Mosin–Nagant

Various weapons were acquired and tested by GAU of the Ministry of War of the Russian Empire, and in 1889 the Lebel Model 1886 rifle was obtained through semi-official channels from France.The main disadvantages of Nagant's rifle were a more complicated mechanism and a long and tiresome procedure of disassembling (which required special instruments—it was necessary to unscrew two fasteners).[citation needed] The colloquial name "Mosin-Nagant" used in the West is persistent but erroneous, as established in Nagant's legal dispute.The 5-round fixed metallic magazine can either be loaded by inserting the cartridges individually, or more often in military service, by the use of 5-round stripper clips.Despite the failure of Nagant's rifle, he filed a patent suit, claiming he was entitled to the sum the winner was to receive.[citation needed] Mosin could not apply for a patent since he was an officer of the Russian army, and the design of the rifle was owned by the Government and had the status of a military secret.Taking into consideration that Nagant was one of the few producers not engaged by competitive governments and generally eager to cooperate and share experience and technology, the Commission paid him a sum of 200,000 Russian rubles, equal to the premium that Mosin received as the winner.The rifle did not receive the name of Mosin, because of the personal decision taken by Tsar Alexander III, which was made based on the opinion of the Defence Minister Pyotr Vannovskiy: there are parts in this newly created design, invented by Colonel Rogovtzev, by Lt.-General Chagin's Commission, Captain Mosin and small-arms manufacturer Nagant, therefore it is only fair to call it the Russian 3-line rifle M1891.[13] The new weapons would entail "high velocities", exceeding 600 metres per second (2,000 ft/s) and would result in land battles both commencing and being capable of being fought at longer ranges, nearly two kilometers.Henceforth, the new Bolshevik government of Vladimir Lenin cancelled payments to the American companies manufacturing the Mosin–Nagant (Russia had not paid for the order at any time throughout the Great War).With Remington and Westinghouse on the precipice of bankruptcy from the Communists' decision, the remaining 280,000 rifles were purchased by the United States Army.In interviews Häyhä gave before his death, he said that the scope and mount designed by the Soviets required the shooter to expose himself too much and raise his head too high, increasing the chances of being spotted by the enemy.[24] When war with Germany broke out, the need to produce Mosin–Nagants in vast quantities led to a further simplification of machining and a falling-off in finish of the rifles.The wartime Mosins are easily identified by the presence of tool marks and rough finishing that never would have passed the inspectors in peacetime.The idea was to issue the M38 to troops such as combat engineers, signal corps, and artillerymen, who could conceivably need to defend themselves from sudden enemy advances, but whose primary duties lay behind the front lines.Mosin–Nagant rifles and carbines saw service on many fronts of the Cold War, from Korea and Vietnam to Afghanistan and along the Iron Curtain in Europe.[26] Virtually every country that received military aid from the Soviet Union, China, and Eastern Europe during the Cold War used Mosin–Nagants at various times.Middle Eastern countries within the sphere of Soviet influence—Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestinian fighters—have received them in addition to other more modern arms.Later M/39 does not have this upgrade.In addition to its military usage, approximately 440 M/28–30 rifles were manufactured by SAKO for use in the 1937 World Shooting Championships in Helsinki.M/28–30 model, serial number 60974, was also used by Simo Häyhä, a well-known Finnish sniper.Häyhä's rifle was still at PKarPr (Northern Karelia Brigade) museum in 2002, then moved to an unknown place by the Finnish Army.A number of the Model 1891s produced by New England Westinghouse and Remington were sold to private citizens in the United States by the U.S. government through the Director of Civilian Marksmanship Program in the interwar period.