New Shooter Review #2

April 3, 2015

One of the pilots in the unit finally caved into my invitation and came out to the range with me today with the idea of re-introducing his wife to recreational shooting as well as seeing what all of the fuss is about as far as Mosins go…
His wife was a patient and somewhat adventurous sort with initial reservations about the selection beyond .22LR, but progressive increases in caliber turned out to be the best thing…
…Until “Dushka” – the M-44.
She fared “Svetlana” – the 91/30 pretty well on paper for the two rounds I gave her, but promptly bailed after the first round with the shorter carbine. Southern chants negatively evoking Hades poured forth after her teeth ceased rattling, and she absolutely refused to finish the second round, regardless of how much we coaxed, cajoled, or commended her for the efforts thus far.
Afterwards, we moved to the longer range where she sought shelter from the sun in the truck while the Montana boy and I proceeded to challenge ourselves with the 100 and 427 yard plates. I blame my two hits out of 20 on the longer target on the wind and the percussion-induced shmal blowing off the berm and right into my face as well as the increased difficulty in hitting farther targets with a shorter barrel, but these complaints far from diminish the overall enjoyment of day one of two consecutive range days. (I know I am probably breaking a cardinal commandment of Mosin ownership in not cleaning right after I fire, but the way I see it – “Is good Soviet rifle. Much ok.”