Fun Rifles with a Rich History [FAL, Garand, Mosin]

SO many rifles come to mind when looking for a historical connection with your shooting recreational activities. Most of the fun is shooting the rifle trying to imagine what those soldiers had to go through. Anyone who has ever served understands that the rifle becomes a part of you. Waking up in the morning you reach for it, the annoying way it swings and hits your leg or the constant weighted feeling of slinging it EVERYWHERE. We bitch about it but also miss it in a way once we are back in the States. No way I'm advocating to sling your rifle around all day by no means, but modern firearms are little plastic toys compared to some of these older rifles. Hence, when shooting something with a little history on it--thoughts reflect--what was the grumbling behind this heavy piece of wood and steel. However, in a crunch it was their best friend. These are my top 3 old war rifles to shoot whenever you get a chance:

Israeli FN FAL. Replacing the polymer with wood. It supports a forward assist and cut grooves into the bolt to allow operation in a sandy environment. Depending on the model anywhere from 500-2000 dollars. Do your research.

 

 

FN FAL
The right arm of the free world. Designed by Fabrique Nationale of Belgium and named the Fusil Automatique Léger ("Light Automatic Rifle") or FAL. It packs a heavy punch keeping the spirit alive for post WW II heavy battle rifles. Original FALs-heavily influenced by the StG 44-were designed to shoot the British .280 BUT heavy American persuasion and trying to get everyone on the same sheet of music for ammo distribution pushed the FAL into eating up NATO 7.62x51 (.308). The rifle is heavy weighing between 10-13 lbs. depending on what variant you have. It also has the unique history to be one of the few battle rifles that fought against itself. During the brief war between the British and the Argentinians over those (Mother)-Falkland Islands. How does it shoot?

I personally own an Israeli version, semi-auto of course. It is heavy, hard to run with and takes a ton of patience to learn how to shoot, but the 308 slamming into a target at the end of the range is worth the hassle. However, it makes that the IDF (Israeli Defense Force) tossed  their FALs for the lighter AK or UZI in close fights. But the AK cannot touch the firepower of the FAL in a distance game. Unfortunately that is the common failure of any rifle, not being able to adapt it to any environment. Eventually, the Israelis redesigned their battle rifle and produced the Galil. I digress, if you are looking for a fun rifle to shoot and maybe a pig hunt look into the FAL.

 

                           Fun at the range in with the M1 Garand. Even a beat up Garand can go for 600-700 dollars. CMP still offers Garands at a great price

M1 Garand
We take Semi-auto for granted these days from our 10-22s to the AR-15 its become the norm for military style rifles. But imagine a battlefield with only hard hitting bolt action rifles, pistol caliber sub machineguns, and crew served machine guns. As you military tactically minded folks can surmise one would have to change the way you fight. In an infantry fight the goal is to overwhelm your enemy with mass fire. This allows the next platoon or squad to move in and lay down covering fire and so on. The Germans based all of their tactics around the MG-34/42 so they could protect the crew served weapons. The Americans replaced all of their 1903 Springfields with 8 round hard hitting 30-06 Garand rifles. This firepower in the hands of the average infantry soldier was unprecedented at the time and it wasn't until right about the end of the war that countries scrambled to make a similar rifle that could compete. The Germans and the Russians did cut down the cartridge to an intermediate round 7.92 x 33 and 7.62 x 39 respectfully. The difference being they could not get them in the hands of every soldier (thank God) nor mass produce these rifles in the quantities of that the US could. Basically why you see Garands everywhere and not StG 44s.

This is one of the best rifles to shoot. For a mass produced semi-auto ahead of its time the balance accuracy are incredible. The heft of the rifle helps follow up shots, which would have been a damn fine thing to have ties in with other Garand suppressing a German MG. Once the rounds have been shot the clip bounds out of the top of the rifle with the stamped steel clip making a Klang sound. Something the GIs took advantage of in the war by throwing an empty on the ground after firing a few shots. Thinking that they were empty and reloading, Japanese and sometimes German soldiers would rush their positions only to be cut down by the massive 30.06. Of course your typical range does not offer the same perilous opportunities but can be recreated for fun. I like to have 5 targets at varies ranges and depths. I will fire 2 shots and throw and empty. with the remaining 6 rounds attempted to put accurate fire on the targets. It's fun but extremely difficult especially for time.

 

 

Mosin M91/30. Prices have risen recently but still under 300 bucks for decent rifle.

 

 

M91/30 Mosin Nagant
Wait just a minute! You just wrote about two great battle rifles and now you're throwing up the Russian Pinko crap. Well, yeah...as far as war rifles go the Mosin is one of the most reliable massed produced rifles of the war. It is heavy but no more than any other rifle of that time. It's usually not as accurate due to pitting in the rifling but it was made for a Russian peasant so get over it. Although its not a tack driver it will accommodate a fairly good grouping as long as the shooter is consistent. This is yet another war surplus rifle that is still fairly cheap and can be bought two or three at a time. More so than the two rifles above.

The ammo is still cheap the rifle is cheap but the fun is non stop. When you have a rifle that packs the punch that a 7.62x54 does and can shoot it all day with ammo left over...Well you got yourself a gem my friend. With so many of these rifles produced the internet is flooded with after market parts and accessories for the Mosin. This is an excellent firearm to own for you prepper minded folks. Used as a defense or hunting rifle it serves a multi-player in your arsenal. After all the pinkos needed something hard hitting, effective, and durable and this is what they came up with.



Some websites to check out: These sites can direct you into purchasing the Garand and accessories for your Mosin.
http://thecmp.org/
http://brassstacker.com/

Mosin Nagant

I was lucky enough, a couple years ago, to find an M91 untouched in a pawn shop for 120 dollars. I know what you're thinking, So what they are all over pawn shops EVERYWHERE, Duh!
Well my friends it was a rare find indeed: It was a 1916 M91. First and foremost most M91 were converted in the 1930s to the M91/30 which shortened the barrel, added a hood over the front sight, and changed the rear sight. Eventually the hex receiver changed to a round receiver.

So why was this so unique? It sounds like one slipped through. Well I will educate you my friend.
The Bolshevik Revolution occurred in 1917 with its grand promises of the united worker against the "evil" tyranny of the Czar. Meanwhile, there was an enormous contingent of Russian soldiers on the front lines with World War I nearing its final bloody years. This made it easy (relative) for the Bolsheviks to take advantage of a home front security with so many of the motherland's troops on the front. But they needed weapons and so did the government forces with so many assets going toward the troops.

Armed with this knowledge, I examined the rifle very close. Looking for proof marks, stamps and dates.
-It had no communist marks--This was unusual most Mosins that were turned in after the communist took over were re-stamped. Even captured rifles were re-stamped with the gaining countries proof marks or re-barreled for there primary cartridge. One of the most sought after Mosins is the Finnish Rifle re-stamped with an SA. Even the Germans re-stamped captured rifles. Once again, this had nothing but the original stamps.
-One unusual defacing of the rifle was the imperial stamp of the Czar. It had been "stabbed out" with a knife or bayonet. If this had been a recent marring it would have been sharp on the raised edges, but these were worn down by time, which points to the fact that this was done decades ago. I can only surmise that this rifle had belonged to an angry communist who wanted to deface the imperial stamp to show his disdain for the ruling aristocrat. Of course this is only a speculation but it seems to fit human nature when opposed to an ideology or political idea.
-It has no visible import stamps. There are rifles that were brought over without import stamps but usually they are 1940s from WW II. Obviously there have been WW II rifles from the first war brought over, but not many in an un-changed condition, such as this particular Mosin. The Austro-Hungarian M-93 was brought back into service, but most that have made it to the US have the proper import stamps. This leads me to believe one of three things:
--This was a grabbed by a US soldier in WW I on a battlefield or traded after hostilities.
--It was acquired during a small US force along with a combined allied force attempted to help anti-communist Russians defeat the communists immediately after WWI.
--The rifle was somehow left in its original state by an average European and through a series of events, eventually fell in to the hands of a US soldier.
The end result is the same--it found its way to pawn shop in EL Paso and into my hands.

We blow off Mosins because the Russians made so many that we do not think they will ever run out. However, the supply is getting just a little tougher to fill lately and the rifle has made a 100-200 hundred dollar increase in value in the last year. We take for granted the WWII mosins are for the most part the same and I encourage everyone to own one , because they are a ton of fun to shoot. But if you are a collector you will be looking for those pre-1941 Mosins, specifically the ones for WWI. These are the gems for a collector. The really rare finds are the Mosins made in the US for the imperial Army from Remington and Winchester. You find one of those and you have yourself a keeper.

Take the time to get your mosin out of the closet blow of the dust and really look and the stamps. You never know when you may find a diamond in the rough. A great site to meet all your mosin needs is:
http://7.62x54r.net/

Remember to be safe, have fun and know your rifles history.