Setting up a Mosin Nagant

and just think.... excluding the m38, m44,s and t53s there were only 12 million mosin nagants in existence
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FIFY.

Subtract the millions the Germans and Finns blew to smithereens or left to rot in the forests and marshes from Croatia to Lapland .... and the many millions that the Soviets sent as "aid" to any socialist revoloutionary that asked, from Albania to Spain to Viet Nam to Zimbabwe ......

..... then subract from that the numbers destroyed by neglect- corrosive ammo and poor storage pracitices-, and THEN take out those butchered by amature "gunsmiths" ......

There are not makin' these any more...... True enough, there WERE many millions made ...... just like there were many millions of Bison roaming N. America once...... the difference is, Bison will reproduce..... Mosins? Not so Much......
 
The Mosin Nagant is the most produced bolt action in the history of firearms and the 2nd most produced weapon in ALL firearms history. Only the AK-47/74 has been produced in larger numbers.
So there are more M/Ns then 98 Mausers in the world.

Now if Mauser builders had "respected' the old war rifles so much that they didn't want to "use them up" they would still be $50 each, and we would not be having this debate.

So the idea of not using a M/N for rebuild is not valid. It took 80 years to use up the cheap Mausers. It would take about 120 years to deplete the M/Ns at the same rate of consumption. So no one alive today will ever see them get scarce. There are more then enough that have no collectors value because of dammage and bad bores to go around. The one in the picture above is all stoned to a nice finish and ready for engraving. When I got it the bore was a rusty sewer pipe and the outside of the metal was all covered with rust. There are probably 50 million that are in the same condition.

If you want to throw energy into preserving something for someone 120 years from now, put that energy into every single anti-socialism law you can back, and even get active in the political processes so someone in the USA can have a gun in 120 years (or 4 years for that matter)
ALL those old collectible guns will be gone from every ones homes if you don't support the Constitution as it is written and not allow politicians and cops to decide you "don't need those" and outlaw them.

We need to quit worrying about the color of the wall paper when the building is on fire.
 
....and the reason the all matching K98's and other milsurps are "collectable" now is that everyone that thought they were, or could possibly be, a gunsmith, whether they had the skills and tools or not, sporterized these things in the millions, with varying results ...... I see sporterized K98's on the consignment racks every once in a while ....som very nicely done, some not ..... but none are worth what an all matching, unmodified K98 is tagged at, in the same store.
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Lots of nice rifles were modified to make them more suitable as hunting rifles in the years after WW2, simply because a new commercial Remington or Winchester was pretty expensive, possibly a few weeks wages, where you could pick a surplus rifle out of a barrel at your local hardware store for a few bucks.

Those days are long gone.

Also keep in mind that the nice long sight radius on a 91/30 makes it easier to shoot accurately, even if the gun is not the most precise instrument. I have a m38 that would make a decent deer gun, but I don't shoot it all that well compared to a 91/30.
 
Wyosmith, just wanted to say that I'm not a huge fan of sporterized Mosins (that would be dishonest - I'm not a fan of poorly done sporters or those done on nicer Mosins such as the Finns) but yours is a very nice rifle. Very much enjoy the Monte Carlo style stock on yours. It looks very nice while keeping its Russian heritage. I would remove that barrel band though.
 
Thanks Dakota.

Naaaaa....the band has to be there.
Why?
Because I have some pictures from the Tula museum of 2 Mosin/Nagant hunting rifles built before the 1917 revolution, (probably for friends of the Czar) and they both had them.

So they have to be there...............
 
Haha, that is reason enough. I had a couple mosins with loose barrel bands and the clinking ended up driving me crazy. I'd be surprised if you could hunt with that without alerting everything within 100 yards by the clinking of the barrel band :p
 
Haha, that is reason enough. I had a couple mosins with loose barrel bands and the clinking ended up driving me crazy. I'd be surprised if you could hunt with that without alerting everything within 100 yards by the clinking of the barrel band
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I don't know how it works with Whitetails, but Muleys don't care.

If you see some that are getting a little edgy due to your presence or an unfamiliar sound - like the horrible bell ringing of the sling swivel against the free-float tube of my .458 SOCOM last year - you just start talking to them in a calm voice and they often go back to browsing.

I've walked right through the middle of herds, with animals 20 feet on either side of me, by just continually talking and moving at a steady pace (but not directly toward any particular animal).

If you can keep the lead doe calm, you can keep the whole herd calm. Bucks are idiots and do their own thing. It's the lead doe that matters.


That being said...
Rattling or squeaking gun parts irritate the bejeezus out of me!
After that hunt, I removed that perfectly good (basically brand-new) free-float tube and dropped $400 more into that AR upper receiver just so that I'd have squeak and rattle-free system. :rolleyes:
 
OP didn't ask whether he should pursue changes to make it more suitable as a deer rifle- he asked for suggestions on how to do it.

I'm quite sure the OP "gets" the fact that this is going to cost money unless he has the ability to DIY- more than what an entry level new factory stick will cost.

So I'll stay on the topic...

Toting a rifle over four feet long isn't "easy handling"- so you're correct in cutting an re-crowing the barrel. Often, this helps accuracy due to harmonics of the light contour military barrel. Though not as important in a hunting application, the shorter barrel will be stiffer and less prone to stringing as it heats up in a target application.

I usually cut at about 22"- it's a good compromise that doesn't cost a lot in velocity, and works well for threading 5/8" for a brake if that's desired.

You didn't mention open sights, or optic...
Even after reducing barrel length, there are rails that mount on the rear sight base, you can use a low-magnification LER scope there, a red dot, or a new fiber optic one I like (and sell) called the See All.

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Several good options for mounting scopes low to the bore- but I won't take up the bandwidth here as there's too many variables to make a recommendation without more information.

Stocks- I make them, but I'm slammed and way behind. Boyd's sells them in hardwoods and laminate, and the Pro-Mag Archangel has it's share of fans as well.

Feel free to call or email if I can be of further help.

 
The joy building your rifle

I guess I missed the part where "buying something" was always better than "building something"...

If the "cost" and ease of accusation are the driving factors in hunting, + then, folks, it's time to face the fact that there are cheaper and easier ways of putting red meat on the table.

Outside of personal defense and uniform service, for most of us it is a hobby. That is not a bad thing, it just is what it is.

As this hobby goes the amount of time spent firing our weapons is minuscule compared to the time we spend not firing them.

Same can be said about the time spent in the field versus time spent thinking about hunting...

I have built a few rifles, 98, 1917, 303 and salvaged more than a few "truck guns". While I may have told the "Significant Other" it was cheaper buying used, truth was it was much easier to hide the cost of a project spread over a year or two than $750~$1200 all at once.

The hours I spent working on the projects increased the joy of taking them out to the woods. Did I waste 100s of hours listening to the radio while lapping old bolts or polishing trigger pins?

Nope. I think self therapy at the work bench is always time and treasure well spent.
 
Hey Guys, just as a side note.
I know a young boy (14) that just used my Mosin to kill his first elk.
I don't even have it finished yet but it is fully ready to hunt with. I have yet to checker or carve the stock, and I have not engraved it at all. But his dad was going to let him use his old Winchester M100, and just last week they tied it out and found it was jamming about every 2nd shot. Dad has not used the rifle in almost 20 years, and has sold all his guns except for 2 shotguns and a 22 rifle.

So I told them to take the Mosin. Young Clive shot it a few times here are my home and did well, so I told them to take good care of it, but go ahead and take it to Jackson for their hunt. Dad has not hunted in years and Clive wants to, so Dad took him out. This is his first time for elk. Well about 3 hours into the morning they get into a heard of about 30 at about 200 yards distance, and Clive took one shot. He put a 180 grain Remington soft point right through the middle of a large cow's chest.
I take military ammo and pull the bullets. I average the powder of 5 shells and come up with the military load. I reduce the load 3 grains and re-meter it back into the cases. I then seat a Remington 180 grain Core-Lokt on top. This has been an excellent way to make hunting ammo and I have been doing it for about 10 years.
I gave Clive a full box and told him to shoot carefully. With this ammo he need not worry about the brass. Shoot, work the bolt and be ready to shoot again if necessary. Well it was not necessary.
Clive did perfectly and he is all smiles. His dad is very proud and to be honest, I am proud of him too. I asked Dad for pictures. if I can get any I'll post them here soon.
 
Iraqveteran8888 has some videos on sporterizing mosins and other surplus rifles. At least one shows the installation of a scope mount kit that involves drilling and tapping the receiver and cutting the bolt handle.
 
Hello,

I personally prefer the original stock and open sights.

The stock generally needs a recoil pad to extend the LOP. The trigger needs improvement -- I prefer two-stage with a crisp second stage. The sights need to be made adjustable and possibly more visible.

The wooden stock is pretty good for bedding, whether you pillar bed, shim, or glass bed. I pillar bedded and shimmed.

Any Mosin with a good bore, handloads, and the above work should be able to achieve at least 2.5moa, with 1.5moa being quite common and 1moa or better being seen often.

There's absolutely no reason not to use the Mosin to hunt varmints or big game. I use SST handloads in mine for coyote, and those same handloads will do just fine on deer when they get around to legalizing full-power rifles in Indiana for that purpose.

Regards,

Josh
 
So the idea of not using a M/N for rebuild is not valid. It took 80 years to use up the cheap Mausers.
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Your logic is flawed.

What you have failed to note is that, in the last 80 years, the world population has more than doubled. Obviously, with a increase of population, there is going to be an increase in demand/interest/use of surplus rifles, so they are going to disappear at an much faster rate than Mausers or what have you.

I'm sure not seeing as many Lee-Enfields for sale as I used to. When I was a kid, they were sold in barrels, $6.00, your choice, along with Carcanos. There's another "clunker" that has escalated in value. Recently, I have sold some so-so Lees out of my collection and have gotten $350-400 for them.

Now, I can't say that their intrinsic worth is that much, but the reality is that there are many more people who want them.

Bottom line is, I wouldn't waste my money trying to make this pig's ear into a silk purse, but it's his gun and he can do with it what he wants.
 
Some of my customers just want to make the rifle more suitable for their field use- shorten the barrel, re-crown it. Maybe thread and install a brake.

Others, just want to make it "their own- and have a unique custom rifle that's something "different"- and yes, they can be made quite accurate. I've got one here now that's getting the barrel pulled and a new McGowan barrel installed.

As was mentioned above- this isn't all about dollars and cents. It's a hobby...
Why should rifles be any different that cars (and in my case, boats) and other property that we sink money into, knowing that we'll never get it back.

But we make it, exactly how we want it- and no one else has one exactly like it.
 
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