just wondering if anyone has done any work on the mosin nagant? might be kinda neet to have a custom target rifle based off what folks figure to be a big old piece of crap gun, just for spite you know, course if it shot to good it might piss off some off the bench rest guys(which might add to the fun)

i have tig welder lathe and milling machine so i might be able to do the work myself dont know though

I havn't heard of anyone playing with them other than just shooting them for the fun of it. I do see that Cabela's had a plastic sporter stock listed for them for a while.

This used to be done quite a lot - before I was born! The 1920's and -30's.
My Dad hunted pre- and post WWII with a Mosin Sporter and was traded out of it by a fellow hunter who had to have it.
Forum member Krag 1902 wrote an article for a recent Gun Digest on the Mosin sporters. Good picture of the Lyman reciever sight if I remember correctly.

I've seen pictures of them made into sporters in old gunsmithing books. Remember there were a lot of them floating around surplus, after WWI.

A friend of mine was just given a complete one, he likes fooling around with old military stuff and will probably just shoot this one as is. He might cut it down a little, but has a nice Mossberg 270 for hunting.

Slapped a scope on both a 91/30 and a M38. Other than reloading for them, that's it.

The mosin sniper rifles were pretty accurate!

i was just thinking that for my first major gunsmithing project it might be a good idea to start with something that isnt all that expensive.

also can the bolt face be welded and turned safely my first guess would be no but with the materials that were avaliable when these rifles were built im not sure maybe if it was welded with the right alloy and heat treated

The guys that know are such tradition freaks it will be hard to find out about sporterizing these weapons, I would think. I don't know of a book available on the sporterizing of these specificlly. You would probably be better starting with a Mauser, I would think.
The Mosine would be a better problem and learning tool though. Plenty of help available on the Mauser. Little on the Mosine. My M-44 is a dog with a corroded barrel and it shots lousy but I love it. It hangs on my work bench peg board. I buy a pack of ammo when I go to gun shows and shoot it when I have time.

I have 2 M-44's, 2 M-38's, a 39 Fin, and a 91/30. I love these guns! Picked up all 6 at a gun show for $650!
(all filled with cosmoline, of course)

I am working on sporterizing my 91/30, but it's an ongoing thing (bet y'all know how that is!)
I have it in an ATI Monte Carlo stock, soon it will be drilled and tapped for a scope, and the bolt will be turned down and backswept.

By the way, that 7.62X54R is a STOUT round with that old metal buttplate! I'll eventually start working up handloads for it to maximze accuracy. If you have a Nagant, do not, I repeat do not, use surplus ammo! That stuff is as corrosive as battery acid!!

I take the old M44 of the stock, extend the bayonett and take it ouside and stick it up in the yard near the garden hose. A little tide or windex and scrub away then wash it down with the hose. Easiest clean up there is. Oil and put away for next time.

well il be ****ed theres a use for that bayonet!

That's tooooooooo freakin' funny !

you should see the looks I get at the range when I extend the bayonets !

i want to but a 7mm barrel on it and get a 160 grain projectile in the 2900-3000 mark

i was hoping to use the 7mm remington saum but unless i can weld the bolt face i may be forced to neck down the 7.62x54r. i supose if it was blown out with a 35 degree shoulder it might hold enough powder to push those speeds safely. from what ive gathered the actions as tough as they come but the barrel gives up pretty early and il be replacing that

I'll put it this way - just shooting the 7.62x54R causes most of these MN actions to have hard bolt openings. Due to the lower chamber pressures for these older actions, I would be very hesitant to stuff one of the more modern high pressure cartridges into them.

that is due to a combination of the excesive taper of the cartridge and the steel olloy used in the guns most guns which have bean "ackleyerized" will blow the barrel off long before the bolt gets sticky. this is why new high pressure cartridges have very little taper.

There was a gunsmithing article on sporterizing the M-N just recently in Shotgun New I believe. They started with milsur rifle married it to new stock, sights, and modified the magazine so it was flush with stock bottom and used a different trigger guard. Trigger work as well as modifing the bolt handle was also done. Believe they retained the 7.62x54R chambering. If you can't find back issues contact me and I'll find the issue numbers for you.

I tried the Shotgun News/ Intermedia Outdoors website, and could only find irrelevent mentions of the Mosin - Nagant. I would love to see one that had been completely redone, as that's what I'm trying to do right now!

All sights will be removed from mine, except for a scope. I have had Volunteer Ordanance in Cleveland, TN parkerize 2 guns for me already, and the 91/30 will probably be the third. Dan (the owner) deals with a lot of old military guns, specializing in FAL's, but dealing with the M-N's a lot as well, so I will probably let him work on the trigger for me also.