Customizing Mosin Nagant Help

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snowmobiler74

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I'm considering buying a mosin nagant and customizing it to get as much accuracy out of it as possible. I know next to nothing about such except a little that I have read on this site. I was thinking about starting with a m44 and getting custom barrel made. What other things that would be advisable to do? What is the best place to get such a rifle. Are big 5's any good? What should I look for when buying one of these guns?
 
Of the three (M91, M44, and M38) I have heard the M44 is the lest accurate. If you want a short barrelled Mosin I would suggest the M38, otherwise I would go for the M91 full length version.

www.aimsurplus.com has a good selection of MNs.
 
Of the carbines, M-38s generally have the worst barrels, M-44s usually have the least wear, but the bayonet lug is unsightly and you'll want to machine it off...The best way I know is to shorten a 91-30. Boyds (wood) and ATI (fiberglass) make stocks. There is really no aftermarket for new barrels, so you have to work with what you have.
 
First of all, the M-44's include some of the MOST accurate Mosins. Many Polish M-44's will take home trophies. If you're seriously interested in getting an accurate Mosin, get one of the Finns that's already been accurized by Sako or Tikka. If you think the rifles are "unsightly," get something you like. If you get the saw out you'll only make a mess.
 
The project is just a waste of time and money. Having said that, I dream of being able to do it myself one day. It is such a challenge. I'd start with a cheap hexagonal receiver (just my preference and should I decide to close the open rear bridge, hex is easier). Rough barrel with sound receiver is easy to find and not expensive at all. ER Shaw should be able to supply the barrel. I'd go bull and free-float. Huber Concept trigger is in order too. And if I have money for all these, I might as well get the Finnish mosin stock (looks like m-85 sniper) on e-bay which only has three days left as of now.
What I have so far is a Finnish 91/30 Tikka with 22 inches barrel bedded with JB Weld and brass tubing in ATI stock. It also has Williams rear sight and Firefly front site. I bought the rifle the way it is, except for the bedding and free-floating of the barrel. I polished the contact points on the trigger assembly mirror shine and cut the firing pin spring half an inch. I only shoot handloads on this one and it is really accurate.
 
Why do you have to wreck a Mosin with a custom barrel? Why not just go and get a cheap Savage or something?
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well for that matter get a mauser action. PLENTY of barrels out there for them. lots of bolts and other parts in all kinds of calibers. ( and you know how badly it pains me to tell soem one to get a mauser)

by the time you make a mosin super accurate its no longer a mosin ( and costs probibly 10X as much)
 
It is recommended that you don't rechamber the Mosin rifles for anything over their designated cartridge chamber pressure. A lot of people buy these rifles for under $80 and think they can rechamber it to a .308 or something equivelant but the .308 family of cartridges exceeds 50,000+ CUP. The Mosin 7.62x54R cartridges are around 40,000-45,000 CUP. The other bugger is that the bolt was designed for a rimmed cartridge so rechambering it to a bottlenecked, rimless cartridge is a real P.I.T.A. I own the M44 and love shooting it. The ammo isn't too bad on the pocket book either. Other than the two previously mentioned down sides, it's a great little rifle. If you want a rifle you can rechamber I would recommend a P-17 Enfield or a 98 Mauser (be careful of heat treats, get it rockwell tested prior to rechambering).
 
Doing all that work to a Mosin is a waste of money. If you want to keep the rifle in its military configuration then I would say get a Finn. Since it seems you do not, the cheapest Mosin you can find and a good gunsmith who likes silly projects backed by lots of money. Do not get a very nice rifle for the express purpose of hacking it up. Someone in my area did that to a Russian 1922 Hex receiver and reduced the value to between -$100 (yes, NEGATIVE) and $20 after:
1) Wrecking the bore with improper cleaning
2) hacking off the front of the stock
3) slathering some sort of paint on the metal
4) adding the "sling" which is actually a hunk of leather belt and a rope tied around the barrel
5) ****ing up the stock inletting so badly that you can wiggle the action in the stock considerably with the action screws tightened ALL THE WAY.

The rifle is utterly worthless for its intended purpose now. The guy trying to sell it on consignment would have a hard time PAYING most people to take it, let alone get the $100 he's asking for it. I stop in from time to time to sneer at what an idiot this guy is with the clerks there.
 
I just shot my M44. All I did to it was a do-it-yourself crown job using a ball grinder and the screw w/ compound. Came out perfect.

180gr PRVI Partisan (Serbian .311) has shot 3 shot groups of 3-4"


That is very good by my standards for this rifle. I'm using a 4MOA Aimpoint that is on loan from my AR-15 mounted on an SK scout mount. I read that this ammo is pretty much one of the most accurate factory loads. So I went straight to that to see what is up.


And my bore isn't that great. Isn't counter-bored, but it was really nasty. To get it kind of clean took about 15 sessions of Tipton's Truly Remarkable (that stuff isn't a bore cleaner, it is a chemical weapon!) ...and it still wasn't clean. Shooting it helped get more crud out and it is starting to look decent. Still pitted to hell, but at least I can see the grooves now.


These Mosins are a complete waste of money to do serious work to. Do whatever is cheap, and that is that. Otherwise, the money can be spent on an entirely different rifle which will be more accurate.


Crown job cost me nothing. Next up is a free floating which will cost nothing. I did the washer trick to the trigger which cut the trigger pull weight in half. Wow...what a difference. Also free. Trigger is actually really good now.


All I have in the rifle is the rifle itself and the scout mount. I made a buttpad using an old mouse pad. It is actually better than store bought pads...happy that worked out.


It will never be a tack-driver and it wasn't meant to be. It's a good cheap blaster. It can be made more accurate with some DIY things so that it doesn't spray into a 10" pattern. That's a worthy goal.
 
it may be a poor analogy,but i see the mosin kinda like a sv650 suzuki. you can learn a lot inexpensively,and later you can get the gsxr1000 and carbon fiber parts.
 
It will never be a tack-driver and it wasn't meant to be. It's a good cheap blaster. It can be made more accurate with some DIY things so that it doesn't spray into a 10" pattern. That's a worthy goal.
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Amen.
 
Although it wouldn't make any economic sense I'd like to see one with a premium barrel, a Huber trigger and a nicely bedded stock. If you take the plunge let us know how it turns out. Essex
 
"Although it wouldn't make any economic sense I'd like to see one with a premium barrel, a Huber trigger and a nicely bedded stock. If you take the plunge let us know how it turns out. Essex"

I don't think building a custom rifle on any action makes much economic sense but that isn't why we make custom rifles is it? We make them because we can and so we can see what a particular rifle can offer us in the configuration is it built in and to fit certain requirements that we have whaterver those requirements maybe.

So considering the action is the heart of the rifle. We have basickly two major action types 1891 or 91/30 both are more than capable of high levels of acuracy. Finland has proven this by rebuilding and refurbishing Mosin Nagant rifles. They still field a Sniper rifle using a mosin nagant action called the TaK 85 sniper rifle which is essentially a rebarreled 91/30.

I myself am working on a custom Mosin Nagant. Sadly the donor rifle is a New England Westinghouse 1915 dated. The barrel was shortened and poorly crowned a 1903 springfield site was fitted to the barrel and it was put in a herters or bishop sporter stock sometime in the 1960's. When I found the rifle was was imediately drawn to its beutifully made reciever and barrel and when I checked the rifling I found it to be in almost perfect condition! The crown looked terrible done with a hacksaw and a file and the trigger pull was over 16 lbs. So I recrowned the barrel, stoned the trigger but I haven't got any further with it.

I plan on getting a stock blank from richards microfit and restocking and bedding the rifle. Depending on how it goes I also know where I can obtain totally stripped 1891 action which I will rebarrel.

What I would do is find a stripped mosin nagant action or perhaps a barrel action. That way you will only need to obtain a complete bolt and magazine assembly and you can rebarrel and restock it without bubbarizing a complete rifle.

Brother in Arms
 
"its a cheap mil surp rifle. Shoot it as it is, customizing is a waste of money."

I also believe that buying 22 underfolder AK's is a waste of money. :)
This is just an opinion. People do what they want if they have the cash and time and/or willpower to achieve it. Although I disagree with this as you do, well, what can we do?
 
If you want to customize a Mosin Nagant, you might want to consider buying just the action and trigger parts. I don't know the exact place to find them, but for about $30-$35 you can get a receiver online.

Everyone says, "just customize a Mauser" but if you work off the action its just the same as a customizing a Mauser, just with a Mosin Nagant action. Plus, it will be unique.
 
Of course shooting corrosive surplus through a new barrel wouldn't make much sense (or would it, as long as you clean very well and right on time!) I still wonder what the true accuracy potential of the surplus polish and hungarian silver tip is. If a souped up rifle could squeeze 3MOA out of it instead of the 4+ you get in a decent shape regular mosin, it would be nice.
 
Its more than cheap military surplus to me. Its history. (And all that great corrosive ammo for cheap) and will enjoy shooting it!
violent-smiley-035.gif
 
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M44 Scout Rifle

I have recentyly bought a couple mosins from big five when they had them on sale for every other week. Havent shot them yet. ( long gun ranges too far away to go often ) but thought about customizing them. When I added the cost for all gizmos, it was more then you could by a brand new low end modern rifle for ( like a Rem 710 ) and for around three or four hundred bucks, you can find some quite respectable higher end used guns out there.

One mod I did too my M44 that was inexpensive was order a scope mount. I found one on amazon com for around 15$ ( the bizzare thing is shipping was more than the part, and its not big or heavy ) the part was actually around 5$. It replaces the rear sight with a piece of picatinny rail that you attatch scopes too. I put on a BSA red dot scope ( walmart 30$ ). It looks neat, have yet to shoot it. Best part is you do not make any permanent alterations to the gun.

Don't know if this is true or not but read someplace that you should shoot the M44s with the bayonet extended or removed, as shooting them with it folded messes up the harmonic balance of the barrel.

I fer one dont wanna mess up the harmonic balance, I dont even know what harmonic balance is................:neener:
 
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