Bought a new rifle

**Eville** · 12-08-2008, 10:44 PM

ill just be playing with it mostly, paper and bowling pins and such. Everyone who i have talked to has had very good things to say about them, especially considering the price. havent gotten to shoot it yet, still at my apartment at school. ill take it out probably first thing when i get home for christmas though.

**DeeDubya** · 12-09-2008, 08:35 AM

Originally Posted by Eville

ill just be playing with it mostly, paper and bowling pins and such. Everyone who i have talked to has had very good things to say about them, especially considering the price. havent gotten to shoot it yet, still at my apartment at school. ill take it out probably first thing when i get home for christmas though.

I'm an avid shooter and would like to offer a few suggestions for safety. Before you shoot it: Obviously check the barrel for obstructions and run a wet patch through followed by a couple dry. Many older military style rifles have been sent through a Russian armourer and might have been rebarreled or otherwise repaired to bring them up to RFI (Ready For Issue) in case of WWIII. After you fire the first round, carefully examine the case for signs of high pressure or excess headspace. High pressure will be evident by difficult case extraction and/or an excessively flattened primer. Excessive headspace will be indicated by a light colored ring just above the base. This is where the case willl stretch or in a worst case even crack or separate.
If you detect either of these condition the rifle is not fit to shoot and should be retired as a wall hanger.
Be safe and have fun shooting.

**Eville** · 12-09-2008, 08:50 AM

thanks for the tips. This is my first surplus rifle, so I definitely would not have checked for either of those.

**slcraiders** · 12-09-2008, 09:31 AM

5 minute waiting period?

**bigwhiteash** · 12-09-2008, 10:03 AM

Those can be very effective hunting rifles, if you get a good one.

I have a hunting buddy who recently modified his with a nice composite stock, and scope.

LINKY

They can actually be quite accurate, if you spend a bit extra on quality ammunition, or reload your own. My buddy's will shoot <2" groups at 100 yards.

**Eville** · 12-09-2008, 12:08 PM

Originally Posted by slcraiders

5 minute waiting period?

yep, gotta love Indiana! the guy called some phone number, gave them my name, race, etc. a couple of minutes later he wrote down an approval number and sent me out of the store, gun in hand.

**WhiteWidow** · 12-10-2008, 12:24 PM

Cool. I shot an AR-15 and a Henry 44 Magnum bolt-action rifle the other day. Talk about being able to perforate someone's ass!

**Kenyth** · 12-13-2008, 08:29 AM

As American citizens, I think we should all be able to purchase and own rifles as long as we don't have a record of felony criminal acts. Pistols, as much as I would like to see sold as freely, are too commonly used in crime. A waiting period and background check for these is prudent.

Surplus eastern block weapons are a good start to the shooting hobby for an economical price. The 7.62 short ammo is a good all purpose round, with decent power and accuracy. It will easily bring down most medium sized game. The ammo is cheap and readily available, and it makes a good target weapon to learn on. As long as the weapon was well maintained, it should be very reliable.

**Nocturnus** · 12-23-2008, 10:42 AM

I had one of those, but it was not fit to fire, so I ended up selling it for what I got it for. I had a nice 8mm Mauser that I had to sell a while back. Mactching #'s on it all. :( Was a nice rifle.

**Rmac58** · 12-25-2008, 04:23 AM

Nice rifle, once you're sure it's good to shoot, extend the bayonet, may be more accurate.
If you get the chance, shoot it near dusk, it has a bright flash, and nearby leaves will rustle.
I also have an M39. Careful with those Mosin Nagant's, they have a tendency to breed! See the baby?

EDIT: Yeah, the old ammo is cheap, and the rifle needs to be cleaned after, but not a big deal, you should do that anyway. Using Hoppe's #9 works fine. The corrosive gunpowder is the culprit, I understand, not the Berdan (named after the inventor) primer. That is just very difficult to use again, or reload. Far more problematic than Boxer (named after the inventor, again) primed.

Second pic, you can almost detect two dots surrounding the center strike, those are the primers. You need to remove both to reload.

Third pic is of a Boxer primed spent brass, note the single primer, much easier to extract.