I feel it is time to get rid of the Mosin...

I have rebarreled several with good quality barrels and been pleased to get MOA and less from them. However if you are just looking at shooting and not "married" to the idea of using the 7.62X54R, I'd suggest a Savage Axis in 308, or a Ruger American. Ballistics are nearly identical and reloading is far easier for the 308 in that brass is close to free, and it uses the .308 bullet instead of .310, 311 or 312.

A re-barrel job on a Mosin costs about 2/3s of the Savage rifle.
 
Mo,
Your selection process in considering another gun acquisition has become legendary in terms of duration and dither. :)

Just pick something YOU find appealing.
Something you can afford without squealing.
Old or new.
Stainless or blue.
Big bore or small.
Or, if you can't, nothing at all.
Denis

(Borried that advice from the Cat In The Hat, who, believe it or not, knows a lot about that.)
 
Another consideration, Mo, is the monicker.

You've firmly established an international identity as the Mosin-Marauder.
It has a certain cachet to it, one not equaled by something like "Savage-Marauder" (too butch), ".308-Marauder" (too decimal-ish), "Garand-Marauder" (too easily confused with that guy in Poughkeepsie who goes to parties as The Grande Marauder), or the "Enfield-Marauder" (which would have a much better ring to it as the Enfield-Endeavourer).

Gotta think about stuff like that.
You simply would not fly as the Mosin-Marauder if you were entirely Mosin-less.
And don't even THINK of changing your business cards to "The Mosin-Less-Marauder"!!!!!
Denis
 
I own a Romanian PSL in 7.62x54R, with a Russian 4x rangefinder scope with side mount, including 4 magazines. Shoots 2 1/2" m.o.a. @ 100 yards. I bought the beast --- along with scope/mount & mags for a grand. You should only use 147 grain bullets --- Anything heavier might wreck the receiver. It has a pencil thin barrel, so don't get it too hot or the groups will start walking on you. The Russian scope does not have a reticle focus. Still in use over at the Middle East/Ukraine theater wars, so they might be hard to find. A couple for sale over at Gunbroker.

It has a long recoil piston, compared to the short pistoned Russian Dragunov, which makes the Dragunov more accurate.
 
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Oh Denis :D

I was always leaning towards buying a new Mosin, but the vepr thing was just another option. I most likely won't be liquidating my brass/reloading supplies/ammo.

Someone's offered me an M44 carbine, and I am considering that. There is a gun show this weekend near where I live. I plan on looking there for another Mosin. I am still nowhere near sure (living up to the duration and dithery-Ness thing :D).


Thanks everyone for your help! I appreciate all your advice (and any more to come).
 
Verily, Pilgrim, thy Dither Factor be astronomical in height and scope. :)

My buddy brought back a Mosin carbine from Vietnam, it was his hunting rifle back in the early days when he was broke & starving.
Still has it.

Be aware of the muzzle blast on those things.
Not trying to talk you out of it, but I've seen bright fireballs in broad daylight through one, and the sound levels are almost as high as your Dither Factor under any kind of overhang.

When the Ivans who carried them during the war came home, most tended to ask people to speak a little louder for the rest of their lives.

If you're shopping for a "new" Mosin, you now know much more about 'em than you did when you got yours.

Take a bore light along, avoid a drilled muzzle, watch for matching numbers & tight bands.

Every once in a while I consider letting a couple of mine go, then change my mind.
They ARE history.

Or....you could sell yours & stick with the Yugo for surplus.

Introducing the "24/47-Marauder"!
Denis
 
Back in the early 90s the Soviet SVT 40 rifles poured into the US as surplus. Sold several but never owned one. I recall them being a pretty cool semi-auto 7.62 x 54R rifle. No clue what you would pay for one today, then too the Mosin Nagant rifles were a $69 gun so my guess is a clean SVT 40 would run a good buck but none the less a cool rifle. Uh Oh, did a quick Google and they are not quite cheap running in the $850 to $1,000 range. :)

Ron
 
Not really sure what it is you're looking for, Mo.

Re-barreling is always an option- and if you want to keep your dies, the MN is easily re-barreled using a .308 blank. Then, you "basically" have a .308...and the wide selection of bullets that goes along with it. Just change out the expander ball in your sizing die.

But re-barreling a MN, is no different than doing any other rifle. All the work, is the same. Have five here now for re-barrels, two McGowan "prefits" (no-they're not, really...), one to be done in a Green Mountain .311, and two being done with Shilen match .308 groove barrels.

Far as other rifles chambered in 54R- why? Vepr? If you're a fan of the Kalashnikov style action, meh... Accuracy? No better than typical AK accuracy- which is worse than a MN. Mags? Plastic. Good luck when they stop making them and yours break- the rifle will be an expensive paperweight unless someone steps up and makes mags for them (there was talk of this- but I haven't seen it materialize yet).

If you're not getting the accuracy you're looking for- even when handloading, then PM me. With a good bore, you should shoot minute of angle or very close to it with 174 SMK's and the right load. Don't expect that from the skinny, barrel-whip 29" military barrel (cut it down and re-crown it) in the military stock- or any stock for that matter that's not bedded. I refuse to do custom builds where I'm not epoxy bedding the receiver at minimum. That's how critical I believe it is to accuracy.

 
Winchester Model 95 levergun? The majority of the first production run was in 54R.

Polish PSL, which is basically an AK-47 in 54R.

Soviet SVD or Chinese NDM-85, which diverge quite a bit from the basic Kalashnikov pattern.

DP-28/DPM, which was the Soviet version of the BAR. But a 19-pound rifle is a bit much for plinking.

Molot makes VEPRs in 54R, but I'm not sure if any of those get imported here. Same for Saiga.

SVTs are very nice.

Some people convert SMLEs to 54R by just reaming the chamber. It mungs the brass, but they shoot fine. Same for Brens.
 
that would be disastrous. I've done side by side comparisons with 303 and x54R, 303 case body length is way longer than x54R, Kabooms would be inevitable.
 
I must have been out of the business too long. How in the world does a 7.7 Japanese even remotely resemble a .303 British? I used to make 6.5 Japanese brass out of .303 cases, and it was a lot of work to do that. I have and shoot 7.5 French guns. You would have to be half blind to mistake the two cases, even if you cut the rims off. I have had no dealings with the Swiss, so I don't know. There is all kinds of rimmed/rimless versions of ammunition out there, and the amazing thing is the cases look the same except for the rim.
 
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