Russian:Soviet M91 information

8/13/2019 Russian:Soviet M91 information

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Russian/Soviet M91All content copyright 7.62x54r.net

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After trials of several different repeating bolt action designs Russia adopted a new standard infantry rifle in 1891. It fires the 7.62x54rcartridge and is a combination of designs by Russian Sergei Mosin and Belgian Leon Nagant whose primary contribution was themagazine and feed system. The official Russian designation is Three Line Rifle, Model of the Year 1891 but is more commonly know

in the US as the Mosin Nagant M91. A line is a unit of measure equal to 1/10thof aninch. Production of the M91 took place at the

Russian arsenals at Izhevsk, Tula, and Sestroryetsk. Due to a slow start in domestic production a contract was issued to the French armscompany Chatellerault who built around 500,000 M91s. During WWI contracts were issued to the American firms of New EnglandWestinghouse and Remington for 1.8 and 1.5 million rifles respectively. M91s were widely used in WWI and can be found with markin

from many different European countries that purchased or captured them.

The rifle pictured at the top of the page is in original configuration with the finger rest, no handguard, short cleaning rod, sling swivels the magazine and front barrel band, early flat rear sight leaf, no recoil bolt and no sling slots. The rifle pictured below is in the final

configuration with no finger rest, a handguard, full length cleaning rod, no sling swivels, Konovalov rear sight, recoil bolt, sling slots, alate pattern (type 4) barrel bands. Many M91s can be found with a mix of early and late features such as early barrel bands or missing thhandguards due to damage and no replacement. See below for the intervening configurations and variations from other countries.

Specifications

For all models see the Mosin Nagant Rifle Specificationspage.

WeightOver All

Length

Barrel

Length

Stock

Length

Groove

Diameter

Sight

Radius

Cleaning Rod

Length (appro

9 1/2 lbs.4.3kg.

51 1/2"130.8 cm.

31 1/2"80.0 cm.

47 1/2"120.7 cm.

.311"27"

68.6 cm.29"

73.7 cm.

Years of Production by Arsenal

For all models see the Mosin Nagant Rifle Years of Productionpage.

Chatellerault Tula Izhevsk SestroryetskNew England

WestinghouseRemington

1892 to 1895 1891 to 1926 1891 to 1926 (1) 1892 to 1918 1915 to 1918 (2) 1915 to 1918

(1)Izhevsk production may have ended prior to 1926

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(2)All NEW M91s are dated 1915, regardless of year of actual production

Barrel Markings

The translated text is in the same format as the original and the dates are when the marking was used.

Ordnance

FactoryChatellerault1892-1895

Izhevsk

Ordnance Factory1892-1919

Izhevsk


SestroryetskOrdnance Factory

1892-1918

ImperialTula

Ordnance Factory1891-1892(courtesy of Robert Jensen)

ImperialTula


Tula

EmperorPeter the Great

Ordnance Factory

1912-1918

Tula

Ordnance Fac(tory)1918-1919

Foremost(at) Tula

Ordnance Factory

1919
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Foremost

TulaOrdnanceFactory

RSFSR1919-1920

Foremost

TulaOrdnanceFactory

RSFSR1920-1924

Foremost

OrdnanceFactory

(of the) USSR

at Tula1924-1926

Remington

Armory1915-1917

Remington

Armory1917-1918

New England

WestinghouseCompany

early "curved logo" with large arc

New EnglandWestinghouse

Company

late "curved logo" with small arc


Company

"straight logo"


Company

"straight logo", "stylized eagle"

All New England Westinghouse M91s are dated 1915 regardless of actual year of manufacture. See the New England Westinghouse

Barrel Markspage for more detailed information.
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Receiver Tang Markings

Tula Hammer and date (2 digit pre 1900) Tula Hammer and date (3 digit post 1900) Izhevsk Bow and Arrow and date (pre 192

Sestroryetsk Arrow and date (2 digit pre1900)

Sestroryetsk Arrow and date (3 digit post1900)

Chatellerault Circle C and date

Chatellerault Circle P, no dateNew England Westinghouse M with arrow

(Can be other letters)On top of tang, no markings on bottom

Training rifle markOn top of tang

Also found on barrel forward of rear sigh

Receivers from 1891 until 1893 or 1894 were not marked on the tang, while Remington and New England Westinghouse did not dateany receivers.

Design RevisionsThe chart and pictures below document the revisions to the original M91 design over it's more than three decades of production. Few othe earliest rifles are still in original configuration as most have been updated to one degree or another. Also, rifles can be found which

do not fit the configurations listed below because they received one or more upgrades, but not all of them. Still other rifles have beenrepaired with earlier parts at some point and therefore "downgraded". In the case of handguards it's often simply a matter of it beingbroken in use, discarded, and never replaced. Karl-Heinz Wrobel, author of "Drei Linien, Die Gewehre Mosin-Nagant" deserves much

the credit for the information presented here and it would not be as accurate or complete without his invaluable help. The rifles in manof the pictures don't actually exist as shown and are a combination of parts from several rifles and digital alteration of the photographsfact, parts from only five rifles were used for the ten configurations and only one stock and action appear below. The intent is to educa

and illustrate, not deceive, and the visitor's understanding of this is appreciated.
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Configuration

Number1Finger

RestHandguard

Cleaning

Rod2Sling

Swivels

BarrelBands

3

Rear

Sight4Crossbolt

SlingSlots

Date ofChange Arsenals

1 yes no shortmagazine

and

front band

conf. 1 original none none 1892 C, T, I, S

Original, no changes

2 no no shortmagazine

and

front band

conf. 1 original none noneJune 4,

1893C, T, I, S

Dropped finger rest

3 no yes short

magazine

andfront band

conf. 2 original none noneFebruary 2,

1894C, T, I, S

Added handguard which necessitated a change in the barrel bands

4 no yes long

magazine

andfront band

conf. 2 original none none 1896 T, I, S

Lengthened cleaning rod and altered stock accommodate it

5 no yes long magazineonly6

conf. 3 original none none unknown T, I, S

Dropped sling swivel at front barrel band6
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6 no yes long none conf. 3 original none yes 1908 T, I, S

Added sling slots which had been in use on Dragoon and Cossack rifles from the beginning of their production and dropped swivel onmagazine

7 no yes long none conf. 3 Konovalov none yes mid 1909 T, I, S

Changed rear sight to Konovalov type with adoption of M1908 spitzer bullet cartridge

8 no yes long none conf. 3 Konovalov wood7 yes unknown T, I, S

Added wooden crossbolt7

9 no yes long none conf. 3 Konovalov steel yes late 1909 T, I, S

Changed crossbolt to steel

10 no yes long none conf. 4 Konovalov steel yesearly 1909

to 19108T, I, S, N,

Changed barrel bands to type 4 with an oval shape and recessed tension screw

Notes.

1. The "configuration numbers" used in this chart are not official designations and are provided only as an aid for collectors to discussthe subject.2. The short cleaning rod design changed several times in 1893 and 1894 (Karl-Heinz Wrobel).
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3. There are four configurations of barrel bands used on M91s. Configuration 1 has an "exposed" tension screw, no notches for the

handguard tabs, and a sling swivel. Configuration 2 is basically the same but has notches for the handguard tabs. Most configuration 1bands had the notches added, converting them to configuration 2. Configuration 3 eliminates the sling swivel, which may or may nothave been an original configuration. Configuration 4 has an oval shape and recessed tension screw.

4. When the rear sight leaf was changed the shape of the base where the leaf connects also changed slightly. Konovalov (later) rear sighleaves will fit on the early bases, but early flat leaves will not fit on the later bases.

5. Arsenal abbreviations are as follows; Chatellerault, Tula,Izhevsk, Sestroryetsk, New England Westinghouse, and Remington.6. It is thought that a hook attached to the sling which fit over the tension screw on the front barrel band was used prior to the conversi

to sling slots, but it is not mentioned in source documents (John Sheehan, Karl-Heinz Wrobel).

7. There is some question whether or not the wooden crossbolt is Russian or was done by another country as no mention of them appeain source documents (Karl-Heinz Wrobel). Rifles have been documented with only wooden crossbolts and with steel crossbolts

retrofitted through a wooden crossbolt.8. Configuration 4 bands began to be used in early 1909 but rifles were still being produced in 1910 using the configuration 3 bands(Karl-Heinz Wrobel).

Other Country's VariationsSee the Finnish M91page for variations from Finland. Follow the links for detailed information on eachrifle.

Japanese

RussoJapaneseWar capture

6.5 Arisakasingle shottrainer

conversion

GermanWWIcapture

Mauserbayonetconversion

Japanese

RussianCivil War

AlliedInterventionsingle shot

trainer

US(Remington)WWI

contractUS walnutstock

Belgian

post-WWI/1920sera

commercial8mmconversion

Spanish
http://7.62x54r.net/MosinID/MosinRareSCWRemington.htmhttp://7.62x54r.net/MosinID/0027.jpghttp://7.62x54r.net/MosinID/MosinRareBlindee.htmhttp://7.62x54r.net/MosinID/0063.jpghttp://7.62x54r.net/MosinID/MosinRareUSRemington.htmhttp://7.62x54r.net/MosinID/0086.jpghttp://7.62x54r.net/MosinID/MosinRareJapanese1918.htmhttp://7.62x54r.net/MosinID/0028.jpghttp://7.62x54r.net/MosinID/MosinRareMausBay.htmhttp://7.62x54r.net/MosinID/0055.jpghttp://7.62x54r.net/MosinID/MosinRareJapanese1905.htmhttp://7.62x54r.net/MosinID/MosinM91F.htm


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Civil War

purchaseSpanish(post war?)

walnut stock

RomanianCold War

eraInstructietraining rifle

Romanianunknown

era, possiblyCold WarRomanian

made twopiece stock

Hex Receiver

Sight VariationsThe original rear sights on Russian M91 rifles are a flat leaf graduated in arshini (singular arshin) which is an archaic Russian unit equto 28". The base has five notches numbered 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 representing hundreds of arshini. Chatellerault placed the numbers on thright side of the base while all other arsenals numbered the left side of the base as in the example below. The rear of the leaf is marked

13 through 27 also representing hundreds of arshini with a notch in the leaf itself serving the 2700 arshini (2100 yards) range. Howevethe example below is not marked with the "26" or "27". The base is attached to the barrel by means of a dovetail and is soldered in plac

With the adoption of the spitzer bullet in 1908 a new rear sight leaf designed by Konovalov was adapted to the existing base which didnot change. The arshin unit was retained and most M91s were retrofitted with the new leaf. The graduations on the back side are from

to 32 (hundred arshini) with the notch at the end of the leaf itself being eliminated.

The first two pictures below are a typical M91 rear sight base with the numbers on the left side while the second two pictures are aChatellerault base with the numbers on the right side.
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The Russian M91 front sight is a simple "barleycorn" blade dovetailed to a base which is integral to the barrel.

Cleaning rod nut, tapered hole in front only,hole in top threaded to receive nose cap screw to aid in removing nut

Nose cap
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Early front barrel band and magazinewith sling swivels. The stock would nothave had sling slots. Most of these were

upgraded.

Front bandsConfiguration 1 (no notches for

handguard tabs)Configuration 2 (notches for handguard

tabs)

Sling slots with screwed in placeescutcheons

Early M91 barrel band, configuration 3 Late M91 barrel band, configuration 4


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Handguard

Handguard end rivets

Copper

Small aluminum

Large aluminum

Bayonet Socket
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Russian:Soviet M91 information