19/08/2022
Memoirs of a Pew Pew Addict
The Moscow Mule
Hopefully this will be the beginning of something new and fun, combining writing and pew pews. Something I hope it does is give a different perspective on pew pews and pew pew addicts. It’s not about testosterone and the power to destroy with the finger tip. For most of us pew pew addicts it has to do with the challenge of sending a projectile into the air and control it to do what we want. That’s the aspect I hope to convey in what I’m doing here. Challenging myself to a difficult task and sharing the struggle and (hopefully) triumph that comes along the way. So without further ado, I present Episode 1 of Mission 1 of “Memoirs of a Pew Pew Addict”, “The Moscow Mule”.
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Ok it’s been about 24 hrs since I last pulled the trigger on this monstrosity. I’ve shot 300 Win Mags, 12 ga shotguns with slugs, not everything out there but you get the idea. This Finnish Mosin-Nagant, that’s been sporterized was left to me by my grandpa. I actually never knew he had it. I bought some TulAmmo. Russian, steel-cased 7.62x54R with 147 gr projectiles. I’ll touch on this round some more another day. But I wanted to get a feel of what the gun is like before I take on a project I’ve got planned for it.
For those who have no clue of the Mosin-Nagant. If you’ve ever seen the movie “Enemy at the Gates” with Jude Law. Where Jude Law portrays Russian World War II hero, Vasily Zaitsev, during the siege of Stalingrad. Zaitsev would go on to kill 225 enemy troops using a Russian-made Mosin-Nagant.
As far as my first impression and how it shoots, it’s not a bad shooting gun. I can understand why the Mosin-Nagant has such a following. But that’s about all the good I’ve got left in my heart to say about it right now. I don’t believe I’ve ever shot anything that kicked me as hard as this gun did. I’m being honest, 6 shots is all I could take. I had a second rifle I wanted to sight in. I was able to get it zeroed, but my grouping struggled. Could I have been having an off day? Maybe, but having the crap kicked out of me 6 times in a row didn’t help.
So why is it that Russian soldiers and even women during World War II could shoot this gun all day. Well there’s a few reasons, the first being that shooting paper and shooting live targets are completely different. Adrenaline comes into play for the most part as fight or flight instincts kick in. But also this gun has been modified. It’s now more of a hunting rifle, and yes since they use a 30 caliber projectile it works well for hunting. The stock is shorter on the front, making the rifle lighter.
So let me explain recoil for a hot minute. In physics we know that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. The amount of pressure it takes to push that 147 grain bullet out the muzzle. It’s pushing backwards as much as it’s pushing forward. The heavier the gun is, the less felt recoil on the individual. There’s so much science to this it’s incredible. Remember, there’s air inside the barrel. Depending on elevation we know air can be heavy or light. That air creates resistance as the bullet travels down the barrel. This also attributes to the felt recoil.
The recoil on this gun was so bad that I went and bought a Caldwell LeadSled. So that I can a better idea of the accuracy of this gun. That was the original idea of going to the range with it. To get a better baseline idea of it before starting the project I will now be calling “The Moscow Mule”.
