Mosin Nagant M91/30 Accuracy? Scope?

There are a thousand threads on Mosins here and several excellent Mosin forums around the net. Kick is on par with a .30'06, nothing terrible. Accuracy is highly variable. Some of the Soviet ones have been badly abused and re-bored. Accuracy isn't so great with those, but you can find surprises. As a general matter the pre-39 Soviet ones are better, esp. Tula. There are also several different types of Mosins kicking around. The Finnish versions are the best overall. Famous gunmakers at Tikkakoski and Sako got their start making military Mosins for the Finnish army and civil guard. The best of them will shoot MOA or better.

As a general matter the pre-39 Soviet ones are better, esp. Tula.

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That makes me smile! Mine is a 1938 Tula!

I can't shoot mine worth a hoot, but that's because I can't see the sights and the target at the same time....trifocals, ya know. I tore it down to put a scout scope on it, and now I'm going to refinish the wood too.

You can remove the entire rear sight assembly on a 91/30, and there's a roughly 3/8" rail cut into the top of the barrel. Any good scope rings with 3/8" clamps should work, might want 'em medium height. This is how I'm mounting mine, hope it works OK. I can always put the rear sight back on.

(These aren't my rifles, or my photos)

Can anybody identify the brand of rings on the top photo? I really like the looks of those, look solid.

Accuracy can vary a lot with Mosin Nagants. My best MN is a Finnish M39. Even with a badly worn barrel it still shoots better than 2 MOA. My next best is a 1945 Izhevsk M44. I haven't really wrung it out for accuracy, but it will do about 3.5 MOA with Czech surplus. With better ammo it would probably do 2 MOA. I have a hex receiver 91/30 that does about 4.5 MOA with the same Czech surplus and two 1943 91/30's. One shoots about minute of milk jug at 100 yards and with the other one probably would miss the side of a barn if shot from the inside. It literally can't do much more than hit a sheet of plywood at 20 yards. I think I paid $30 for that one.

I haven't shot a 91/30 in a few years, but back then, I was shooting minute of sheet of paper at 100yds. I just bought an Izhevsk 91/30 (good companion to the M38 I already have) at the show today. Its all numbers matching with a gorgeous bore, so I'm crossing my fingers with it. I'll let ya know.

Rondog, thanks for the tip about the rail under the rear sights. I've thought about putting a scope on one of my Mosins but I never wanted to permanently alter them (or any of my milsurps). It also keeps from having to get a bent bolt for them. I might have to try this.

as said accuracy is on a per rifle basis... and scoping a rifle will not magically make the rifle shoot better that said some people just can't do iron sights due to vision reasons in these cases a scout mount is the best way to go... doesn't permanently alter the weapon and it's cheaper than paying a gunsmith to drill and tap... personally i recommend the mounts that replace the sight leaf as opposed to removing the base... not all bases are pinned in place

and since i know someone may wonder which of my mosins is the most accurate... easy answer

If the rifling in the bore looks sharp and it isn't counterbored, then you can expect decent accuracy. Note that counterboring itself isn't a bad thing (it simply means that the Russians cut out damaged or heavily worn rifling at the crown when they arsenaled it), but it seems to be a lot more common in guns with fairly well worn bores (like my M44).

As others have said, Mosin recoil isn't actually that bad, but the felt recoil is made much worse thanks to the narrow steel buttplate. Quite frankly, I find it very uncomfortable to put more than 20 or 30 rounds down range with a bare Mosin stock (especially with heavy ball ammunition), and I do hold my rifle correctly. Anybody who says otherwise is either lying for the sake of internet machismo or has suffered some sort of nerve damage in their shoulder. I now use a rubber slip-on recoil pad from Walmart for my Mosins and can shoot them all day without pain or bruising.

91/30

As noted previously, it depends. Mine shoots 1 moa from a bench rest. It has a nice scope, and the barrel has been corked. Every trip to the range and it comes outta the bag for at least 25 rounds.



KKKKFL

I forgot to mention that when I took my rear sight off, there was a little dab of solder anchoring it to the rail. Applied just a little heat with a torch, and it tapped right off.

You have to remove the action from the stock and put it in a vise, but that's a good time to clean everything up real good and maybe refinish the stock if you wish.

I'm using an NcStar high eye-relief scout scope I got off Ebay, it sits completely forward of the action, and doesn't interfere with the bolt or case ejection at all. Plus, I have full view of the scope from several inches away. I think I might have to remove the front sight though, I can see it in the scope, but I need to range-test it first. Might not be a problem.

I just bought a 1928 Izhevsk 91/30 "select" grade from J&G Sales in AZ.
$79. I placed the order on Tuesday afternoon and UPS delivered it to my house on Thursday afternoon. God bless my C&R FFL.
Sharp, clean rifling. No counter-bore. "Good" wood.
I haven't shot it yet, but so far it's the nicest looking Mosin in my safe.
Also, it looks so much like my M38 they could be a matched set.

Thanks for the candy and info. I'm HOOKED!

And I told myself I would never buy an old gun...