boyds stock mosin nagant shooting way high

[JBrady555]

I just put a mosin nagant in a boyds thumb hole stock. Finally got it to the range today and its shooting way high. In the regular stock it was pretty much right on the 16" gong at 200 yards but with the new stock its shooting about a foot high, maybe more, at 100 yards. I have to completely lower the front sight below the rear, and then put the 100 yard 8 inch steel gong in the rear sight notch to make the gun hit where I am aiming. What could cause the gun to shoot so high now. I think I free floated the barrel right, I can slide a piece of notebook paper in between the barrel and the stock with a little resistance but not much at all. Thanks for any info.

 

[Edarnold]

You free-floated the barrel.

The original military stock is the exact opposite: the barrel is tied to the fore-end tightly. What would be amazing would be for the point of impact NOT to change.

Get a taller front sight.

IMHO

 

[bainter1212]

In general the longer the barrel, the more flex it will potentially have, especially when unsupported. I'm willing to bet that the military stock barrel bands were putting pressure points on the barrel, and when you removed those pressure points you changed the harmonics of the barrel. Try cutting a piece of cork sheet and placing it under the barrel an inch or so back from the front tip of the stock, to put a pressure point on the barrel. You can always move it back or forward and experiment.....not a professional gunsmith here, just a tinkerer. Good luck.

 

[JBrady555]

thanks for the info. I'll try the cork gasket to see if that helps. I could put a scope mount and scope on the gun but I really would like to just stay with the original iron sights.

 

[carbine85]

I have an Ex Sniper Mosin that I have been working with. My experience with all of my Mosins is they shoot high. As stated before the barrels on these things need to be corked. I found some rubberized cork gasket material at Autozone and used it near the end of the barrel just in the area of where the front sling loop would be. These barrels are skinny, not stepped and they heat up quickly.
I also bought a Smith Sight for adjustment and I remove material from the ramp area of the rear sight so that I could lower the rear sight more.
If your barrel is counter bored you might want to cut off the end and reface and recrown it.

 

[backbencher]

"If your barrel is counter bored you might want to cut off the end and reface and recrown it." Er, isn't that what the counter bore is? A Soviet arsenal recrown?

 

[bainter1212]

I had a counter-bored Mosin that shot terrible until I cut and recrowned it. The counter boring was a full inch and a half into the bore! That meant that the bullet had an inch + of unsupported freebore, with propellant gases swirling around it throwing it off course. Just because it is counter-bored doesn't mean it was done right.

 

[carbine85]

"If your barrel is counter bored you might want to cut off the end and reface and recrown it." Er, isn't that what the counter bore is? A Soviet arsenal recrown?

.
Counter boring is a cheap easy fix to repairing a damaged or eroaded crown. If you want a proper crown it needs to be at the end of the bareel and not 1" into the barrel.
Counter boring isn't as good as a proper end crown.

 

[JBrady555]

when i put cork gasket in between the barrel and stock, how tight should it be? As of now it would be really tight putting alot of pressure on the barrel. I can always sand the barrel channel on the stock a little bit more to allow a not so tight fit.

 

[Wylie1]

I went Bubba so I had to Edit.

I wouldn't stress it, make the post taller and see how consistant the rifle shoots, likely you will see greater consistancy until you heat the barrel up. I'm not a fan of corking the Mosins but I toy with rifles for hunting, plinking, not so much.

 

[carbine85]

when i put cork gasket in between the barrel and stock, how tight should it be? As of now it would be really tight putting alot of pressure on the barrel. I can always sand the barrel channel on the stock a little bit more to allow a not so tight fit.

The preferred method is to relief the barrel channel in the stock so that the barrel has clearance all the way down the channel. Wrap the cork at the end in front of the sling slot and it should be tight.
It's a modern version of what the Russians would do in the field. The theory behind it is the harmonics are free to move to the point that the barrel is clamp down with the cork. I used the old Russian Sniper tips on mine and it helped.
The real trick is finding the sweet spot for the cork. You have to play with it.

 

[docsleepy]

I've hacksawed off a counterbored and recrowned (Lee case trimmer -- use the LARGE size that they sell) and groups shrank considerably. This is well worth doing. The better your hacksaw (consider using a cutoff wheel instead) the less work you will have to do with the Lee.

Get a "case gauge" for something 7 mm, so it will just fit inside the bore (the 7.62x54R will be too tight). Then shim with portions of a plastic straw until it is nicely shimmed. This will ensure that you make a perfectly square crown.

If the Lee device doesn't reach all the way to the edge of the barrel, lightly use a file to bevel JUST the outer edge when you are finished, to fair it into the newly crowned area.

Get a large round-head brass screw and some valve lapping compound. Put the compound in the grove of the screw head, chuck it in a drill and make a few turns to bevel just ever so much on the inside edge at the groves/lands. Do not overdo it.

Then cold blue with a Qtip and you're done.

$65 saved.