Funderb
Member
why not get a run of the mill m9130 for 120 bucks in excellent condition and put your own scope on it
satisfy the bubba in you and have fun.
satisfy the bubba in you and have fun.
Best bolt-action 7.62 x 54?
- Thread starter KBintheSLC
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KBintheSLC
Member
Unless of course you have upgraded the crude sights with a nice ghost ring rear and tritium front.
Does anyone make a new-production rifle in this caliber, or is everything old mil-surp type of stuff? If not, someone should... it seems like a great cartridge... like a 308 +P.. thats capable of launching much heavier bullets.
You got it... I am looking for something that can produce at least MOA accuracy... The best I have heard of from the Mosin's was 2-4 MOA, and they vary greatly from one rifle to another. I wish Remington made a 700 in 7.62x54.
Funderb
Member
A good condition mosin will give you MOA precision with a scope.
There are good soviets out there, just go look.
You are really severely limiting yourself by wanting to put a scope on a x54r rifle.
There are good soviets out there, just go look.
You are really severely limiting yourself by wanting to put a scope on a x54r rifle.
DaveInFloweryBranchGA
Member
If you want MOA accuracy, buy a modern hunting rifle like a Stevens Model 200 in 30.06. You'll have MOA or so accuracy, reasonably priced ammo and you can mount a scope on it easily. You cannot get MOA accuracy from surplus soviet union produced ammo, it's not of high enough quality. By the time you reload for the 7.62 X 54, you could reload for LESS for 30.06 and have a better cartridge.
What you want to do isn't compatible with the cartridge and firearms you're looking at. By the time you get the old (and heavy) military rifles to do what you're wanting to do, you can buy a modern hunting rifle and the scope and be money, time and marbles ahead without ruining a fine military antique in the process.l
Seriously,
Dave
What you want to do isn't compatible with the cartridge and firearms you're looking at. By the time you get the old (and heavy) military rifles to do what you're wanting to do, you can buy a modern hunting rifle and the scope and be money, time and marbles ahead without ruining a fine military antique in the process.l
Seriously,
Dave
SimpleIsGood229
Member
I think Dave summed it up very nicely.
What you might consider is getting a nice Lee Enfield. Then depending on the condition of the bore, you could either have it rechambered or rebarreled. Lee Enfields were made for a rimmed cartridge of similar dimensions and chamber pressure and this kind of conversion has been done many times before. There are plenty of them out there at reasonable prices and they can be scoped fairly easily.
Cosmoline
Member
The .303 British has a lower chamber pressure than the 54R. With sporting loads the variation is even greater, with the 54R nearing .30'06 or 8x57 pressure levels. I'm sure there's a way of doing it safely, but there's also room to screw it up.
Many Finns will deliver MOA or better with the right load. The sights are fine tuned, and will enable an experienced shooter to engage any visible target within the cartridge's range. That includes targets out to 300, 400 meters and even beyond. This takes work and calibration. It may require you to relearn how to use iron sights, and how to use multiple points of reference to square up the target.
There seems to be a notion among those used to optics that unless you can precisely see the particular spot you're aiming at, you cannot hit it. If you learn how to use quality irons, you will be shocked at the tight and centered groups you can get EVEN THOUGH YOU CANNOT SEE THE HOLES or even the group until you walk up to the target or look at it through the range finder.
Particularly on the M28/30 and M39, the Finnish sights are really a sighting system of advanced design. This is the sight picture, and you will notice how the "dog ears" combine with the sight post, notch and the side posts to create a multi-layered sight picture with many points of reference to allow you to square up the sights with the target.
http://62x54r.net/MosinID/SightM39.jpg
With practice, you will be able to zero in while keeping the front sight in focus. Your brain will square up the rest of the sighting elements with the sighting points of the target--whether that's a circle, square or something else.
If you don't have time for all this or have no interest in it, the advice of getting a .30'06 Savage or Remchester is spot on.
aka108
Member
Finnish Mosin 38. They are accurate and can become unchallenging and a bit boring. When you get your sights adjusted, they hit what the sights are aligned on. Every time. I'm running Chinese built 7.62X54 thru mine. Cu jacketed bullet with brass case. Bought tons of the stuff when it was 34.00 for 440 rds. Stuff is NA at this time and the prices will never get that low again.
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KBintheSLC
Member
Perhaps the '06 would be a better way to go. I would hate to destroy a classic rifle in attempt to create some kind of Frankengun. I take it none of the major manufacturers are making new rifles in this caliber anymore? I wonder why... it seems like it is still a very viable and useful cartridge. Maybe the fact that it is a rimmed case makes it less compatible with machine guns, and select fire weapons... as opposed to the 7.62 NATO that works as both a sniper round and a machine gun round.
Cosmoline
Member
That's a fair question. Remington made one of their yearly classics in 8x57JS a few years back. For 54R there are probably just too many changes to make, from the magazine to the bolt to the chamber to the diameter of the bore. Plus they'd be selling a $700 or $800 rifle against rifles costing a third or less.
Using the crusher method both cartridges are rated at 45,000 or 46,000 PSI depending on the source and they are generally the same. Using the Piezo method the 7.62x54R is rated at 57,000 and the .303 at 53,000.
Here's a link on the conversion from the JPFO.
http://www.jpfo.net/filegen-n-z/smle.htm
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