Big newby with some questions about Mosin Nagant

[ihaveworms]

starting with this rifle is like learning to shoot a handgun on full power .357 loads.

Actually prosche, the first round I ever fired was a .38 special and then a .357 mag.

I have shot a .22. I want more power. I liked the .223 that my uncle let me use, but it is pretty expensive and I can not afford that. I have also fired .45 ACP 1911. It was pretty beefy.

The .22 was a good plinker, but I want something more powerful.

 

[Cosmoline]

The recoil isn't that bad at all. An M44 is nine pounds of rifle firing a .30'06 class cartridge. The steel buttplate can give a little more smack than a plastic one, but most of the rep on the M44 comes from the psychological impact of the huge muzzle flash.

If you want *real* recoil, try B Bore .45-70 +p out of a Ruger No. 1.

 

[cracked butt]

Don't buy a Russian* M44 sight unseen. Do buy it if you personally inspect it and find that the bore looks brand new- I've seen a few of these around, I've also seen a few that the bore was so corroded out that you couldn't see rifling. Wholesalers advertise a lot of these rifles as 'arsenal refinished' or 'arsenal refurbished' which really means nothing more than the stock was refinished- the bores can vary from new to completely worn out.


* I have to emphasize the word 'Russian' or Cosmoline will beat me over the head with a 'Tikka' stick. LOL.

 

[elmerfudd]

Accuracy of MN's is highly variable and adding a scope isn't necessarily a good idea. I've got a decent shooting M39 Finn. Not great for a Finn, but it shoots better than 90% of Russian MN's. My buddy bought one of the $79 91/30's and refinished and scoped it. He was all stoked up to outshoot my other buddies $900 Bushmaster with a $79 surplus rifle. Anyway, I challenged him first with my M39 and iron sights and I smoked him. We fired 10 shots each at 100 yards and all ten of mine were in the black with about 8 of them in a 2" circle. Even with the scope his were in about a 5" group with none of them particularly grouped together.

I've got 4 other MN's in my safe. Only one of them is a decent shooter. My M44 will shoot about 2.5" groups with good ammo, (the bore on that one looks like new and the metalwork is excellent). I have a 91/30 hex receiver that shoots about 3.5" groups another that shoots maybe 6" groups and one that can't hit the side of a barn from inside. It literally shoots about 12" patterns at 10 yards.

 

[Franco2shoot]

accuracy

For me, it starts with the bore. There is no substitute for good rifling. I picked up my 91/30 pulled the bolt out and saw sharp grooves. Next is a solid stock. Again, the one I purchased had a solid stock with no repairs. Finally, I took it apart, at least into the three major pieces, inspected everything and found no faults. Since the initial purchase, I used blue thread lock on the tang screw and the screw in front of the magazine. They are torqued down nice and tight. I have used J&B bore polish on the barrel, and I put a shim under the barrel to tighten the clamping effect of the forestock. Mine shoots 1 inch groups at 100 yards with almost any ammunition. With high priced ammo it does only marginally better. The stock has been refinished, and the Scope is a Bushnell 60-18x50 $125. buck special from Wally world. I think the real key is inspecting the bore and getting the best/sharpest rifling you can. It seems to produce a slightly tighter pattern without the bayonet attached, but its more of a hoot to shoot with that pig sticker sticking out over the firing line.

Total investment $195 bucks.... and a pack of 20 7.62x54r for 5 bucks, what's not to like.

KKKKFL