Mosin-Nagants in 7.62 x 54R: How good a hunting rifle?

[Valakut]

5. The 54R:

+Can take any game in North America (comparable to .308)
+Simplistic rifle design
+Surplus ammo is very cheap (~25c/rd)
+Archangel now makes a pretty decent aftermarket poly stock
+Cheap ammo means literally more bang for your buck and range time

-No easy optics option which can make going past 100 yards with irons tricky
-Trigger pull tends to be rather long, gritty, and 8-12#. Gunsmiths can often fix this for cheap(<$50) or you can invest in something like a Timney Trigger($100).
-Surplus has Berdan primers (corrosive) so you need to clean that same day or risk barrel damage
-Long wooden stock gets heavy on treks and tries to snag brush constantly
-Cosmoline (the thick grease Russians used for long term firearm storage and needs to be thoroughly cleaned off before use)

Overall unbeatable for the price but don't expect a 100+ year old rifle design to compete with a brand new $800 R700. Also be wary of "sporterized" Mosin-Nagants as they tend to be horrific DIY Bubba gunsmithing projects.