Fact Check — Are Russian Conscripts in Ukraine Using Rifles from WWI?

We’re officially 100 days into #putinsfolly and Russia controls approximately 20% of Ukrainian territory.

But most important, Ukraine is still in the fight 97 days after Putin expected to end his planned three-day conquest.

In April, several reputable news sources, like Reuters and the American veteran-favorite news site SOFREP, reported that Russian conscripts in the Donbas were carrying a rifle known in the West as Mosin–Nagant, and in Russia simply as “Mosin’s rifle.”

The Mosin is a five-shot, bolt-action rifle first developed in 1882 and used heavily in WWI. The last date that existing Mosin’s were produced was 1973.

Mosin-Nagant Infantry Rifle Model 1891, Russia. Caliber 7.62x54mmR. From the collections of Armémuseum (Swedish Army Museum), Stockholm, Sweden. Public Domain.

That’s right. A 19th Century rifle, first fielded when the phonograph was cutting edge technology and James Garfield was President, is reportedly showing up on a 21st Century battlefield.

I mean, c’mon. This rifle was first manufactured the same year that the coward Bob Ford assassinated the outlaw Jesse James.

But is using old weapons such an odd thing?

Today, the Russians use the Mosin primarily in a ceremonial manner, much the same way that the U.S. Army’s Old Guard uses the M14 rifle to guard the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. (The M14 was first fielded in…