Weapon No 117
Rifle 7.62 mm Mosin-Nagant M1891
The Mosin-Nagant rifle was adopted by Imperial Russia in 1891. The action
of the rifle was developed by Colonel S I Mosin of the Imperial
Russian Army and the magazine by Nagant, a Belgian. All Soviet bolt action
rifles and carbines are Mosin-Nagant weapons and all are basically similar
to this original 1891 model. One developed at this time as a weapon for
use by the Heavy Cavalry and was known as 'The Dragoon Rifle M1891' differs
from this model only in length and weight, being lighter and shorter. The
rear sights are graduated in what are known as 'Arshins', 3200 arshins
being equivalent to 2496 yards, which is their maximum sighting range. These
can be considered fairly effective infantry weapons, with reasonably good
shooting within combat ranges. Their sights do not lend themselves to the
finer degrees of accuracy.
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Weapon No 118
Rifle 7.62 mm Mosin-Nagant M1891/30
The M1891/30 is about the same length as the dragoon rifle (48.75 inches
without bayonet) but it represents many improvements over the dragoon. The
metric system having been adopted in Russia during this period, the sights
of this rifle are calibrated in metres rather than arshins (one arshin
equals 0.71 metres or 0.78 yards). Manufacture of this rifle was initiated
in 1930. It was used in large numbers in the Soviet Army, but was replaced
by the carbine M1944 at the end of World War 2. This rifle is still in
use in some of the satellite countries.
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Weapon No 119
Rifle 7.7 mm Type 99 Short Rifle
Japanese experiences in China showed the need for a more powerful cartridge
than the 6.5 mm. They already had a 7.7 mm semi-rimmed cartridge in use
with their Type 92 (1932) heavy machine guns. From this they developed
a rimless version for use in rifles. Four trial rifles were submitted,
including one each from Nagoya and Kokura arsenals. Several patterns emerged
from these tests, but each indicated that recoil was too excessive for
the short statured Japanese soldier. It was finally decided to develop
a short rifle for cavalry and special troops and a long one for infantry.
A second series of tests was run at Futsu proving ground, resulting in
the Nagoya designed rifle being selected. A third lot of tests followed
to iron out accuracy 'bugs' and test improved ammunition resulting in the
adoption of this rifle in 1939. In 1942 a model of Type 99 was introduced
for sniping, using a four power telescope.
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Weapon No 120
Carbine 6.5 mm Type 30
The inscription reads:
THIS JAPANESE RIFLE BELONGED TO AH ONN
ALIAS YUE ONN ALIAS AH KONG ALIAS YEW MIN
KEONG A MEMBER OF THE AMPANG/ULU KLANG
MIN YUEN. HE ENTERED THE JUNGLE IN 1949
AND SURRENDED (sic) TO A SIKH WATCHMAN AT H.Q.
MALAYA ON 19 MARCH 1954. |
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The carbine version of the first Arisaka rifle which made its appearance
in 1897 and was the standard Japanese rifle in the Russo-Japanese war
of 1904 to 1905. These models introduced to Japan the Mauser action in a modified
form and the 6.5 mm semi-rimmed cartridge.
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