Friendly greetings everyone. I've had an offer extended to me by a friend of mine to purchase a Mosin Nagant rifle on my behalf, to serve as my first rifle. This winter he's planning to purchase a Remington 700 for himself and the idea is that the two of us will gradually start working on long range shooting.
I love the idea of long range shooting, have a pretty good head for math and physics, and shooting appeals to me a great deal. I intend to take him up on his offer, but I need to rethink some things, and I'm on a tight schedule so I'm asking for advice.
I've been intending to purchase a Mosin for a while, and have done research accordingly. I feel confident in my ability to check the fundamentals of the rifle (chamber/barrel pitting, firing pin length, the provenance of the rifle, etc) but my idea thus far as been to purchase a carbine-length variety, an M44, M38, or ideally a Finnish M39. The concept was that I wanted to be able to haul the rifle easily, and the carbine length seemed handier. My understanding was also that at <150 yards or so the difference in accuracy between a carbine and the 91/30 was negligible.
I also intended to do a lot of work on the rifle myself as a learning experience. Improving the trigger, floating the barrel, truing the action, etc.
However, with the long term goal being shooting out to 500 meters or even (god forbid) 1000 I'm no longer very confident in the idea of a carbine, or perhaps even a Mosin in general.
*Is a Mosin even capable of a shooting accurately at this distance? Is this even a reasonable idea or am I setting myself up for pain?
*Should I stick with my original idea of choosing a carbine for the handiness factor and ease of carry, or would I be better served in my goals to go for a 91/30?
*Should I be looking for a rifle with a PU scope attached, or would I be better off replacing the rear sight with a Picatinny mount and purchasing a scout scope at a later date?
*Is a sling an acceptable alternative to a bipod? Is the standard Mosin sling acceptable for improving support, or should I look in to installing a different style?
Thank you for taking the time to read. If I sound like a schlep, it's because I probably am. Thanks in advance for your patience and indulgence. *grin*
I love the idea of long range shooting, have a pretty good head for math and physics, and shooting appeals to me a great deal. I intend to take him up on his offer, but I need to rethink some things, and I'm on a tight schedule so I'm asking for advice.
I've been intending to purchase a Mosin for a while, and have done research accordingly. I feel confident in my ability to check the fundamentals of the rifle (chamber/barrel pitting, firing pin length, the provenance of the rifle, etc) but my idea thus far as been to purchase a carbine-length variety, an M44, M38, or ideally a Finnish M39. The concept was that I wanted to be able to haul the rifle easily, and the carbine length seemed handier. My understanding was also that at <150 yards or so the difference in accuracy between a carbine and the 91/30 was negligible.
I also intended to do a lot of work on the rifle myself as a learning experience. Improving the trigger, floating the barrel, truing the action, etc.
However, with the long term goal being shooting out to 500 meters or even (god forbid) 1000 I'm no longer very confident in the idea of a carbine, or perhaps even a Mosin in general.
*Is a Mosin even capable of a shooting accurately at this distance? Is this even a reasonable idea or am I setting myself up for pain?
*Should I stick with my original idea of choosing a carbine for the handiness factor and ease of carry, or would I be better served in my goals to go for a 91/30?
*Should I be looking for a rifle with a PU scope attached, or would I be better off replacing the rear sight with a Picatinny mount and purchasing a scout scope at a later date?
*Is a sling an acceptable alternative to a bipod? Is the standard Mosin sling acceptable for improving support, or should I look in to installing a different style?
Thank you for taking the time to read. If I sound like a schlep, it's because I probably am. Thanks in advance for your patience and indulgence. *grin*