Tula 1932 Hex Mosin Nagant (Star)

B

bt380

New member
Bought a MN and have it torn apart to clean it thorough in a few days. Ordered the bolt tool to check the pin along with the go, no-go, field gages. I want to put a scope on it but will wait until I find out if it's a shooter. So have a few questions for the MN:
1) What was your Mosin group size at 100, 200, etc?
2) Did you use the commercial ammo or reloads?
3) When you added a scope, was it worth the effort?
4) What is the max range you can shoot effectively with or without a scope?
5) What type of scope did you mount on it?
Thanks in advance.
 
If you decide to scope it use a rear sight based scout scope set up. Don't d&t it. Your rifle has some collectiblity. If you change it physically you can kiss that goodbye.
 
Good idea. It's an easier mount to install. I go back an forth on gutting it to be a shooter or mounting it (minus the cosmoline and oiled to prevent rust) on the wall with no mods. Then buy a rounded MN and then modify that one to be a shooter if the barrel is good.
 
You may find that doing some totally reversible accurizing and handloading and your gun may shoot quite well with open sights. My 91/30 can do very, very well. I have several different MN models and some do best w/ lighter ammo and 3 of them w/ heavier stuff.
 
I almost hate to put that out there because so many will call BS on it and call me a liar. I have shot a group of 5 shots in 7/8 of an inch @ 100 yds with 3 of the shots clustered together. I can't do that every time, but the rifle is capable of it as I have had several other groups around 1 inch. This is off the sandbags of course and w/ carefully crafted handloads.
 
Lots of variables go into determining if it's a "shooter'.

Start with a visual inspection. Sharp lands, none- or minimal- pitting in the grooves. Good crown, preferably not counterbored. If the barrel's shot, no point moving forward with any improvements or accurizing.

It's a bolt gun, and the same rules apply as they do to "modern" commercial offerings...

The barreled action needs a proper, tight and stress-free fit in the stock. If it's sloppy (as it often is in a worn, milsurp stock), the receiver will move in the stock under recoil and repeatable accuracy is out the window.

There are things you can do (shims) to improve fit without modifying the milsurp stock at all...

Or, you can keep the milsurp stock, and still epoxy bed the receiver and install pillars to improve accuracy. Of course, you can always do the same in an aftermarket stock.

While the barreled action is critically important to accuracy (no matter whether you do the above, you can't make an accurate rifle out of an inaccurate barreled action), other variables are important as well.

Milsurp ammo can only be relied on to be 2-3 minute accurate, and the simple trigger doesn't help either (although technically, the trigger helps the shooter and not the rifle).
 
There is a lot of good advice on the net on tweaking the trigger assembly, bedding work as suggested above and some other techniques as well. I did the up pressure trick on the end of the stock toward the barrel and that alone cut my groups in half. I also did shimming and one thing I have seen w/ MN more than any other rifle is the proper tightening of the action screws as they can work loose. They are worth fiddling around with. You can easily get parts you can modify so you can keep all the original parts in case someday you want to sell it in its original state.
 
Heavy Metal 1: I came across a person I work with that bought a hex head and said at 100 yareds he shot a figure eight. He does his own reloads. After he found the sweet spot, he hung it on the wall never again to be used. He wants it for wall art. I have no reason to doubt him or you. I hope mine does as well. I am more an more leaning on shooting it rather than resign it to a wall. Do you have a link to the "up pressure trick on the end of the stock toward the barrel" or can you explain that?
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tobnpr: I cleaned the barrel and it has sharp land/grooves, no pits and a nice crown. I saw a you-tube for glassing and making the trigger action better. Looks interesting.
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Thinking of cold bluing it after I polish it as well. Looking for more of a hobby gun for modifying and making my own reloads. But as you all have stated, need a decent platform to start with. The only ammo I have at the present is the Herters 148gr fmj, steel case, non-corrosive Berdan ammo. The reviews for the ammo are all over the board. Some say the ammo is great, others really feel it's poor. Not sure if those that complained about head spacing issues did a go, no-go, field test or just the field test an called it good. Not sure if they tested the pin with the tool or not. If I can get some reasonable ball parked clusters, I will see about moving forward with it.
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Appreciate the feed back. I am going to pick up some lead fishing weights from Wally today and hopefully get it slugged in a day or three. I'll look forward on your suggestions.
 
Slugging the barrel on a 91/30 is an interesting exercise (I've done it), but relatively pointless IMHO.

Sometimes necessary for a Finn to determine the bore dia., I don't see much point to it otherwise. All but they, started with (prox.) a .311 groove diameter.

There's nothing larger .311 (a few .312) bullets unless you cast your own; so other than knowing that you have a worn, or oversize bore there's nothing that can be done other than hanging it on the wall.

Given that you have well-defined lands and no pitting, it should be capable of shooting well.

Like all rifles, you need to find out what it likes to eat if you're really interested in maximizing accuracy. Because of various factors like barrel harmonics, every rifle is different- so try some heavier pills to see if it might like them better than the 148's.

The 174 grain Sierra MatchKing is pretty much the standard for handloaders, and many rifles will shoot minute of angle or better with these if everything else is "in order".

Good luck with it.
 
Using:
Mosin Nagant Rifle Bore Slugging Tutorial
http://7.62x54r.net/MosinID/MosinSlug.htm
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I ran two slugs thru the barrel. My MN is right on the money according to the link above (mine is also from Tula but is a 1932 M91/30).
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The go, no-go, and field gages came in today and it passed all three tests.
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Waiting on the bolt tool to ensure it is adjusted correctly.
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Would be interesting to caliper one of those Herters rounds.
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I'll run thru the link you supplied and see what I can come up with.
 
A pre-war 1932 hex receiver Mosin is not something you want to physically alter in any way except for tuning the trigger and bolt, bedding, etc.

Get yourself another Mosin and scope it, but not your 1932.

With iron sights, the effective range of the Mosin is well out there.
 
When you say physically alter, would you consider the following altering?
1) Gun bluing
2) Polish the trigger and bolt wear points
3) If pulling the trigger pushes up on the bolt, take some of it down to resolve
4) Remove the cosmoline from stock w/ hot water and use some clear min wax paste
5) Lightly sand stock barrel channel high points to float the barrel if need be.
 
bt380 in post #14....

If you do any of that stuff you ruin the rifle for a real collector. Don't ever believe there is a kinda-sorta alteration any historian would approve of.
That being said, you can buy salvaged stocks, seersprings, bolt springs and all the other parts, and work this stuff all day while preserving the hardware that came with your rifle.
All that being said, I love the patina and ware of a classic per-war pre-refurb but can't stand a slop varnished cosmoline drenched Mosin refurb stock. So I buy bolt springs, seer spring and stocks for my Mosins and leave the originals untouched. I have a 1933 Red Letter, MO 1933/50 Hex with all matching numbers that is in excellent shape. Below is that rifle with a different stock on it all cleaned up. It has a different polished trigger and an added trigger spring. It shoots 2 MOA which is just fine for a rifle that isn't really capable of shooting any better and I don't have to worry about banging it around because the original stock and would be altered hardware are in a closet at home. This rifle is also a gorgeous wall hanger now. The M44 has the same treatment but I haven't photographed the finished product yet.

mosin-a_zps24919267.jpg
 
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