These days I usually just take a 12-gauge, but when I first got into off-road driving, and hiking I didn't have any; so I brought this.
This war use (not surplus) 1943 Mosin Nagant was my first large caliber rifle, I payed sixty dollars for it.
I had no choice but to refinish it, because it had sustained water damage severe enough that the stock was disintegrating.
I after stripping, bleaching, brightening, and staining it I applied 40 coats of oil, polishing with 0 aught steel wool up to 20, 00 to 30, and 0000 to the final coat. Took a little over a month, but the finished product (a glass-like surface) was well worth the effort.
Seeing as the collector value was already ruined I drilled and tapped, and put an old 1970's 2.5-10 power scope on it.
Accurate out to 300 yards, gets a pretty shaky at 500, and -given accuracy by volume- can make shots out at 800.
There was a time, when you'd never find me out in the wild without this thing. But it's kind of heavy, and not the best choice when it comes to getting charged by a bear, so I've since downsized to a small 870, and a .44 Magnum revolver. But this Mosin will always be my favorite.