New Mosin Nagant! Mod (sporter questions)

[cracked butt]

Should I 'sporterize' this 38?

Hmm, with a hacksaw, grinder, and belt sander I could purty it up real real nice for you.

-Bubba

 

[The_Antibubba]

Malone

The only mod i want for my M38 is a recoil pad. That thing kicks my butt!

Uh, I'm not an expert, but I think you're holding it wrong!

 

[Cosmoline]

A lot people do hold these rifles incorrectly. American shooters trained to fire scoped rifles tend to bend down towards the bolt, towards where the eye relief zone on a scope would be. This does two bad things on a mil surp. First of all, it forces the butplate away from your chest and out onto the bones of your shoulder. Length of pull on military rifles tends to be on the long side. Secondly, it forces the shooter to drop the rifle down to cycle the action. If you are holding it correctly, you should be able to cycle the bolt without breaking the weld.

The key is to move the rifle in towards your chest, keep your head back and eye down the sights from the back of the stock not from right behind the bolt. This places you in a "L" shape rather than a "V" shape with your rifle.

 

[Ivy Mike]

I too am a big Krag fan. I inherited one from my grandfather.

Mine is a model 1899 but has been sporterized. It used to be my grandfathers deer gun when he was younger. I still shoot it on occasion, but I'm not to hot on running a lot of ammo through such an old rifle.
I wish I could find an original 1899 stock. They are tough to locate though.

 

[heycatman]

I have no idea why the wood extends as far up thebarrel as it does. Many rifles from that era have the same feature so I asssume there was either some benefit or a hold-over from past weapons.
I do know that my M44 does not suffer for having the wood removed.

To remove the barrle bands you either have to remove the front sight/Bayonet mount assembly or spread them at the joint on the bands. I don't think they will go back together if you spread them though.

As for your bayonet there are 2 ways to remove it. You can punch out the two pins holding the bayo/front sight assembly on and try to slide it off the barrel, I have heard of people having them slide right off but most of the time it involves tapping, hitting, swearing and a blow torch. Just to clarify, the front sight and the bayonet mount are part of a sleeve the slides onto the barrel.

The other option is to just unscrew the big srew holding the bayonet to the mount and set it and the spring aside. If you feel you don't like the mount being there you can cut it off, grind the nub flush and refinish.
You may want to look at option 2 as your importers mark is on the front sight sleeve.

This one is mine after some mods.

I thought about the wood up the barrel thing too. I read two books "On Combat" and "On Killing" and it stated that most bayonet charges don't work like we think. Most charges end up with the soldier taking the gun turning it around an bludgeoning their opponent with it instead of impaling with the bayonet. I guess impaling someone is psychologically difficult to do to someone. So the only logical explanation is that it would be nice to put a wood handle on the end of the barrel so it's a little more like a baseball bat handle than a thin steel tube, but that's just my two cents.

 

[Cosmoline]

The key is to move the rifle in towards your chest, keep your head back and eye down the sights from the back of the stock not from right behind the bolt. This places you in a "L" shape rather than a "V" shape with your rifle.

I'm afraid I can't go along with you. You raise some good points but I think the benefits of a proper rifle stance outweigh the need to break the weld.

 

[Sam1911]

Wow, over six years since this thread died its first death.