Editing Mosin–Nagant (section)

===Initial design and tests===
{{main|Fabrique d'armes Émile et Léon Nagant}}
During the [[Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)]], Imperial Russian troops armed mostly with single-shot [[Berdan rifle]]s suffered heavy casualties against [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] troops equipped with [[Winchester rifle#Model 1866|Winchester 1866 repeating rifles]], particularly at the bloody [[Siege of Pleven]]. This showed Russian commanders the need to modernize the general infantry weapon of the army.

Various weapons were acquired and tested by [[Main Missile and Artillery Directorate|GAU]] of the [[Ministry of War of the Russian Empire]], and in 1889 the [[Lebel Model 1886 rifle]] was obtained through semi-official channels from France. It was supplied together with a model of the [[cartridge (firearms)|cartridge]] and bullet but without [[primer (firearms)|primer]] or [[smokeless powder]]. Those problems were solved by Russian scientists and engineers (the smokeless powder, for instance, was produced by [[Dmitri Mendeleev]] himself).{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

In 1889, three rifles were submitted for evaluation: Captain [[Sergei Ivanovich Mosin]] of the imperial army submitted his "3-line" [[caliber]] (.30 cal, 7.62 [[Millimeter|mm]]) rifle; Belgian designer [[Léon Nagant]] submitted a "3.5-line" (.35 caliber, 9&nbsp;mm) design; and a Captain Zinoviev submitted another "3-line" design (1 "[[Line (length)|line]]" = {{convert|1/10|in|2|disp=or|abbr=on}}, thus 3 lines = 7.62&nbsp;mm).

When trials concluded in 1891, the evaluators were split in their assessment. The main disadvantages of Nagant's rifle were a more complicated mechanism and a long and tiresome procedure of disassembling (which required special instruments—it was necessary to unscrew two fasteners). Mosin's rifle was mainly criticized for its lower quality of manufacture and materials, due to "artisan pre-production" of his 300 rifles. The commission initially voted 14 to 10 to approve Mosin's rifle. At this point the decision was made to rename the existing commission and call it ''Commission for creation of the [[small-bore]] rifle'' ({{lang|ru|Комиссия для выработки образца малокалиберного ружья}}), and to put on paper the final requirements for such a rifle. The inventors obliged by delivering their final designs. Head of the commission, General Chagin, ordered subsequent tests held under the commission's supervision, after which the bolt-action of Mosin's design was ordered into production under the name of ''3-line rifle M1891'' ({{lang|ru|трёхлинейная винтовка образца 1891 года}}).{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}

The colloquial name "Mosin-Nagant" used in the [[Western world|West]] is persistent but erroneous, as established in 
[[#legaldispute|Nagant's legal dispute]].