LJ-MosinFreak-Buck
Member
Okay guys, I've been seeing some Mosin-Bashing lately, though it is considerably less than on other forums. The Mosin Nagant rifle is probably the best mil-surp bang for your inexpensive buck. You get to own a piece of history that is entirely capable of hunting, plinking, or whatever else you could think of doing with this old war-horse.
Firstly, we have to realize that the Mosin Nagant has some problems. They aren't the greatest rifle in the world, and has its limitations. It is a crude, "clunky" firearm, as some call it, but a lot of use do see the beauty in these rifles. But what most don't take into account, is that these rifles were given to uneducated conscripts, who were told to defend their country at all costs. So naturally, they're going to be a little rough around the edges, but they will go bang. But most cases of them going bang, it leaves a little something to be desired.
These rifles, the biggest complaint that I see about them, is accuracy. Yeah, yeah. Yada yada. Some are accurate, little are really accurate, but most leave a lot to be desired in that department. But one of the nicest things about these rifles is that they are just so easily customizable, that why wouldn't you do something with it?
I'm more of a purist at heart, and don't do much to the mil-surps, but this article that I am writing won't involve any extreme sporterizing. Actually, it's quite the opposite. Your rifle can stay in the original stock with all of these modifications, and most would be none-the-wiser to your modifications. Hell, most of these you wouldn't really be able to notice without a closer look! So in my eyes, this is a plus.
I've been doing a lot of reading about this area lately, and have found a lot of useful links, plus some of my own experience in modifying these rifles, and decided to compile them all into one thread. This post will be long, so bear with me.
First thing we're going to talk about is the stock. This is where a lot of the accuracy problems are going to spring up, and in a lot of cases that I have read, is the only thing that needs tweaked to tighten up the groups.
There's a few things you can do the the original stock to accurize this rifle, without making it look like a bubba'd hack-job:
1.) Glass-bed the stock
2.) Pillar-bed the stock
3.) Free-float the stock.
Of these three things, I have no personal experience doing this myself. Though, I do have plans for doing so someday soon. The processes are actually pretty simple, and I will provide links and a general description of the steps required.
1.) Glass-Bed the Stock:
I have quoted and paraphrased this post from the forum "Gun and Game" and will provide a link as well. This member has gotten good results from glass-bedding his stock. (The same link will cover pillar-bedding as well.)
The author of this post suggests clamping down until you have epoxy coming out around the action. The link will provide pictures of his project. This method of bedding seems pretty solid, which follows the principle of consistency. It makes the receiver return to the same spot it was before firing, and after firing. It makes the rifle repeat what it did on the shot before, basically.
Glass-Bedding and Pillar-Bedding
2.) Piller-Bed the Stock:
Since the author of the post I quoted and edited (for some removal of needless wording) above included information on Glass-bedding and Pillar-bedding in the same post, I'll only be providing one link.
Here, the author did both a Glass-Bed and a Pillar-Bed to his stock, and this quoted and cited how-to from him reflects that. Like he also stated, you could either make them, or order them in from Rock Solid. Maybe they still make them, but maybe they don't. I haven't looked, mainly because these tubes are easy to make yourself. The author tells you how to do this in the above quote.
3.) Free-Floating the Stock.
Free-floating the stock is a pretty good way to make the rifle act the same way upon firing, every time. It allows the barrel to flex without the stock getting in the way, which could throw off your shot. (Keep in mind, I'm not going to get too technical in the dynamics of this, all this information is out there on the web, and I don't have the time to explain even the slightest detail on something that can be a problem with every rifle in the world. A free-floated barrel has the ability to be more accurate, like a lot of other on-line sources will be able to tell you.)
I've read a little about this to know that it is simple enough to do by yourself without any special tools. So here, I won't be quoting any body, but I will include a YouTube link for demonstration. (Also note, the YouTube video is not mine.)
What you're going to do is find some medium-grit sand-paper, not too coarse, but not too fine, either, otherwise you could either take too much, or spend the next two days doing this. The next thing you're going to want to do is either find a wood dowel, or even a socket from the tool-box that, when the sand-paper is wrapped around the dowel or socket, that it fills the barrel-channel nicely, but isn't too tight.
With your rifle apart, you can either use some gunsmithing black to find out where it's touching on your barrel, or you can just do the whole project by your hands and eyes. We're going to discuss the simple way.
Wrap the piece of sand-paper around the dowel or socket, and proceed to rub along the barrel-channel to begin taking away wood. You don't want to take away too much, so go slow. You can test if your barrel is floated enough by using a dollar-bill, running it from end to end of the barrel. If it snags, there's one place you can keep sanding. Do this until you have free movement with the dollar-bill. You can do the same to the top-cover piece, as well.
You should probably test this movement with the stock properly installed on the rifle, to make sure that when it's tensioned on the rifle, you won't have any snags or points of contact when the reciever is torqued down.
Here's the video on this:
Accurizing the Mosin Nagant Rifle
Another modification you can do to the stock is shimming it with cork, or another material. I'm not exactly sure on this subject, and I've only read a little bit about it. Can't find much through searching, but I can give you a description of what it's basicaly doing.
When shimming the stock, it's usually happening at the business end of the rifle, though sometimes it can be done behind the recoil lug as well, like stated in the quoted post from "Gun and Game" above.
What the individual will do is, after the shim-material is chosen, will place it at the very end of the stock, applying upward pressure to the barrel, or in the top-guard, applying down-ward pressure. It really depends on your rifle, every where I've heard. So I guess no two rifles are the same when it comes to this modification. So you can do this, or not, it's up to you. It might help.
This is pretty much all you can really do to the original stock to gain some accuracy. There are, I'm sure, other methods out there, but this is just a generalized guide, basically giving the reader an idea of what he or she could do to squeeze a little more accuracy out of their Mosin Nagant.
Firstly, we have to realize that the Mosin Nagant has some problems. They aren't the greatest rifle in the world, and has its limitations. It is a crude, "clunky" firearm, as some call it, but a lot of use do see the beauty in these rifles. But what most don't take into account, is that these rifles were given to uneducated conscripts, who were told to defend their country at all costs. So naturally, they're going to be a little rough around the edges, but they will go bang. But most cases of them going bang, it leaves a little something to be desired.
These rifles, the biggest complaint that I see about them, is accuracy. Yeah, yeah. Yada yada. Some are accurate, little are really accurate, but most leave a lot to be desired in that department. But one of the nicest things about these rifles is that they are just so easily customizable, that why wouldn't you do something with it?
I'm more of a purist at heart, and don't do much to the mil-surps, but this article that I am writing won't involve any extreme sporterizing. Actually, it's quite the opposite. Your rifle can stay in the original stock with all of these modifications, and most would be none-the-wiser to your modifications. Hell, most of these you wouldn't really be able to notice without a closer look! So in my eyes, this is a plus.
I've been doing a lot of reading about this area lately, and have found a lot of useful links, plus some of my own experience in modifying these rifles, and decided to compile them all into one thread. This post will be long, so bear with me.
First thing we're going to talk about is the stock. This is where a lot of the accuracy problems are going to spring up, and in a lot of cases that I have read, is the only thing that needs tweaked to tighten up the groups.
There's a few things you can do the the original stock to accurize this rifle, without making it look like a bubba'd hack-job:
1.) Glass-bed the stock
2.) Pillar-bed the stock
3.) Free-float the stock.
Of these three things, I have no personal experience doing this myself. Though, I do have plans for doing so someday soon. The processes are actually pretty simple, and I will provide links and a general description of the steps required.
1.) Glass-Bed the Stock:
I have quoted and paraphrased this post from the forum "Gun and Game" and will provide a link as well. This member has gotten good results from glass-bedding his stock. (The same link will cover pillar-bedding as well.)
The word "accuracy" in a rifle is synonymous with "consistency". The idea is to get the rifle to react the same way, every time it is fired. When an action can move within the stock when it is fired (and not return to the same position each time), or when a wood stock changes dimensionally due to changes in temperature or humidity- things are not consistent, and accuracy suffers.
There are two main types of bedding- first is receiver bedding, where the objective is to place the action into a custom, tight-as-a-gnat's *** "fit" in the stock. This prevents the action from moving within the stock- even during the violent forces of recoil.
Second type of bedding is referred to as pillar bedding. In the MN, the action screws hold the trigger guard/magazine assembly to the barreled action. This is "interrupted" by the wood stock, which prevents tight, metal-to-metal contact between these parts. Wood is not dimensionally stable, it changes, together with changes in temperature and humidity. This, in turn, changes the areas of, and amounts of, pressure on various areas of the assembly. What we are seeking here is tight, metal-to metal contact of these parts, free of pressure contact with the wood stock.
Bedding the action consists of placing it in a "bed" of epoxy- which will form a perfect, female "mold" of the part- and hold in tightly in position where it cannot move. This is particularly important around the recoil lug on the bottom of the receiver. On modern rifles, this is a thinner, vertical plate that extends downward from the action and butts against a stop in the stock, that prevents the action from slamming backwards under recoil. On the MN, this is a solid steel "block" that receives the front action screw as well. The stock rifle has a recoil cross bolt that transverses the stock. The problem is that a gap will exist between the block on the action and this lug. I'm sure there is a lot of variance, and some will be tighter fitting than others, but a gap will exist. I've read some guys will shim the space. To each their own, I believe epoxy bedding is a preferable, and tighter, method to eliminate this "play". In that regard, I chose to remove the recoil lug completely. Leaving it in place will, IMO, result in reduced effectiveness of the bedding job. There will be too small a gap to fill with epoxy. Either it won't get in there at all, and a gap will remain, or too thin a layer will result and it will crack right out the first time the rifle is fired. I cut the end off the bolt and "dummied" the bolt head and the nut back onto the rifle in their respective holes when I was done. But, there is no longer a recoil bolt.
We also want to place as much of the receiver as possible into this epoxy bed. Depending on the rifle, these areas will vary. Due to the extractor assembly, the left side of the action of the MN is mostly a non-starter. The right side can be done... I did it on the Sporter, but did not on the factory stock. The rear tang is also a "must" area.
In order to place the receiver into a bed of epoxy, we must remove enough of the wood stock in those areas so as to allow room for the epoxy. Be sure to remove enough- as thin, skim bed of epoxy will likely crack and you'll be doing it over. I prefer a minimum of around 1/8". You can see the stock removal in these pics. PLEASE NOTE: the preferred method is to use modeling clay to fill all areas where you do not want the epoxy to flow. I cheated and used painters tape on this because I used up my clay on the sporter. BE SURE to leave the very rear of the tang area untouched- as well as the forward section of the barrel. You need to leave the wood in these areas to ensure the action sets back in the stock properly. If we take out that wood, we end up with the action "swimming" in the epoxy with no way to set it in the proper position.
Prior to placing the barreled action into the epoxy, you have to protect the areas you don't want to get filled with epoxy. Again, modeling clay is preferred. I cheated here again and just taped it up. Remove the trigger assy and extractor and fill these areas with clay. Ditto with the magazine cutout.
Then, you want to tape the recoil lug/block. Place two layers of tape, carefully cut with a sharp razor knife, along the front and both sides of the block. DO NOT place any tape on the rear side of the block. Here, we want an absolutely tight fit against the block of solid epoxy we're forming. The two layers of tape in the other areas create a few thou gap to allow for easier removal of the action from the cured epoxy block.
Once we have these areas protected from epoxy overflow- and the outside of the stock taped up for protection, place the bedding compound into the desired areas. DO NOT SKIMP! You don't want ANY voids here. The excess epoxy will be forced out when the action is pressed into the stock. There are many types of epoxy bedding compounds, and that could be a whole 'nother thread so I won't get into it here. Do your research. I happened to have a gallon jug of West System epoxy from boat projects, so I used that together with thickening agents to add strength, and thicken the consistency. You want a fairly thick mix, somewhere around "mayonnaise" is good.
This is basically wax which prevents the epoxy from sticking to the steel action- which it will do very well if given the chance. Think of it as a mold release agent. DO NOT SKIMP here. Two coats everywhere- over the clay (or my tape, as it were), way up onto the sides of the action as the displaced epoxy will end up there. If your epoxy has a relatively short working time, be sure to get the prep/release agent on the action done before you mix up and begin placing the epoxy- or you'll run out of time.
Then it's a simple matter of pressing the action down into the epoxy. Since I was going to install pillars afterwards, precise alignment was not necessary. If you are not going to do pillars, you need to coat the action screws with tape and release agent and screw the action and mag assembly together tightly. Better yet, if you can find handscrews that fit, use them, or threaded studs.
In that scenario, as you screw/tighten the parts together, the epoxy will squeeze out everywhere. That's fine, that means you used enough.
In my case, I used surgical tubing tightly wrapped, or you can use clamps. We want that puppy pressed down tightly- and fully- into the stock so that we contact those two small wood areas we left alone. Then we know we have the action in the correct position.
Clean up as much of the excess epoxy as you can, but don't worry too much about it. The rest will peel right off after it hardens because of the release agent. Let it sit overnight, and the next morning, release your clamps or action screws, and carefully pry the end of the barrel away from the stock. If you did everything right, it will pop right out of the "mold."
The author of this post suggests clamping down until you have epoxy coming out around the action. The link will provide pictures of his project. This method of bedding seems pretty solid, which follows the principle of consistency. It makes the receiver return to the same spot it was before firing, and after firing. It makes the rifle repeat what it did on the shot before, basically.
Glass-Bedding and Pillar-Bedding
2.) Piller-Bed the Stock:
Since the author of the post I quoted and edited (for some removal of needless wording) above included information on Glass-bedding and Pillar-bedding in the same post, I'll only be providing one link.
Pillar bedding goes hand-in-hand with receiver bedding.
A bedding "pillar" is nothing more than a metal tube that is cut to a very precise length, that the action screws run through.
Rather than the wood rifle stock providing the necessary spacing and contact points between the action and the magazine/trigger guard, we will place a metal tube between them- to assure precision metal-to-metal contact and consistent spacing. Remember- wood changes dimensionally- sometimes A LOT- with changes in temperature or humidity. Not to mention the possibilty of getting the stock soaked in a rainstorm...
The pillars themselves can be made from many things. Aluminum or steel is fine...tubing, or solid stock drilled to the proper dia. for the action screws.
Rock Solid sells them for ten bucks- no affiliation here, but I don't see how ya can beat that.
I didn't have the time to order them, and was too lazy to go to the hardware store to look for some appropriate size tubing (1/2" outside dia. with 5/16" inside is about right). I had some 1/2" round steel stock lying around, so I used it. Placed it in the drill press vise and drilled out 5/16". Inside dia. of the pillar isn't critical- you want the screws to pass easily through the pillar without binding.
If you buy the ready-made pillars, skip the next part on how to make the pillars...
Assemble the magazine to the action tightly, as you would normally in the stock. Then take a set of calipers and measure the inside clearances front, and rear
Note the lengths- you will now cut your tubing/stock slightly longer than the "tight" measurements you just noted. This assures we've got a bit "extra" for guaranteed metal to metal contact. Go roughly .01 over for your finished length. When you rough-cut from the metal stock you're using, be sure to go even longer than the finished length desired, and cut as squarely as you can.
You will lose some metal in the squaring-up process and getting the length exact by filing. That's why I start out significantly longer than what a need (usually around .1 or so). I can file that off in a heartbeat...remember, you can always take more off, but you can't add back.
Square the ends and getting the proper length.
Test-fit the pillars. Place the action in the stock, and flip it over. Drop the pillars into the holes. Check to see if the wood under the trigger guard assembly is higher than the pillars. If it is- and it was substantially higher in mine- it needs to go. Remove any wood as required so that all of it is slightly lower than the pillar height. When the trigger guard is installed, we want contact only at the pillars- not the wood stock. I also relieved the wood stock around the perimiter of the guard as well. I don't want a tight fit that could "squeeze" or place pressure on it in any location. Steel on steel contact, only. The pillars themselves- held solidly in place with the epoxy- will maintain a tight and correct fit between the action and magazine without relying on the wood stock at all.
Have the action and trigger guard , and the action screws taped up, and coated in release agent. Coat the outside of the pillars with bedding epoxy, and carefully drop them into the appropriate holes. Check from both sides to be sure you've got adequate epoxy coverage, and clean up any excess. Place the action into the stock, flip it over. Insert the magwell/trigger guard into the stock, and install the action screws. That's it- tighten it up as you normally would, allow to set overnight.
Here, the author did both a Glass-Bed and a Pillar-Bed to his stock, and this quoted and cited how-to from him reflects that. Like he also stated, you could either make them, or order them in from Rock Solid. Maybe they still make them, but maybe they don't. I haven't looked, mainly because these tubes are easy to make yourself. The author tells you how to do this in the above quote.
3.) Free-Floating the Stock.
Free-floating the stock is a pretty good way to make the rifle act the same way upon firing, every time. It allows the barrel to flex without the stock getting in the way, which could throw off your shot. (Keep in mind, I'm not going to get too technical in the dynamics of this, all this information is out there on the web, and I don't have the time to explain even the slightest detail on something that can be a problem with every rifle in the world. A free-floated barrel has the ability to be more accurate, like a lot of other on-line sources will be able to tell you.)
I've read a little about this to know that it is simple enough to do by yourself without any special tools. So here, I won't be quoting any body, but I will include a YouTube link for demonstration. (Also note, the YouTube video is not mine.)
What you're going to do is find some medium-grit sand-paper, not too coarse, but not too fine, either, otherwise you could either take too much, or spend the next two days doing this. The next thing you're going to want to do is either find a wood dowel, or even a socket from the tool-box that, when the sand-paper is wrapped around the dowel or socket, that it fills the barrel-channel nicely, but isn't too tight.
With your rifle apart, you can either use some gunsmithing black to find out where it's touching on your barrel, or you can just do the whole project by your hands and eyes. We're going to discuss the simple way.
Wrap the piece of sand-paper around the dowel or socket, and proceed to rub along the barrel-channel to begin taking away wood. You don't want to take away too much, so go slow. You can test if your barrel is floated enough by using a dollar-bill, running it from end to end of the barrel. If it snags, there's one place you can keep sanding. Do this until you have free movement with the dollar-bill. You can do the same to the top-cover piece, as well.
You should probably test this movement with the stock properly installed on the rifle, to make sure that when it's tensioned on the rifle, you won't have any snags or points of contact when the reciever is torqued down.
Here's the video on this:
Accurizing the Mosin Nagant Rifle
Another modification you can do to the stock is shimming it with cork, or another material. I'm not exactly sure on this subject, and I've only read a little bit about it. Can't find much through searching, but I can give you a description of what it's basicaly doing.
When shimming the stock, it's usually happening at the business end of the rifle, though sometimes it can be done behind the recoil lug as well, like stated in the quoted post from "Gun and Game" above.
What the individual will do is, after the shim-material is chosen, will place it at the very end of the stock, applying upward pressure to the barrel, or in the top-guard, applying down-ward pressure. It really depends on your rifle, every where I've heard. So I guess no two rifles are the same when it comes to this modification. So you can do this, or not, it's up to you. It might help.
This is pretty much all you can really do to the original stock to gain some accuracy. There are, I'm sure, other methods out there, but this is just a generalized guide, basically giving the reader an idea of what he or she could do to squeeze a little more accuracy out of their Mosin Nagant.