mosin nagant-91-30 customizing questions

[accident]

I have 2 Mosin Nagant 91-30's. Was thinking of putting stock, bent bolt, scope mounts on one of them.

Questions:

Does it work ok?
Can I shorten the barrel afterwards?
Howwell does it hold zero after 200 rounds or so?

Thanks in advance

[Hammerslagger]

After the time and money you will spend modifying these old guns; you could probably buy a better used sporting rifle.

[Rocket J Squirl]

Yeah but it would not look as cool.

There is a Russian outfit that sells on E-Bay, you can get a PE scope and mount for $150, from thier website, they charge more via E-Bay.

Pretty good quality, I mounted one for a friend

[gandog56]

Get a scout mount, and LER scope, and you don't need a bent bolt.

Also the rifle can then be restored to original if wanted.

[LDBennett]

The sniper style scope and mount require drilling and tapping the hardened M-N receiver which is no easy task. I did mine and sweated bullets trying to avoid breaking the tap or the drill The holes had to be made in an area that I felt somewhat compromised the strength of the gun (near bolt recesses in the receiver). Another poster here broke the tap off in this endeavor and junked the receiver. I carefully lined up the mount to the receiver outside surfaces only to find that the scope was not lined up with bore centerline. I would never attempt to do the drill and tap thing again on a M-N. If I just had to have the "look" of the sniper version I would pay a M-N gunsmith to do the job (there is one!) but that would make the gun cost more than it was worth.

If you have to have a scope then just use the scout mount and scope. It's a whole lot easier and does no harm to the gun. Or try using the open sights. With practice you'd be amazed at how accurately any gun will shoot with these military sights. They are most certainly minute of deer or minute of a person out to 200 or 300 yrds, if you do your part.

LDBennett

[50 BMG]

There a few places out there now selling reproduction snipers for about what its going to cost you to make your rifle into a PU sniper. The scout scope mount which looks like a 22 caliber grooved receiver mount seems to work the best. It come with rings and holds securely. You can then use a pistol scope and your good to go.

[LDBennett]

In talking with my son-in-law, who had his good gunsmith modify several of his M-N to take period mounts, I was surprised to find that even this experienced gunsmith broke a tap in a M-N receiver. He had to send it out to have the broken tap removed by EDM (Electrical Discharge Machining).

Just as the appearance of M-N is a bit crude, I suspect the materials they chose to make them out of may also have been crude, as well as the heat treatments. I suspect hard spots internally that may impact the experienced metal workers, as well.

The bottom line is don't drill and tap the M-N receivers yourself. Give that responsibility to a professional who has to eat the added cost of broken taps or drills.

LDBennett

[zkovach]

I have 3 mosin and i refinished one of them with a hard aftermarket stock and had it drilled and tapped for a newer scope. A.t.i. along with the stock makes a turn down bolt system however there is a guy i found on *********.com that can weld and polish them for about 40 bucks and they look great!! I really like my newer looking mosin however i havent seen any of them shoot 200yrds accurately. I believe mostly because its hard to find quality ammo for them. The surplus ammo i have shot with them is aweful. Hope this helps.

by the way the stock you can very easily put on yourself but turning down the bolt is a gunsmith job for sure.

[zkovach]

here is a pic of my mosin
if you have any questions about what and how i did it let me know.

[LDBennett]

As with virtually anything Russian, often the quality isn't there. Agreed its utilitarian but never beautiful or near perfect. The biggest problem with accuracy in a M-N is the bore itself. Few of the surplus barrels are pristine on the inside and few are the same diameter. They do fall into a range of sizes that are really bigger than any component bullet you can buy for reloading or you can get in commercial ammo.

The accuracy can be made better by slugging the barrel (force soft lead lump down barrel to be able to measure across the resultant imprint of the barrel grooves) and picking a component bullet closer to the measured diameter. Most all need at least commercial component 303 British bullets. Typical is lands at 0.312 to 0.314 inches in diameter with some a little bigger. About the only bullets that are close are 0.312 inches and are 303 Brit bullets. The 8mm bullets at 0.323 inches are WAY too big so don't use them! Even the 303 Brit bullets are not the correct size for these extra large bores based on the rule of thumb that a jacket bullet should be about 0.001 inches larger in diameter than the grove diameter.

With better home reloads the M-N rifles will start to shoot better but they are no Mauser for accuracy.

NOTE: That is NOT to say use 303 Brit ammo but to use 303 Brit component bullets in 7.62 x 54R cases.

LDBennett

[Keystone]

Originally Posted by gandog56

Get a scout mount, and LER scope, and you don't need a bent bolt.

Also the rifle can then be restored to original if wanted.

I agree with this 100%. I have the 91/30 and the M44.

[gandog56]

I got 10 Mosins, and am still looking for more. I have a red dot on one, and a LER scope on another. All the others are stock except for a Bubba'ed New England Westinghouse I picked up for less than a hundred bucks.

All of them except the NEW can be restored.

[Sniper1]

Here's my build, I wanted the "big scope" nagant sniper version. Bedded the action and installed pillar's as well. For a old workhorse of WWII I can consistent 2" groups at 300 yards.

[dmh]

I refinished a mosin stock once, it took way too much work to get all the cosmoline out but it turned out nicely. was a fun project, so I'm looking to buy another to sporterising it a bit like you are, so this information on tap and drilling is useful.

here is a picture just cuz

[JLA]

Originally Posted by Hammerslagger

After the time and money you will spend modifying these old guns; you could probably buy a better used sporting rifle.

gotta agree 100%. Having sporterized a nagant or 5, by the time you get it the way you want it you got a good 5 or 6 bills in it. Keep it original and buy a used rem 700

[JLA]

Heres a thread on the last one i did...

http://www.thefirearmsforum.com/showthread.php?t=59465

[Blade Runner]

91/30 sniper rifle, hits at 1000yds