Mosin-Nagant M1891
MOSIN-NAGANT M1891. (See also, RIFLE, RUSSIAN FIREARMS) Scandal surrounded the Mosin-Nagant M1891 from its conception. After a bloody defeat by troops armed with Winfield repeating rifles, the Russian Imperial Army realized it was in need of a more powerful infantry rifle. Three designs were submitted in a government-sponsored contest, and after much deliberation, the design created by an Imperial Army Officer named Sergei Ivanovich Mosin was chosen. However, the committee decided to combine this design with the design submitted by L on Nagant, a Belgian. Nagant was bitter about his loss in the contest and filed a patent suit. In order to avoid a scandal, Nagant was awarded the money, though his contributions to the design of the gun were considered negligible. The gun became colloquially known as the Mosin-Nagant or Nagant-Mosin in the West, though neither are considered the weapon's official name.
The Mosin-Nagant M1891 is a five shot, bolt-action rifle that uses two front-locking lugs for the action. The rifling in the barrel is right turning, and the internal cartridge holds five rounds
Interview with John Victor
Author: F.W.B. Volunteer
Single sheets. Typewritten transcription. 8 x 11 in.
2/5
The Twins? Some said they were Hunters, drawn by the call. We all were in those days, following noble causes that is. But others said they were something worse: what we fought. In my experience both could be true. They were tied up with Lynch, I remember that much. That was why I knew I had to find them. It was a sorry chase that left me poorer.
I was given a hint. In those days I was working close with a man called Aveit. But this may have come after. He gave me a lead though, something one of his cartographers had picked up. Once I found their tracks, they were almost impossible to follow. Lynch had trained them well. Now, rumors described them as young, but they seemed too careful. I saw them once, in the first days, in the distance. Or thought I did: a flatboat crossing a bayou silhouette against the moon. I followed their ripples across the water.
few days later, I found their camp, the fire was cold. I kicked at the coals. I remember that growing there amongst them, untouched by the fire, a single stem of wild violet. There, right in the charcoal. I picked the flower and rolled it into mush between my thumb and forefinger
Another time, I found their prey. One lay dead, the other man still gasping, clumsily trying to close the hole in his chest. A palm was pressed to the entry, the other to the exit. He mouthed "twins"at me, spluttering blood. I took the rifle from his hands. I'd seen it before. The Russian had one. A Mosin-Nagant. You know it well today, back then though, it was cutting edge. It was bloodied. I asked the man if it was theirs, meaning the twins. He nodded with the last of his strength.
I reached for a fissure, for a rift, a means to track: but found none. I left the men for dead.
Interview with John Victor
Author: F.W.B. Volunteer
Single sheets. Typewritten transcription. 8 x 11 in.
2/5
Or was that earlier? When I took the rifle, I mean. I was using it for a long time. Got to know it. The smooth action of the bolt. People called me unpatriotic. Fools, for having allegiances to fire arm makers. Pay attention to the guns themselves.
Because, I followed them, and I came close. I even remember reading about me in one of them dime novels. At least I thought it was me. He described one particular shoot out with a man with deadly aim, dressed all in black, with ropes dangling from his wrists. But I thought it was me because it described the way I blink. One eye at a time. You see? That's subconscious. I can't shut both of them if I try.
Well, the reality was there was no way they saw my eyes: their whites, whether they was shut. You name it. I wasn't trying to kill them, either. Another fiction for the fancy of imagination. I was trying to help them out a stitch.
