Concept

Mosin–Nagant

Summary
The Mosin–Nagant is a five-shot, bolt-action, internal magazine–fed military rifle. Known officially as the 3-line rifle M1891 and informally in Russia and the former Soviet Union as Mosin's rifle (винтовка Мосина, ISO 9: ISO), it is primarily found chambered for its original 7.62×54mmR cartridge. Developed from 1882 to 1891, it was used by the armed forces of the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union and various other states. It is one of the most mass-produced military bolt-action rifles in history, with over 37 million units produced since 1891. In spite of its age, it has been used in various conflicts around the world up to the present day. During the Russo-Ottoman War of 1877–1878, Russian troops armed mostly with Berdan single-shot rifles suffered heavy casualties against Turkish troops equipped with Winchester repeating rifles, particularly at the bloody Siege of Pleven. This showed Russian commanders the need to modernize the general infantry weapon of the army. Various weapons were acquired and tested by GAU of the Ministry of Defense of Russian Empire, and in 1889 the Lebel M1886 was obtained through semi-official channels from France. It was supplied together with a model of the cartridge and bullet but without the primer and the smokeless powder. Those problems were solved by Russian scientists and engineers (the smokeless powder, for instance, was produced by Dmitri Mendeleev himself). In 1889, three rifles were submitted for evaluation: Captain Sergei Ivanovich Mosin of the imperial army submitted his "3-line" caliber (.30 cal, 7.62 mm) rifle; Belgian designer Léon Nagant submitted a "3.5-line" (.35 caliber, 9 mm) design; and a Captain Zinoviev submitted another "3-line" design (1 "line" = , thus 3 lines = 7.62 mm). When trials concluded in 1891, the evaluators were split in their assessment. 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).
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