The Official Soviet Mosin-Nagant Sniper Rifle Manual, Paladin Press

By Major James F. Gebhardt U.S. Army (Retired)

English Translation copyright 2010
Softcover
ISBN# 978-1-58160-736-9
124 pages
8.5" x 11" $20.00
With original illustrations
Originally published by the Military Publishing House of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR, Moscow, 1954

I recently received a copy of this book newly available from Paladin Press. Having previously read several of Major Gebhardt’s translations my expectations were high and I was not disappointed. The quality of the book is very good and the large format is easy to read and use as a reference. The original illustrations are clearly and faithfully printed with relevant captions and figure numbers which are referenced in the text itself. When applicable, individual parts are numbered and labeled under the drawing for quick reference. Charts and tables are clearly divided and the metric units noted throughout.

Although I don’t read much Russian it is obvious the translation is first class with clear meaning and no “stilted” passages. Where the literal translation would not be clear to the American reader the common English terms are used with the exact translation provided in parenthesis. This does justice to the original while providing a more useful manual for the reader. When necessary Major Gebhardt provides notes to further clarify details and on occasion add useful information. These few notes are interspersed in the text itself and, as expected in a quality translation, are not a distraction from the original.

The manual is divided into two parts consisting of seven and three chapters respectively. Part one covers design and maintenance of the rifle and scope including general information, disassembly, cleaning, function of the parts, troubleshooting, inspection, and sighting. The coverage is very thorough and would be useful to anyone with a Mosin-Nagant rifle, whether a sniper or not. The passages on the rifle itself are very similar to those in the standard M91/30 infantry rifle manual and were a nice “refresher course”. The section on sighting the rifle includes the iron sights and the scope which is invaluable to anyone who has purchased one of the recently imported PU snipers with plans to use it for competition, hunting, or just “plinking”. The mysteries of the Mosin design and the scope are both made clear with exact details on how to make adjustments to the scope.

Part two covers firing of the rifle from the practical aspects of loading and operation to adjusting the sights for distance and windage. Techniques of cover, position, observation, target selection and range finding are also included. The final chapter is on the use of binoculars and the sniper periscope. This second section is not only practically useful with many illustrations, charts, and data, but historically interesting. Considering the date of publication the techniques would have changed little, if at all, from those used by the Soviet Union during The Great Patriotic War which ended less than a decade earlier.

Three appendixes to the manual give bullet trajectories with open sights and the scope as well as weight and dimensional data on the rifle, scope, and cartridge.

Once again Major Gebhardt and Paladin Press have provided a useful and affordable manual which is timeless as well as timely considering the recent import of PU Sniper rifles. This is a book which should be in the library of everyone who owns a PU Sniper or is considering one in the future. It would also be of benefit to anyone with more than a passing interest in Mosin-Nagant rifles in general as well as students of Soviet sniper tactics.

Review by Ted (7.62x54r) of 7.62x54r.net