Messin' With The Mosin

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JimT
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Messin' With The Mosin

Post by JimT »

More than a year ago I started messing around with an old Mosin Nagant that had been given to me years ago. It had all the wood and a bayonet and was typical of those rifles with the barrel half shot out from corrosive priming etc. It did not look as good as this one:
mosin2.png
I hacked off the bayonet, removed all the wood I could, and fiddled around trying to get it to shoot more than 2 or 3 shots near the same location. Eventually I cut the barrel back to 18" and made sure it wasn't touching the stock any place. The big problem I had was the original rear sight. The distance from the front bead to the rear notch was 13" ....way too close together for decent shooting with my old eyes.
IMG_1644.JPG
Rear sight -- I lowered it as much as I could but it just would not work.
IMG_1670.JPG
So I gave up messing with it and put it away. Every now and again I would think about it but I could not come up with a way to mount a decent rear sight where the sight radius was long enough for good accuracy easily. I really wanted to install an aperture sight but how do you get around that durn straight bolt handle? The gun is not good enough to spend money on and besides, this was a cheap project I was determined to do with whatever I could find in my shop.

So a few weeks ago I start thinking about the Mosin and wondering how I could mount a peep sight on it. And I got this crazy idea. Why not ask God? He knows EVERYTHING ... so I said out loud, "Papa, how would you mount a peep sight on the Mosin?" And immediately the though popped into my head, "Mount it on the cocking bolt handle."

Now I am not saying I heard God's voice. I am saying that I asked and immediately the thought came into my mind. Some of you may say that was just my mental processes giving me the answer. All I know is that I did not get the answer until I asked.

ANYWAY .... my next thought was "Would that work?" So I dug out the rifle and took it to the shop and measured everything and by golly it looked like it would work!

So I went to work. Making a rear sight to mount on the bolt cocking handle.
IMG_3693.JPG
Modifying the bolt so the sight can sit on it ..
IMG_3669.JPG
IMG_3697.JPG
Then I clamped it together and drilled holes and mounted it ..
IMG_3721.JPG
IMG_3722.JPG
The sight radius is now 23 3/4" ... that gave me more than a 10" increase.
I have not had a chance to fire more than about 10 shots and only at 25 yards, but I got the sight durn close with my old hand caliper.
I will take the tools with me to adjust the windage and elevation next time I take it out.
IMG_3797.JPG
I am sure there are those here who could make it look a lot better ... and I may try to fine a nicer bolt to mount the sight .. but so far it works.

Oh ... the front sight is adjustable for windage and the rear for elevation.
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Scott Tschirhart
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Re: Messin' With The Mosin

Post by Scott Tschirhart »

Nicely done!
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2ndovc
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Re: Messin' With The Mosin

Post by 2ndovc »

Well, that's just cool.

Mosins are considered by most, as crude rifles by our standards and it's true that they are no substitute for an '03 they can be quite accurate.

This one has been fitted with a Timney trigger and Boyd's stock and capable of an inch (or less) at 100 yds with it's Tikka Barrel. My Finn 39 with it's SAKO barrel will do that as well, even with open sights.
Image
This one has a Ruger No.1, .45-70 barrel and is just plain fun.
Image

I've been shooting and collecting rifles in 7.62x54r for a couple of decades. The Nagants and Enfields have been long time favorites and with a 174 -200 grain bullet are great shooters. My favorite tough, will always be my 1895 Russian Contract Winchester.

jb 8)
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JimT
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Re: Messin' With The Mosin

Post by JimT »

They may have been crude by our standards but the Russians used them well in WWII! And they did the job. I have seen some .. especially the Finn rifles, that are very accurate. That's nice shootin' there Jason.
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Ysabel Kid
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Re: Messin' With The Mosin

Post by Ysabel Kid »

Interesting solution Jim! 8)
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JimT
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Re: Messin' With The Mosin

Post by JimT »

Thank you. I really don't take credit for the idea .....
halo.JPG
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Bill in Oregon
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Re: Messin' With The Mosin

Post by Bill in Oregon »

I was wondering when "the Master" would slip in another homily with such subtlety that it almost goes without notice! :lol: 8)
pshort
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Re: Messin' With The Mosin

Post by pshort »

Howdy Folks,
I've messed with the front post on a couple of Mosin front sights to get a 100 yd zero...
I put a short piece of insulation from #14 solid copper wire on the front post..
It's a little fat, but leaving it about .060 or so higher than the original is
a quick, cheap way to get a better POI ..........
Plus, you don't have to modify the original rifle ...........

Paul
"Pain plants the flag of reality in the
fortress of a rebel soul"
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2ndovc
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Re: Messin' With The Mosin

Post by 2ndovc »

Well there's an interesting idea.

I'll have to try that on my M38. :D

jb 8)
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horsesoldier03
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Re: Messin' With The Mosin

Post by horsesoldier03 »

I had a m44 made in Hungry. It was 100% original and shot close to MOA at 100 yards 300 yards with iron sights was no problem. It was as a SOLID battle rifle if there ever was one. Pawnshop buy for $70 itd and sold it for $350.
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horsesoldier03
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Re: Messin' With The Mosin

Post by horsesoldier03 »

I found no evidence that POI was affected by the bayonet position.
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Pat C
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Re: Messin' With The Mosin

Post by Pat C »

I sold six of the seven I had and turned that profits into Winchesters . Couldn't resist at these crazy prices of today.
FYI beater grade M44's are selling for $600-$700 today and like new ones well over 1K.

I kept an original PU SNIPER inspected at Tula (Tulsky) that's late war nearly perfect .Mint bore
If the prices reach $2500-$3k it will probably find anouther home.

The last great cash at the LGS back before Russia invaded Crimea .They had crates upon crates ,I spent 2-3 days a week for six months digging through them trying to cherry pick.

At $99 each I should have bought all of them.
I remember back early 90's they were $25 for untouched war ravenged rifles. M44's new in wrapper $69

I bet an M44 new in wrap today on gunbroker would fetch $5k plus.
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JimT
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Re: Messin' With The Mosin

Post by JimT »

horsesoldier03 wrote: Tue Sep 13, 2022 3:35 pm I found no evidence that POI was affected by the bayonet position.
I don't think the position of the bayonet affected accuracy. What I read was removing the bayonet affected accuracy. I am not sure if that is true or not for I never tried it.
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horsesoldier03
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Re: Messin' With The Mosin

Post by horsesoldier03 »

Pat C wrote: Tue Sep 13, 2022 5:46 pm I sold six of the seven I had and turned that profits into Winchesters . Couldn't resist at these crazy prices of today.
FYI beater grade M44's are selling for $600-$700 today and like new ones well over 1K.

I kept an original PU SNIPER inspected at Tula (Tulsky) that's late war nearly perfect .Mint bore
If the prices reach $2500-$3k it will probably find anouther home.

The last great cash at the LGS back before Russia invaded Crimea .They had crates upon crates ,I spent 2-3 days a week for six months digging through them trying to cherry pick.

At $99 each I should have bought all of them.
I remember back early 90's they were $25 for untouched war ravenged rifles. M44's new in wrapper $69

I bet an M44 new in wrap today on gunbroker would fetch $5k plus.
I have a bad habit of selling guns before they reach maximum value! LOL
“Gun control is like trying to reduce drunk driving by making it tougher for sober people to own cars.”
TANGO 4C
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Re: Messin' With The Mosin

Post by TANGO 4C »

Here's another approach by the late Junior Doughty:

Image

Image


Article: http://www.castbullet.com/makeit/rr.htm
Image
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JimT
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Re: Messin' With The Mosin

Post by JimT »

TANGO 4C wrote: Sun Sep 18, 2022 5:58 pm Here's another approach by the late Junior Doughty:

Article: http://www.castbullet.com/makeit/rr.htm
That's a great idea and fairly simple to do also!
I love seeing what creative people can do.
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