Please join in the celebration for welcoming Comrade Nadya into my fold. I purchased this piece of history from my wife’s grandfather for $75 with about 30rds of surplus Hungarian ammo. She is missing her cleaning rod, sling, tools, pouch, and oil bottle unfortunately, probably split up by Buckeye Outdoors to sell on the side. I have been pouring over all I can find on the interwebs about Mosins since I bought her two weeks ago and was amazed at the amount of information available. The single most useful resource has been 7.62x54r.net by far. Those boys have been doing their homework. I still cannot get over how awesome this gun is, especially since its retail price at most gun shops is around $100. This is one heck of a fine rifle, made of wood and steel, built to last through the end times. Simply put, she has soul, and after spending an afternoon taking her down to screws, springs, wood, and hunks of metal for a detailed cleaning and cosmoline removal, I have fallen in love with her. So much so that I inscribed her name on the butt plate in Cyrillic as a final touch after re-assembly and Slipstreaming. I have plans of mounting a red dot scope up fwd where the rear sight is currently mounted to make her fill my arsenal’s scout rifle role (thank you Col. Cooper). I was holding off on buying a Mosin for a while because I liked the size and feel of the M44 and M38 carbines but I was unable to find one locally for the price I wanted. The longer M91/30s just aren’t as appealing to me. All in all, I am very happy with my purchase, and I can’t wait to take her out to longer ranges than the 25m I had available to me back home. I have never owned a weapon chambered in such a powerful cartridge and I was amazed at how easily it split a 4ft long 4×4 wood post lengthwise and kept on trucking deep into the tree stump behind it leaving a shower of wood splinters in its wake. No wonder it’s the longest serving cartridge in history, still being used today to put a major hurting on whatever it’s used against. Nadya is here to stay, and will be here long after I am gone providing entertainment and hopefully meat on the table for my son, his son, and most likely his son as well. She will be loved and cherished for what she is, an iconic piece of history and trustworthy companion. Welcome to your new home Comrade Nadya, and as your name implies, may you give hope to your new family should they ever have to rely upon you in a time of need.
Dive! Dive!
bubbleheadgunnut 