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This section will cover the history, development, and use of the M-91/30 sniper rifle. In this section you will find where the weapon has been used, when it was designed, its limitations and abilities, and how the weapon functions. The optics used on this rifle will also be covered here. |
Shortly after the introduction of the modernized infantry rifle of 1930, the Soviet military decided to adapt the rifle for use by snipers. This version would be equipped with an optical scope to aid in precision shooting and a special bolt with a turned down handle that would allow the weapon to be cocked and fired without interfering with the scope. The rifles selected for this conversion would be specially selected at the time of manufacture for their accuracy.
The first rifles of this program were made in 1932 when a small lot of 749 were manufactured. When these rifles were accepted full scale production began. The specially selected rifles were given even more finishing: the tolerances were reduced on key parts of the weapon, the barrels were re-finished, and they were re-tested for accuracy.
| The optical scopes
for the rifle varied over its service life. The first version was a
design made by Carl Zeiss optics for the Red Army. It was
later replaced by a Russian copy of the design. The VP did not have
a rear objective lens that could be adjusted like the earlier PT.
In 1940, both the PT and VP (also called the PEM) were replaced by the PU scope. It was smaller and lighter than either of its predecessors and first saw service with the SVT-40 sniper variants. |
M-91/30 Sniper Scopes
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With the start of the Great Patriotic war production of the rifle increased, reaching a peak of over 50,000 rifles in 1942. By the end of the war almost 200,000 examples had been manufactured. Production of the M-91/30 sniper rifle continued until 1947. Even so, the weapon was retained in service for over a decade following the end of production.
The weapon saw widespread use during the Great Patriotic war and many snipers earned high awards for their shooting and heroism. A number of Soviet (now-Russian) museums have exhibits devoted to snipers and their weapons. Some of the more famous snipers being people like Vasili Zietsev, Guseyn Andrukhaev, and Nikolay Ilyin. There were also a number of distinguished woman snipers as well.
Snipers like these took such a toll on the German army that the Wehrmacht began to use more of their own. By the later years of the war the German army began to employ larger number of snipers to counter their Red Army counterparts.
At the end of the war the weapon was deemed to have made a dramatic impact on the war effort and was kept in service for many years of the Cold War. It was then exported to other Communist nations such as Czechoslovakia and Vietnam.
One of the latest documented uses of the rifle was in Vietnam where a Viet Kong sniper attempted to use the weapon to kill United States Marine Corps sniper Carlos Hathcock. It was against this rifle that he made his famous 'through the scope' shot with his own rifle.
The M-91/30 sniper rifle was designed to be issued to a large number of soldiers. It was envisioned to be issued at the platoon level to one of the better shooters of the unit. He would then engage enemy officers and non-commissioned officers. In this role the sniper would disrupt the squad level actions of opposing forces.
One of the more interesting limitations of the weapon is that it still used the bayonet of the M-91/30 rifle. This would have been of limited utility in a sniper rifle and counter to most nation's theory of how snipers were to be employed. One notable sniper-hero (Nikolay Ilyin) was even killed in a bayonet charge near Belgorod in July 1943.
The rifle was also not terribly accurate when compared to the sniper rifles of the period. It being only as accurate as the sniper variant of the semi-automatic M-1 Garand. This limitation was not viewed to be too serious considering the close ranges that the weapon was to be used at.
Like the rifle it originated from the M-91/30 sniper rifle is a manually cycled bolt action rifle. After firing, the user pulls the bolt handle up to unlock and cock the action, then backwards to eject the spent cartridge. When the bolt is pushed forward it strips a round from the magazine and chambers it. The weapon is now ready to fire.
Here you will see the development of the M-91/30 sniper rifle and its significance in the Soviet/Russian sniper rifle program. It was the first of its kind and was used for many years. It outlasted many attempts to replace it with more modern semi-automatic weapons such as the SVT-40 sniper variant. The rifle was only replaced in the 1960's with the introduction of the Dragunov SVD sniper rifle which still serves today.
| The M-91/30 sniper rifle replaced... | M-91/30 Sniper Rifle | The M-91/30 sniper rifle was replaced by... |
| Nothing. It was the first purpose built sniper rifle in Soviet service | SVD Sniper Rifle |
Here are some of the most informative sources that we have used in compiling this information for you. We hope you can find them as useful as we have.
Soviet Small-Arms and Ammunition, by D.N. Bolotin, published by Finnish Arms Museum Foundation 1995
Military Small Arms of the 20th Century 7th Edition, by Ian V. Hogg and John S. Weeks, published by Krause Publications, 2000
The Mosin Nagant Rifle, by Terence W. Lapin, published by North Cape Publications, 1998