Customer Reviews

The Mosin-Nagant Rifle, 5th Edition (For collectors only)

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(3)
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2 star:		(1)
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With only one other english language book available on the subject (Doug Bowser's "Rifles of the White death"), it would be easy to write the "definitive" collector's guide to the Mosin-Nagant Rifle. But Terence Lapin goes well beyond the expected to present us with a comprehensive look at the longest serving service rifle in the world. Lapin relies on primary sources for his information, dispelling folklore and myth often repeated in other publications. Whether you are serious collector, or just have a passing interest in the Mosin-Nagant Rifle, Lapin's book is a valuable and accurate addition to your bookshelf. -Dan Z. Johnson

This book is an excellent source of almost any and all knowledge concerning the Mosin-Nagant rifle. This venerable design is arguably the longest-lived and is also one of the most widely-produced and copied firearm in the world. This design saw action in almost every major conflict of the twentieth century, from WWI, the Russian Civil War, WW2, Korea, Vietnam, and even Grenada! The longevity and production numbers of this rifle are testament to the design's robustness and simplicity.

This book details the history, development, and production numbers for each type of Mosin-Nagant rifle. There were numerous variations, and many countries copied the ingenious Russian design and made their own rifles. The Finns, in particular, made a great deal of improvements to the rifle and made, in the opinion of many, the best overall Mosin-Nagants anywhere. This book details all of the various variations, improvements, accessories, design changes, and other things unique to each type. There is also a large glossary including much of the markings typically found on Mosin-Nagant rifles, and a serious collector should not be without this as a manual.

I have many Mosin Nagant rifles in my collection and I can honestly say that Lapin's book helped educate me quite a bit. With this book I was able to figure out what many of the stamps, receiver markings, stock cartouches, and other markings on my rifles indicated. This book does a great job of helping the collector to understand the differences between models, the differences between versions within the same model, and provides many illustrations to help identify all of the parts found on the Mosin Nagant rifles from around the world.

Lapin does a good job of focusing on the details of the rifles in question, including all sorts of info related to stocks, receivers, sights, barrels, barrel bands, triggers, etc., etc. I don't believe there's a single part on the Mosin-Nagant rifle that isn't explained in great detail.

Much of the book specifically describes Russian/Soviet and Finnish Mosin Nagants, although there are plenty of descriptions covering Mosin Nagant rifles from other East European nations, China, and others.

As with any book of this type there are a few errors, such as insisting that the Finns used some sort of potassium permangenate stain on their stocks -- most experts, many in Finland, disagree with that and Lapin has yet (as far as I know) to produce any documentation that spells that out. But, regardless, it's a great book overall and definitely deserves a place in any collector's library.

Like the AK's of today's world, the Mosin-Nagant rifle of an earlier day was the standard military rifle of about half the world. It was adopted in 1891 by the Russians and served with them throughout World War I and World War II as their standard infantry rifle. It books a bit funny to American eyes when compared to the '98 Mauser or the 03 Springfield, but it was a well designed, reliable, reasonably accurate rifle. It did what the Red Army wanted it to do.

Mr. Lapin is an expert on the rifle. He has painstakenly gathered information about the rifle from every imaginable source and now has produced this third revised and expanded edition that provided invaluable information to collectors. He basically describes the differences in essentially all of the variations in the rifle regardless of where or when it was produced.

As such, this is the definitive book on the rifle (in English, I don't know about books in Russia. Anh collector of these rifles should have a copy to assist in identifying rifles.

As a long time collector of the Mosin Nagant rifle and also having my research on these rifles in a number of different Medias, I am pleased to say Terence has done a fine job with his works on the Mosin Nagant. I think all new collectors should have this book as a guide and even long time collectors will find the book helpful. The author covers a lot of ground in this book so it is hard to be overly detailed but too be honest a definitive work on the Mosin Nagant would run into thousands of pages. I am glad to have been able to assist the author in the past and hope to do more in the future. A+

This is the kind of detail you need if you want to track down where & when that 70 year old rifle you're holding in your hands has travelled. The details of the parts & markings is exhaustive, informative and actually really interesting to read.

Collectors and historians should find this book extremely helpful in identifying and classifying the many Mosin variants. Though as a quick "how-to" book you would be better off with a translated field manual (good luck finding one!). I say this because the book delves in depth on not only the history of the rifle, but gives a comprehensive study on the various markings from different manufacturers. I would definately reccomend this book as an accompaniment to anyone who owns a Mosin-Nagant or is interested in military history.

This is a must have book for anyone with a interest in these great firearms. The author goes into great detail about the parts and history of the rifles. I Very highly recommend this book.

This is a very detailed reference on the Mosin Nagant rifles. Lists catagories by Part not by year or gun. EX: stocks, receivers, barrels, bayonets, etc.
As is in the title this book is intended for Collectors Only but Im not a collector and I find the book very useful in comparing parts on my rifles. I really think this was put together very well and is very easy to use.
Great Book for anyone who wants to learn about Mosin Nagant Rifles as I have not been able to find many books on these at all.

Long version :

This rifle is perfect for collectors of Mosin Nagants as well as people that own one or two examples of this line of rifles. Every marking is explained, every bit of history behind these rifles can be gleaned from this book. For example, would you be able to tell from the markings that your Remington M91 was captured by the Germans in WW1, transferred to the Austrians and then sold to Finland? Do you really not know much about Mosins and want to know what those funky letters mean and what the significance of an arrow in a star is? The rifle smothered in cosmoline you picked up for $50 at a gun show could be worth much, much more to a knowledgable collector.

This book also covers disassembly of the rifle for cleaning and repair, it also contains vital safety information for any Mosin owner. This book is very comprehensive and no part, not even the buttplate screws, are over-looked, with detailed measurements and statistics for every piece of the Mosin rifle.

Short version : if you own a Mosin, buy this book!