45-70 mosin, has it been done?

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ga16de6669

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I was looking at my lyman reloading manual and based on the case dimensions and pressures involved, methinks it would be possible to convert a m44, or a 91/30 to 45-70. i am aware of a gibbs conversion for the smle, but what about the mosin? i think i would make an interesting sort of pig gun. any thoughts or ideas about it? the face would have to be relived .3 for the rim, but other than that it should work. at the price they are going for it might be worth to try. o, woops its my first post, my name is oscar, ive been lurking for a while, just always found what i was looking for without posting. i am from komifornia, but im looking to get out, cant take it, i live in santa cruz county, nuff said.
 
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mag well is set up for a bottleneck cartridge so it would probably have to be treated like the Siamese Mauser and only a single shot...BUT...it would be neat. :)
 
How different would it be than the conversions done on the Enfields? I've seen a few of them and would snatch one up if I saw it at a reasonable price. A moisin would be almost as cool.
 
If i rember correctlt........

Christine Jorgenson started out as a British Naval officer. Was the conversion really worth it? I just don't see it as practical. Essex
 
Was the conversion really worth it? I just don't see it as practical.
Click to expand...

It depends on what your definition of 'it' is.:neener:

Seriously, if you were going to pay a gunsmith to do the conversion, it probably wouldn't be worth the cost.

If you had a junk mosin action, a 45 caliber barrel blank, a lathe, action wrench, barrel vise, chamber reamer, and the requisite knowledge; it could very well be a lucrative way to give yourself an affordable 45-70.

I may give it shot someday when I've got a little spare cash and time. I've got everything but the action, barrel, and reamer.
 
I'm sure it can be done, with some ingenuity and a couple of cubic feet of money. The biggest (read: costliest) problem with it that I can see would be re-engineering and modifying the bolt to work with the conventional flat rim on a .45-70 case. It's not an issue with the SMLE design, but I don't see where it can't be on a Moisin.

The Siamese Mausers that were offered from Navy years ago were originally made to use a flat-rimmed cartridge, so it wasn't a big issue there either. That alone was enough to make those conversions a relatively simple and straight-forward engineering exercise.

I really can't see how this conversion project could be even remotely practical from a cost/benefit perspective. Even if you are a highly skilled artisan with the tooling and experience to do the bulk of the work yourself, it isn't going to be cheap - in terms of what a person with those skills can make selling those hours for cash, if nothing else. If you have to buy the skilled labor as well as the parts, I can see a couple of grand going into it easily.
 
From what I gather this conversion is not uncommon in Finland for hunting European Elk our equivalent of Moose, our Elk actually being equivalent to the European Red Stag. I don't recall which forum I read about this. That being said I have a Gibbs Summit Frontier rifle which I LOVE, a very high cool factor with this one.
 
mainmech48

Could you elaborate on why the mosin bolt would have a problem with a flat based cartridge? :confused:

The bolt face on my M44 is flat, and even if it wasn't the bolt face will have to be enlarged slightly (.038") to accommodate the slightly larger rim of the 45-70 (.608" diameter vs .570" for the 7.62x54R) and squaring up the surface during that process is trivial. I've done it myself to other bolts.

The rim thickness is the same for both rounds, so I don't see an issue there. I suppose the extractor might have to work a little harder to snap over the rim of the 45-70, but I wouldn't think it would a real problem.

What am I overlooking?
 
45-70

all things are possible grasshopper....... at $45 for a bbl play w/ it & please let me know......try it I will also. Good luck. Cosmoline, what is w/ magazine, I not even able to read newspaper....heeheeehee
 
thanks for the replys, my thinking of this started kinda off beat ish. i like the mosin action (no real reason). i was thinking of building one as slightly more than a bubbah sporter in a modified manlicher fashion. butter-knife bolt, but with a shorter fore grip, but ending in a schnabel, front sight with a long ramp and sitting on a ring, express rear sight, and peep out back. on a cost benefit side the ammo is cheap. but then i realized i would probably have to load for it, and seeing as how it would be a 150 yard max gun due to the sights, and its only furry target would be hogs, why not 45-70. i just need to buy two mosins, one for the cheap ammo, and one for the thumper. im sure most of the issues can be resolved with a lathe and mill. need to look a little further into it, the part that seems most daunting is the threads probably are not mauser (i know, iknoe) and the control round feed tunning... i think my local sporting goods has them on sale again... gunna need a few to play with and a brownells catolog:evil: .
 
Hey, this is a good idea, I think...how many MN's are out there with sewer-pipe barrels and sitting in the gunsmith barrel somewhere?

Last SGN I picked up had the Finnish sniper challenge and one fella in there had a MN chambered in a 300WM....if they can 'smith a MN to fit up a winmag cartridge, then I think a 45-70 would be a dandy. :)


D
 
Jesse: The main reason it occured to me was recalling the weird convex shape of the rim on the Russian cartridge. If I was in error in assuming that the bolt face on the Moisin would be relieved to accommodate and enclose that protrusion, then obviously the concern is unwarranted.

In the immortal words of Gilda Radner: "That's very different. Never mind." :eek:
 
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