This mechanism proved important in feeding rimmed cartridges in an efficient manner, cutting down on potential stoppages in the action. Once the bolt was closed, the control latch gave up its control and all pressure fell to the magazine spring for the reloading action. A control latch secured the next cartridge in the line and all lower cartridges apart from the first (primary) cartridge to alleviate the primary's cartridge from the magazine spring's pressure during the bolt management action. The weapon featured an integral magazine to which prepared five-round clips ('chargers') were fed through the open action. Unlike later bolt-action types, the Mosin-Nagant sported a 90-degree bolt handle which protruded away from the gun body as opposed to resting against it. To open the bolt, the operator turned the bolt handle upwards then rearwards, exposing the chamber within. The receiver held the metal action which consisted of the widely-accepted turn-bolt handle with knobbed end (the bolt said to have been inspired by the French Lebel rifle).

Finder grooves were set along the sides of the body. The firearm was defined by its smooth single-piece wooden stock in which all of the required metal components were attached to or inlaid. Outwardly, Mosin-Nagant rifles were highly conventional in their approach and action. In inventory, the rifles were recognized as '3-Lineyaya Vintovka obr 1891g' translating to '3-Line Rifle, Model of 1891' ('Line' represented one-tenth of an inch as a local unit of measurement in use at the time). The M1891 directly replaced the Russian stocks of outdated Berdan rifles in time. Since its introduction occurred in 1891, the rifle was assigned the apt designation of 'Model 1891' or 'M1891' for short. Due to the design work by the Nagant brothers as well as modifications handled by Mosin, this new rifle became known under the hyphenated name of 'Mosin-Nagant'. The final result was a serviceable, repeat-fire long gun capable of replacing the outmoded single-shot Berdans and arming Russian Army forces for the next several decades with a weapon on par with competing designs elsewhere. With that, it was decided to combine the best features of varying rifles of the period to generate an all-new indigenous design. Evaluations of the three competing types continued into 1891 with no clear winner.

As with most service long guns of the period, all submissions were, in some way, influenced by the famous German Mauser design. A third was entered from a Captain Zinoviev. What followed in 1889 were several rifles under consideration including one from Russian artillery Captain Sergei Ivanovich Mosin and another from the Belgian brothers Emile and Leon Nagant (Emile was credited with design of the Nagant M1895 revolver used by Russian Army forces). Design began in 1882 and initially looked to simply modify the existing stocks of Berdan rifles but to no avail. This spurred internal development of an indigenous Russian service rifle to complete with foreign types and involved the Russian Main Artillery Administration as director of the program. The key limitation in the Berdan lay in its single-shot pattern which, when pitted against Ottoman forces wielding Winchester repeating rifles, made the Russian soldier immediately outclassed on the modern battlefield. Some 3,000,000 examples were ultimately produced in several notable forms including the full-length infantry service rifle and carbine type for mounted troops. The Berdan held origins in an 1868 initiative by American gunsmith Hiram Berdan and went on to be adopted by several powers of the day including the Russian Empire, Korean and Bulgaria. This proved particularly important after the disastrous results of the Russian campaign against the Ottoman Empire in the 1877-1878 Russo-Ottoman War in which a bulk of the Russian Army was equipped with the obsolete Berdan service rifle of single-shot. Like all other world powers of the late-1800s, the Russian Empire sought modernization in its military inventory.

German mauser rifle 1891