Mosin-Nagant M1938 Carbine

Last Updated on Tuesday, 21 July 2009 16:45 Written by Administrator Thursday, 02 July 2009 16:12

The Mosin-Nagant M1938 Carbine is a shortened version of the standard Mosin-Nagant rifle. The Mosin-Nagant is a bolt-action rifle that was used extensively by the forces of Imperial Russia and later the Soviet Union. Variants of the rifle were used in numerous conflicts such as the Russo-Japanese War, Russian Civil War, World War I, World War II, Korean War and the Vietnam War. The rifle was also commonly used by Eastern bloc countries.

The Mosin-Nagant rifle was designed in the 1890s. Yet, it was widely employed during the Russain Civil War in 1917. It was popular with both the revolutionaries and counter-revolutionaries. Just like many other Russian/Soviet weapons, the Mosin-Nagant rifle was very robust and functional in the worst weather conditions.

The Mosin-Nagant M1938 Carbine was chambered for the 7.62mm round and used a non-detachable 5-round box magazine. It was accurate up to 1000 meters and thus was employed as a sniper rifle. Notable examples of snipers who used the Mosin-Nagant rifle include Vasily Zaitsev, Ivan Sidorenko and Simo Hayha.

During the years of service, more than 37,000,000 Mosin-Nagant rifles were manufactured. Production of the Mosin-Nagant rifles was discontinued after the Second World War. Eventually, it was replaced with the AK series. However, it continued in service with many Soviet bloc countries for more decades and a large number of the rifles were also kept as reserve weapons.

Mosin-Nagant rifles are also used by civilians and gun enthusiasts. Most of these guns are made in Finland which exported decommissioned Mosin-Nagants rifles to other countries. After the fall of communism, rifles were also exported from Russia. In addition, some companies in the UK such as New England Westinghouse and Remington also manufacture Mosin-Nagant rifles for use by private citizens.

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