This article is part of a series on the M28-76 Mosin-Nagant, with comparisons to Chinese Type 53 Mosin-Nagant. Click the link to return to the full article: M28-76 Review
The M28-76 Receiver and Magazine Assembly
Like almost all Finnish Mosin-Nagants, the M28-76 is a hex receiver, not a round receiver like the Type 53. Hex receivers are more finely made and stiffer by virtue of their half-octagon shape. The M28-76 also has an inner receiver ring, which further increases the action's rigidity over the Type 53. The inner receiver ring was dropped from production in later years to cut costs, and many receivers that did originally have the inner ring have had it removed to make re-barreling easier.
The year of manufacture (along with all other top markings) has been ground off and blued over, so I can only say for sure that the receiver is pre-World War II (which is when the shift to round receivers was made). The interruptor/ejector is the two-piece design, rather than the older one-piece, but could easily have been swapped out and is thus no indication of the time of manufacture. It is likely that the receiver face has been ground to align more perfectly with the barrel (today we call that "squaring the receiver" or simply "blueprinting"), but I have no way of verifying this.
The magazine assembly features a magazine follower of the same burgundy-red as the extractor, but the magazine assembly is otherwise similar to the Type 53’s.
However, the M28-76 magazine has the "dent" the Finns added to increase magazine reliability. The dent funnels cartridges at the last stage before entry in the breech in such a way that it's just about impossible to have a "rim-over-rim" jam in the magazine.
Other changes were minor. I've never noticed a difference resulting from these changes over my time shooting both guns.
The action screws appear identical to the Type 53, but are more badly spalled. I didn't take a picture of the action screws and I don't want to go disassemble both rifles again, so instead you can see the trigger retaining screws below, because I want to make this point: almost all of the M28-76’s fasteners are heavily worn. This is doubtless due to many cleanings and modifications, emphasizing the notion that these rifles have seen extensive duty. Most Mosin-Nagants in America were issued in World War II and then put into storage for decades before being brought overseas, but the receivers of the M28-76s have likely seen regular use since they day they were manufactured. I don’t doubt that each M28-76 has gone through multiple barrels, and many other parts have likely been replaced as they were broken through hard use or simply wore out as years passed. The M28-76 is a rare bird indeed, a weapon that has seen not only years of wartime use, but also decades of peacetime exercise, and can still fire for effect (with extreme accuracy to boot). In fact, the TKIV 85s are built on the same pre-World War II hex receivers, making them the oldest firearms in active military service.
This article is part of a series on the M28-76 Mosin-Nagant, with comparisons to Chinese Type 53 Mosin-Nagant. Click the link to return to the full article: M28-76 Review
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