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Rear sight comparison. Left to right: M96 Carl Gustav Swedish Mauser, M31 Schmidt-Rubin, M39 Finnish Moisin-Nagant, 1903 A3 Springfield.

Guns were supposedly chosen by lot to ensure an even footing and ammunition was said to be a “common issue.” All was purportedly equal although suspicious minds darkly hinted that some guns and ammo were “more equal than others,” especially when shot by the host countries! Even so, I wanted to see for myself how a really good Moisin-Nagant would shoot. When the Finnish M39 Moisin-Nagant in 7.62x54R became available with a new 1942 rebuild by the Finnish “B” factory (Valmet?) I ordered one.

Others followed in quick succession: the Swiss K31 in 7.5 x 55 Schmidt-Rubin, the Swedish M96 Mauser in 6.5x55, the Yugoslav M48A in 8x57, the M1909 and 1891 Mausers in 7.65x53 Argentine, and the Arisaka M38 in 6.5x50 Japanese came my way. I already had a DCM 1903A3 by Smith Corona that was a proven performer so I was all set to make a military bolt rifle performance comparison that spanned the late 19th through the mid 20th centuries.