) and the shorter barrel Russians such as the M44 and M38. They kick like mules and unless you are have nerves of steel you will most likely develop a flinch. A shooting flinch is hard to correct. The 1934 Mosin you mentioned is a good year compared to many made after the invasion by Germany in June of 1941. My son has a 1934 Izhevsk all matching that was returned for repair and ended up being sent to Spain. Most refurbished rifles have good to very good bores and can be recognized by the pinning of the rear sight base. One other note on the surplus "Cheap Ammo" for both rifles. All I have seen and used are steel core and most if not all indoor ranges will not let you use it.
 
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cement head said:
Hey RSK I just saw your other post where someone was saying that our military is going to retire the BHP. and you said it should have said Browning Hipower . what what do you think BHP meens ??? I took two friends shooting one day with an sks and a Mosin Nagant . which one do you think they liked the best ?? the Mosin . I gave them a hammer so they could cycle the bolt . LOL
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The OP was 1191 instead of 1911 which was also wrong.
 
A lot of guys here hate to see mil surp's modified at all. I have a couple sks's and a couple mosin's. none are original. I can't shoot with iron sights, never learned but am always willing.
That being said, both my mosin's have timney triggers, one is in a timbersmith thumbhole stock and the other in an archangel. Both have scout scopes
One sks has a folding stock, magwedge rail, Ak style break and nc star optic.
The other in a synthetic Monte Carlo stock, hi cal mag adapter and the choice of the scout scope or peep sight(depends on how I feel). Kivaari trigger soon I hope.

None of my rifles came in the original stocks, with used parts none have cost me more than 500 to build. All are good shooters and fun.
While I have my rpal, I haven't gone the ar route just because only shooting it at the range will annoy the crap out of me. With the current political scene I WILL be buying one in the next few week John st in case...

The best advice is to try shooting a few of each and see what you prefer.
 
Going to start with the Mosin, and get the SKS as soon as I can. Just feel like learning to shoot on a more accurate platform, and something I can't shoot off really fast will be the most beneficial to me at this time. I've asked the guy at my local gun store to hold the 1934 octagonal receiver Mosin for me, which BTW the bolt works like butter. Haven't checked the bore yet, but when I go to pick it up (when my handgun gets transferred to my name) hopefully next week, I'll check it out and purchase it if it all looks good.

Side question. I'm looking for a .22LR Ppsh with wood stock, anyone know who makes one or who sells them? Seen lots of the synthetic stock ones (pps 50) but having a hard time finding a wood stock one online for some reason.
 
Hamiltonian86 said:
Going to start with the Mosin, and get the SKS as soon as I can. Just feel like learning to shoot on a more accurate platform, and something I can't shoot off really fast will be the most beneficial to me at this time. I've asked the guy at my local gun store to hold the 1934 octagonal receiver Mosin for me, which BTW the bolt works like butter. Haven't checked the bore yet, but when I go to pick it up (when my handgun gets transferred to my name) hopefully next week, I'll check it out and purchase it if it all looks good.

Side question. I'm looking for a .22LR Ppsh with wood stock, anyone know who makes one or who sells them? Seen lots of the synthetic stock ones (pps 50) but having a hard time finding a wood stock one online for some reason.
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think that Marstar have those .22LR
 
+1 that if you have the $, buy one...doesn't matter which one

bought my first SKS with the first shipment to my local (2 hr 1-way) gun store...couldn't pass it up at the price...fun to shoot...

then

same scenario, and a year later

prices have nearly doubled since then and i could inspect and choose what i wanted

won't ever give them up...did i say that already? ...i'll say it again...won't ever give them up

what i call good-enough guns

my mosins are all private purchases...and again i could inspect

latest one is a Finnish capture with terrific wood and a vg bore...guy didn't know what he had...'clunky' he told me...sure...175$ clunky...beautiful rifle

get to know fellow shooters

right now i'm starting to look for a swedish mauser...the guy has nearly 50 of them and is in his 70's...never seen anyone buried with their rifles...yet
 
Hamiltonian86 said:
Side question. I'm looking for a .22LR Ppsh with wood stock, anyone know who makes one or who sells them? Seen lots of the synthetic stock ones (pps 50) but having a hard time finding a wood stock one online for some reason.
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You are talking about an Italian Pietta PPS-50. Unfortunately, they seem to be sold out nearly everywhere including Marstar. I don't even know if they would be imported to Canada anymore. I guess that the only choice you have is the EE.

P.S. To my surprise at the moment there is a PPS-50 in the newer "Wildcat" version for sale at Canada’s Outdoor Outfitter Wholesale Sports. For me it looks too "tacticool" but what the heck. Lots of plastic. A wood stock seems to be a thing of the past.
 
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I've said this before and I'll re-iterate it:

What do you like about shooting? What kind of trigger time do you have get the most enjoyment from?

Do you like going to the range and shooting a lot of rounds for fun, and are not too fazed about how accurate you are, provided you can hit a milk jug or gong? Buy an SKS and a crate of cheap mass-produced pray and spray ammo and go have fun. There is nothing wrong with this AT ALL. All types of shooting are fun to different ppl and many people consider this the most fun shooting you can do.

If instead you like shooting for groups and learning accuracy techniques, etc. the Mosin has BY FAR the more accuracy potential, that is, provided you get one with a decent bore and stock that fits reasonably well. There is also plenty of match grade ammo available in 54R, not so for 7.62x39. I like reloading for my mosins and a bolt gun makes brass retrieval much easier.

The mosin uses a simple mechanism that is the combined effort of two firearms design geniuses. Sergei Ivanovich Mosin of Russia (an Imperial favorite son) and Léon Nagant (The Belgian John Moses Browning of his day) designed competing rifles and in Imperial Russian trials, the best aspects of both guns were chosen and combined into the Model 1891 action upon which all mosins are based.

The gun is actually quite brilliant and included some noteworthy firsts, many of which didn't appear in other gun until well after 1891:
-A stacked magazine design that did not rely on rim orientation to feed properly (I'm looking at you James Paris Lee!!!)
-A bolt that can be completey disassembled without tools
-Dual opposing lug bolt head that is replaceable to adjust headspace
-Omision of a fragile "zigzag" leaf spring form the magazine
-A receiver that beds on only two receiver flats, making stock fitting much less expensive
-.30 calibre high-velocity smokeless ammunition (remember, this was 1891!!)

It's true that today many mosins exist that are not well fitted and feel rather crude. That's because literally millions were made from 1941 to 1944 that lack any refinement whatsoever and have very sloppy tolerances, crudely finished parts, etc. but many rifles were ver well made and even 91/30 refurbs can be had that are very nice rifles that are well assembled from good parts - you just have to be selective to find a nice bore, pre-WW2 receiver and decently finished parts. Those guns make great shooter and are anything but clunky.

The finnish-made guns (using surplus or captured Russian receivers) are also wonderful guns - some would say they were the best infantry bolt actions of WW2.
 
Just to illustrate in practical terms what the OP needs is here:
1 wartime Mosin with a round receiver
1 pre-war Mosin with an octagonal (hex) receiver
1 nice Russian SKS refurb
1 unissued Chinese Type 56 carbine
That's all. Case closed and problem solved. You'll never need anything else.:)

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