Red Tornado
Member
Well, the range is in shooting shape, so I decided to brave the weather and try out my “new” Mosin M38. It’s arsenal refinished, all the metal looks unused, and the wood is prettier than I’ve seen on a M38, although I haven’t seen that many. Hopefully the tiger striping will show up on my photo. I believe it’s the correct stock. Anyway, the process of finding it is herehttp://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=243195 if you’re interested. **Edit** The pic doesn't do the wood justice. I'll blame the camera, but it's probably me.
I also wanted to try out the Czech short range ammo. It’s hollow core, 45gr, and can be seen here, http://www.7.62x54r.net/MosinID/MosinAmmo013.htm.
I started out at 50 yards to see if the M38 was on the paper, it was so I loaded up the Short Range (SR) ammo to try it out. My first group was about 2.7”, which doesn’t sound good at 50, but with this ammo, cold weather, and me behind the sights, that was about as good as I hoped. (Or as I like to say, that’s a 1.5” 4 shot group.) This SR cuts holes in the paper that look like a wad cutter…very clean. (Not a big issue since this is plinking ammo, but some bonus info.)
Overall I’m thrilled because I bought this to run around the woods without killing my shoulder. Imagine shooting a .223 in a 9+ pound rifle, and you’ve got the recoil of this round. Sweet!!! I could shoot this all day. I even got over my “Mosin flinch” and was able to see the muzzle blast. Bonus!!!
Anyway, back to the rifle. I moved the target back to 100 to wring her out a little bit, but very little, as I was getting cold quickly. Using Czech Silver I shot one group that measured 3.5” which is great for me. Experience tells me that my groups are usually half gun/ammo, and half me. Maybe I got lucky, I’d be surprised it this rifle couldn’t do 2” with someone else at the wheel. Perhaps it’s blind optimism, but I’m still pretty sure I didn’t get near the limits of what the gun’s capable.
Next I tried some Russian surplus, head stamp 60 over 85 and it shot very low. Only one was on the paper (barely clipped the bottom), but the holes in the target stand appeared to be about the same as the Czech. I’ll try more of it when the weather’s better and I can also run it through my 91/30.
The SR at 100yds was not worthwhile, today. I got one in the paper, one down below, and 3 that I couldn’t track. I don’t think it’s that accurate, but it’s probably hitting way low since it loses half of it’s velocity at 100yds. And it’s hard to verify until I get it up on the paper. However, part of the wildness could have been me shivering, and that ended the range session.
The Czechoslovakian 1964 7.62x54r Hollow Core Short Range ammo gets a thumbs-up from me. There’s very little recoil which makes it a blast to shoot. It’s also accurate to 50 yards which is all I’ll be shooting while plinking. It may be accurate for a much longer distance, but I need to do some more testing (when it’s warmer) to confirm or deny. Works exactly like I’d hoped when I ordered it.
My impressions of the M38 are that it’s probably going to be a really nice shooter. It’s counter bored with strong rifling, and it looks great, and handles much better than my 91/30 (of course). This will make a great plinker and I’m excited to really get some serious range time in to find its limitations and POA with this SR ammo.
However, (there’s always a caveat) the trigger was (in the words of Bill Walton) hoooooorrrrible. My trigger finger was sorer than my shoulder, and that’s just wrong on several levels. Also, when I put the safety on, I could barely get it off. So, last night I did the Surplus Rifle tricks and cut down the firing pin spring to 3 ¼”, ground a little off of the sear spring, smoothed the surfaces, and shimmed the sear spring screw with 7 aluminum can shims (approx .028”). The trigger is now lighter, smoother, and will surely shoot better than before.
I also wanted to try out the Czech short range ammo. It’s hollow core, 45gr, and can be seen here, http://www.7.62x54r.net/MosinID/MosinAmmo013.htm.
I started out at 50 yards to see if the M38 was on the paper, it was so I loaded up the Short Range (SR) ammo to try it out. My first group was about 2.7”, which doesn’t sound good at 50, but with this ammo, cold weather, and me behind the sights, that was about as good as I hoped. (Or as I like to say, that’s a 1.5” 4 shot group.) This SR cuts holes in the paper that look like a wad cutter…very clean. (Not a big issue since this is plinking ammo, but some bonus info.)
Overall I’m thrilled because I bought this to run around the woods without killing my shoulder. Imagine shooting a .223 in a 9+ pound rifle, and you’ve got the recoil of this round. Sweet!!! I could shoot this all day. I even got over my “Mosin flinch” and was able to see the muzzle blast. Bonus!!!
Anyway, back to the rifle. I moved the target back to 100 to wring her out a little bit, but very little, as I was getting cold quickly. Using Czech Silver I shot one group that measured 3.5” which is great for me. Experience tells me that my groups are usually half gun/ammo, and half me. Maybe I got lucky, I’d be surprised it this rifle couldn’t do 2” with someone else at the wheel. Perhaps it’s blind optimism, but I’m still pretty sure I didn’t get near the limits of what the gun’s capable.
Next I tried some Russian surplus, head stamp 60 over 85 and it shot very low. Only one was on the paper (barely clipped the bottom), but the holes in the target stand appeared to be about the same as the Czech. I’ll try more of it when the weather’s better and I can also run it through my 91/30.
The SR at 100yds was not worthwhile, today. I got one in the paper, one down below, and 3 that I couldn’t track. I don’t think it’s that accurate, but it’s probably hitting way low since it loses half of it’s velocity at 100yds. And it’s hard to verify until I get it up on the paper. However, part of the wildness could have been me shivering, and that ended the range session.
The Czechoslovakian 1964 7.62x54r Hollow Core Short Range ammo gets a thumbs-up from me. There’s very little recoil which makes it a blast to shoot. It’s also accurate to 50 yards which is all I’ll be shooting while plinking. It may be accurate for a much longer distance, but I need to do some more testing (when it’s warmer) to confirm or deny. Works exactly like I’d hoped when I ordered it.
My impressions of the M38 are that it’s probably going to be a really nice shooter. It’s counter bored with strong rifling, and it looks great, and handles much better than my 91/30 (of course). This will make a great plinker and I’m excited to really get some serious range time in to find its limitations and POA with this SR ammo.
However, (there’s always a caveat) the trigger was (in the words of Bill Walton) hoooooorrrrible. My trigger finger was sorer than my shoulder, and that’s just wrong on several levels. Also, when I put the safety on, I could barely get it off. So, last night I did the Surplus Rifle tricks and cut down the firing pin spring to 3 ¼”, ground a little off of the sear spring, smoothed the surfaces, and shimmed the sear spring screw with 7 aluminum can shims (approx .028”). The trigger is now lighter, smoother, and will surely shoot better than before.
The sound was the same as normal 7.62x54R, as was the muzzle flash. The only difference (on the shooter's end) is the recoil. It seems a bit less accurate, but with the cold, the trigger pull, and only shooting one group, I can't say exactly how much.