Can my Mosin be fixed?

[kcofohio]

Forgiven1, could the barrel, prior to being cut down, have had a bulge in it. If the cut off point is where a bulge may have been, the barrel could be opening up at the muzzle.

I may be grasping at straws here. You could slug only an inch into the muzzle to see if your bore is the same or not. But I could be totally off on this.

 

[Forgiven1]

Hey guys I have another important question.

I recently noticed that when I look inside the chamber of my gun right at the point where the bullet neck would seat there appears to be a hairline crack in the barrel chamber. Is this common or is this a dangerous gun?

 

[rcmodel]

Is it a circle running clear around the chamber?

If so, it is the end of the chamber, and is perfectly normal.
All chambers have them.

If it is a line running the direction of the bore, thats not normal.
And it could be a crack, or a scratch.

rc

 

[Forgiven1]

It runs from just below where the neck of the chamber shrinks to just above it in the direction of the barrel, in a straight line.

 

[kcofohio]

Without putting it through magnaflux, an endoscope may give you a better look at what you are seeing.

 

[BigBore45]

if you are going to do all this work and you have the equipment. just find a .308 barrel and install it on there. that way you can make tighter head spacing and have a barrel that was not made for military reasons.

 

[Forgiven1]

Thanks guys for chiming in. Here is a recap of where I am at.

As for the what I am seeing in the barrel I still dont know for sure. I have put literally hundreds of rounds though this gun so its probly not going to kaboom. It is probly just a superficial scratch/cut in there, but I think in this case just to be safe I will have a qualified pro look at it.


BigBore45,

I actually had no idea a barrel swap of another caliber was a common practice. I'm not sure how the shells would cycle with the arch angle mags though. Still a compelling idea. Then I could still have exactly the stock I want.




I was able to get one of the reloading books recommended in the sticky about it here at THR and have begun reading it. So far it sounds like a "blast"!


Funny thing is one of the main reasons I bought this gun is I was thinking I could use cheap milsurp ammo in it. Since clearly that is not the case and I will have to be reloading anyway the thought has crossed my mind to just go to a modern .308 LOL

Either way once I have finished a book or 2 I will be back with a potential list of stuff I need to order for the group to look over before I go spending money.


Thanks again to everyone who is helping me get where I need to go with this.

 

[illinoisburt]

Get a tin of the light ball from 1970-1980's with the painted silver tips. Has been much more accurate in the rifles I have tried it over the older heavy ball.

 

[bainter1212]

Changing barrels is NOT easy on an MN. Not only are the barrels often on there so tight you have to use a 20 ft cheater bar to get it off, the threads are some odd type of Russian measurement and are difficult to duplicate. As a result, there are really no aftermarket options for barrel replacement.

You COULD have a gunsmith remove the barrel, shave her down a few threads, then recut the chamber, lap the lugs, recut the extractor groove, reinstall and time the barrel.....

Of course that would cost you about three times what the rifle is worth.

 

[MountainBear]

Swapping the trigger if you have not already done so would be a good start. As has been said, the archangel stock should already be inletted for the Timney trigger. The stock trigger pulls on mosins are atrocious. That trigger pull could very well be causing you to open your groups. That would be the next place I would recommend trying before swapping barrels or other such expensive work...

 

[scottbird]

I would first like to say that you have a nice looking rifle, good job. you are right about the surplus ammo, most of it is junk and been sitting for who knows how many years. if you do want to get surplus ammo the best I know of is at classicfirearms.com they usualy handle the russian made ammo which is the best. otherwise like everyone else has posted reloading will bring you into about 1" or less. happy shooting.

there is nothing like the old war horses, big, bad, and bold.

 

[docsleepy]

I hate to be a broken record, but buy the Lee classic whack a mole set. Get some Sierra 150 grain spire point .311 inch projectiles, get some norma
brass, put 42 grains of Varget in there.

Shoot a bit with that and tell us what your groups are. Should be about an inch and a half or better.

 

[Forgiven1]

Scottbird,

Thanks. I think its nice lookin myself.

Docsleepy,

I'm ok with hearing more than one opinion. Hearing the same thing from many people is just validation I'm on the right track. Also thanks for the recipe, I may need it soon.




Here is the latest on my gun. I took it to a couple of guys that know way more than I do about it to have them look at the line I suspected may be a crack in the chamber. First a local gun store owner who said that he saw nothing in there to be concerned with. He then gave me the card of a local gun smith who I also had look and both said I am ok so that is awesome


Second thing is this. Right now I am just trying to save up enough money for 2 things. The first is the Timney trigger, and the second is wacka mole. I am currently reading one of the reloading books suggested in the sticky here at THR. Once I have read up on it a bit I will be back here with my check list of purchase items for the reloading before I buy.

I will be getting one of the single action presses. Probly the lee classic or precision.

Something I would like to hear suggestions on is a digital scale. I really dont want to use a balance type scale. What I would really like is a scale that measures out the powder for you if I can afford one.


Are we allowed to post direct links to products and websites on this forum?


Thanks in advance all.

 

[bainter1212]

A beam scale will be more reliable (and therefore accurate). Digital scales facilitate speedy charging, you are shooting for accuracy so I would recommend a beam scale.

 

[Reloadron]

Something I would like to hear suggestions on is a digital scale. I really dont want to use a balance type scale. What I would really like is a scale that measures out the powder for you if I can afford one.

Each type of scale has its good and bad points. Not too long ago we had an in depth thread discussing digital scales. You may want to give this thread a read.

I would also respectfully disagree that a beam scale will be more reliable and therefore accurate. Most powder scales aimed at the reloading community have an uncertainty of +/- 0.1 grain with a corresponding resolution of the same, be they analog or digital. This is a good read on some of the more advanced Digital Powder Dispensers available. While far from what you need the link is an interesting read. The first link I posted for the THR thread covers just about everything you could want to know as we really beat the subject matter up in detail.

Ron

 

[Plinkin' Logs]

Just to chime in a comment about the trigger. Another option beside the Timney trigger is to look into getting a Finnish trigger. These were modified by the Finns as an improvement over the stock soviet triggers. They have two metal pins that act to convert the trigger to a 2-stage trigger without increasing the weight of the trigger. Might be something worth considering as they are cheaper the the Timney trigger. You can get them for around $30 on ebay. Good job on the Archangel conversion. Did the conversion myself on one of my Mosins and absolutely love it. Had to fuss with the ejector/interrupter alot to mine working flawlessly at first though

 

[Forgiven1]

Guys is there some where that I can find information on how much of what powder to use in this cartridge?

In my reloading manual it has the least and most permitted for each shell and for different bullet sizes, but nothing for 7.62x54R.

 

[Reloadron]

Guys is there some where that I can find information on how much of what powder to use in this cartridge?

In my reloading manual it has the least and most permitted for each shell and for different bullet sizes, but nothing for 7.62x54R.

The cartridge is frequently shown in loading manuals as 7.62 Russian (Just make sure it is NOT 7.62 x 39 Russian). What manual are you working from? Hornady 9th Edition has it listed, The Lyman 49th has it listed. The Hodgdon website list it. I am sure most other powder manufacturers list it.

Ron

 

[kcofohio]

Something I didn't see anybody hit on:

I know very little about the Lee Classic Loader. But the press dies in 7.62x54 Russian has a .308 expander with it. Is this the case with the Classic Loader? It looks as though the decapper is what may determine the neck size when using the Classic Loader.

The Lee dies, you can get a .303 British expander for .311 bullets. I don't know about the Classic. Looking at the parts list, the decapper is the same as what is used for the 30/06.

http://leeprecision.com/310-decapper.html

You may want to check on this decapper.

 

[krs]

Digital dispensers are a wonder to behold for reloaders but don't they all run about two bills and more?

At this stage I think a new reloader would be doing himself a big favor with the Lee loading equipment, particularly their beam scale and powder throwers.

They're just so darned cheap and work more reliably than anybody would expect looking at them and once a load is dialed in on their powder measure/thrower they hit it right time after time.

I used to buy a different Lee powder measure for each caliber when I was starting, and I was shooting .45acp, .38 spec., .222 rem, and .308. Just clamp on the preset (and clearly marked) thrower and toss out a tray of loads as quick as I could flick the arm up and down.

Once in a while I'd measure a random throw and never caught any of those plastic things missing by more than .1gr and that would almost always be the bigger .308 tosses.

 

[Steve2md]

I like H380 for mine. But I'll have to find a new powder as my h380 supplies runneth low and it's difficult to find in AZ at the moment

 

[docsleepy]

The .308 set up will work fine with Sierra spire point .311 150 grain bullets.

I use a .308 set up that came with my Lee equipment, and I have used both regular dies and whack a mole extensively.

One of the fun things I like to do is go to a shooting range and start loading rounds right there on the back bench, it always draws a crowd and then I show them how easy it is to do.

If you will follow the instructions above, you will have ammo that is worthy of a one and a half inch group, if your rifle can shoot it.

I have not changed any of the triggers on my multiple motions, I did attempt to adjust the spring on some, with mixed results.

People laugh at some of my guns, but I have a Mosin-Nagant that I can hit a target at 600 yards with rather easily, and I can sometimes hit it at 800 yards. This is a 22 inch wide AR 500 round target. At 800 yards you have to wait almost 4 seconds to hear the gong sound.

I took one MN I got, cut the barrel down a bit, sleeved the barrel with a three-quarter inch water pipe from Home Depot, bonded it with JB Weld, and that is the rifle that can hit the target at 800 yards.

You can bet that rifle get some attention at the range! People laugh at it and then I run rings around the Remington's. probably the best thing you can do is put on a pistol scope, I use the NCStar 2–7 power which is only $50, mounted on dovetail rings that fit the dovetail underneath the rear site

Google some of this and you'll easily find the information how to do it. With the Ironsites I can barely hit the side of a barn, with a scope I'm pretty deadly.

 

[Forgiven1]

Docsleepy,

Thanks for your reply. Could you elaborate on the purpose of the barrel sleeve on your mosin? I assume this is to improve accuracy, but exactly how? Is it a heat sink? A stiff back?

Matt

 

[bainter1212]

That NC star scope is a great deal. My buddy has one mounted the same way on that dovetail. He uses a scope mount from BKL Technologies that works fantastic. Really stretches out the accuracy of his rifle.