Super Bubba Mosin I built

It's amazing how many old timers honed their skills by hacking up cheap milsurps as boys and young men, and then go on to condemn other young men for doing the exact same thing.

How do you think so many accomplished gunsmiths got their start?? By hacking up and playing around with old cheap guns. Guns that would probably be worth a ton now.

Man, it bugs the heck out of me when the "purists" get upset with someone "Bubba-ing" a cheap, disposeable rifle that could easily be replaced for under $200 in to something the owner actually wants. Be it a Mosin or SKS, once its in my hands, MY history with it is all I'm really concerned about. Its not as if I'm destroying the last of its kind. When there are millions of rifles like mine out there, I'm not going to feel the least bit bad about modifying the one I own to my liking. I get theres a finite number of those rifles out there....but when that number of several million, rarity isn't something I'll concern myself with too much. I "Bubba-ed" my Norinco SKS back in 1993 when I got it....and turned it into a gun that fits me that I actually enjoy shooting, as opposed to what it was in its original format. I've had absolutely ZERO desire to return it to original, because I REALLY disliked the original stock. It simply was uncomfortable for me to shoot properly in its original condition, so when I did shoot it, I shot it rather poorly. The addition of a decent stock improved the weapon 10x in my opinion....history be damned.

MY history with it is all I'm really concerned about. Its not as if I'm destroying the last of its kind. When there are millions of rifles like mine out there, I'm not going to feel the least bit bad about modifying the one I own to my liking

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Well said. I love what the OP has done here. He turned a run of the mill, common as sand milsurp into a really interesting piece. I love it. Of course, my inner redneck gets all worked up over any gun that requires a fire suit to use!

OP, I am surprised by the terrific accuracy of this rig. Now that you know it shoots, honor your good work by giving it better glass. That NcStar would keep me from hunting with it, and it would be a really handy pig gun.

Napalm said:

Range report:
View attachment 673586

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That looks like a fantastic range outing. That rifle is befitting of your username.

Don't let the purist get to you. The Mosin Nagant is the perfect solution for those of us that like to do our own gunsmithing and in many ways improve on a poorly manufactured rifle.
I love most of the ideas guys come up with for these things.
I would have left the barrel at around 18-19" and simply threaded on a muzzle device. This gives you the ability to change it around and get a little more velocity.

Good grief, too many people want to control what this guy can do with his own private property. I'm sure you all support Big Brother revoking his right to "destroy" such a VALUABLE piece of history, don't you?

All I can say about that muzzle flash is... WOW!

That's pretty cool! Nice work and thanks for the vid!

Nice accuracy. My bet is that by chopping and crowning the barrel, you improved the accuracy. It's a big misconception that a shorter barrel is a less accurate one. Stiffening the barrel contributes to accuracy. So does chopping off inches of muzzle wear from those steel cleaning rods. Good looking rifle. I like the stock. I would never criticize someone for taking a poorly machined mass-produced piece of "history" and turning it into a functional accurate rifle.

If people keep bubba-fying old Mosins the pristine ones will someday be worth a lot of money. And what's wrong with that? Sounds like a good thing to me.

Of course the flip side is that a person of the next generation who wants a piece of history has to pay big bucks for an unadultrated Mosin because a large portion of them are Bubbafied.

the next generation will have to pay more anyway. 25 years from now there will be no new surplus and the only way to get one of these guns will be when someone sells from their private collection and that always drives prices higher than when you buy directly from an importer.

I personally doubt my children would want a mosin nagant anyway... they'll go to the range with daddy and shoot enfields, springfields, arisakas, MAS, M1 garands and, God willing, a M1917 and swedish M38. the last gun I could see them liking is the mosin nagants that sit in the back of my safe.

I agree with the other guys. the mosin nagant leaves a lot to be desired and makes a good gun if you want to teach yourself to gunsmith, if you mess up, no big deal that's just something that you didn't do to a $700 winchester or $1000 AR15.

I'm sure that the OP did not post this thread with the intention of being berated for his "destruction" of history and whatever the case may be, it's done. irreversible. let it go.

tahunua001 said:

the next generation will have to pay more anyway.

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Yes, but basic economics tells us the difference in price will be greater if the supply is further reduced through destructive modification (i.e., Bubbafying).

"Holy picture size, Batman"... still laughing.

Nice rig, OP!

Yes, but basic economics tells us the difference in price will be greater if the supply is further reduced through destructive modification (i.e., Bubbafying).

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but the problem is not going to be nearly as pronounced as it is from bubba'ing something else like say... an Arisaka type 99 with less than a million made compared to 12 million 91/30s alone.
the sheer numbers that would have to be bubba'd for any noticeable drop in supply would be astounding.

Good looking rifle!

Thats all kinds of fantastic.

There are not a lot a lot of nice Arisaka type 99s to be found, so the rifle serves as a perfect example of the acquisition difficulties associated with a diminished supply.

which is why I don't normally recommend someone sporterize an arisaka...
however with the mosin nagant I just don't see any problem with it.

The net result is the same. Take post 23 in which the poster indicates he keeps one Nagant original to offset a modified one. If everyone did this, there would only be 50% of the original number of Nagants left. If the next owners continued this trend by Bubbafying the remaining 50%, there would only be 25% left.

Diminished supply drives the price up. A blue-collar mill-surp aficionado with a $100 budget can now own a piece of history. Enter the Bubbas whose chop jobs push the price up to $200. Now our poor aficionado is priced out of the Nagant market and he does not get to own a piece of history. This is indeed tragic.

The $100 Mosin already seems to be history. Lately I've been seeing them for $130 and up. I got an excellent condition hex receiver laminated stock 1931 dated 91/30 a year ago for $99, but only because it has electro-stencil serial #s, otherwise it would have gone for $115. Lately I've been seeing the hex receiver laminated stock 91/30s going for $150 and up.

The Chinese ones with the beat up stocks are still going for $100. I am curious why the OP didn't simply put one of those in the aftermarket stock.

Now our poor aficionado is priced out of the Nagant market and he does not get to own a piece of history. This is indeed tragic.

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Or, he could work a bit harder, save a bit more,and still make the purchase like any one of us do when we want something bad enough. If he can't manage, he must not want that particular piece of history too much. If someone can't work the necessarily overtime, save a little longer, or cut corners elsewhere in their spending, that person, IMO, doesn't want a gun very badly. No one is entitled to a $100 Mosin, nor is anyone entitled to tell others what they should do with their own private property. Some people, quite simply.... and yes, this seems almost offensive to some....but some people DON'T CARE one bit about historical value. Its simply not a concern of theirs in any way, and though it may bug you a bit, thats entirely their right as the owner of the gun. They see the Mosin as a cheap rifle to play with, not as a piece of history that is to be revered and never to be modified in any way. They paid $100-$200 dollars for the priveldge of doing whatever they legally want to do with it. Who is anyone to tell them otherwise? Opinions abound, but as much as it might make a purist cringe, I find the OP's rifle far more interesting than the average Mosin by far.....

I like it! Workmanship looks great! Good Job!
Memory Lane: Back in the 70's I used to cut Win 94s (only junk new models) barrels down to 16 1/4", stocks an inch or so, shorten mag tubes to match, reinstall the sights and sell them like hotcakes to the local farmers to carry on the combine and in the pickup. In the pickup to get them off the redneck window rack everybody had back then.