[Greyman]

I have just picked up a Russian Mosin Nagan as a plinker for my son. It was cheap and so was the ammo, but it shoots too high by about 8" at 100m.

Some say it is designed to shoot with bayonet attached, but how does that effect ballistics?

I want to hit what I aim at, are there any fixes?

Greyman

 

[Big Z]

You can extend the front sight post. It's often recommended to use some wire insulation over the sight post. The bayonet being attached will affect barrel whip and lead to a lower POI. You will probably need to drift the front sight for windage.

 

[Greyman]

I found this solution on ebay. What do you think?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...26064&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT#ht_500wt_1182

 

[jbee]

I paid $99 for mine, so for $40 I think I will just aim lower.

I never knew about this 8" thing, so I just saved myself some frustration!

 

[pisgah]

A higher front sight is needed. As mentioned, a popular and easy way to accomplish this is to strip a bit of insulation off of some appropriate-sized wire and slip it on to the front sight, then trim it to length. It works, and makes no permanent change to the rifle.

A more permanent fix is to replace the front sight, which is usually not too hard a job. Drive out the pin that retains the front sight hood and tap the hood off of the barrel. You will seee that the front sight is shaped like a small nail, fitting up through a hole and being held in place by the "head" of the nail. It may slip out of the hole easily, or it may take a bit of struggle to get it out, but come out it will. I replaced mine with -- what else? -- another small nail, this one brass. Reinstall everything and take it to the range, along with a small file. It's then a simple matter of shoot-n-file until you've got it right.

Personal preference, but I like the brass nail I used -- a bit thinner, making it more precise, and a bit easier to see. But a steel nail will duplicate the look of the original.

 

[Big Z]

Wow. I wouldn't get that ebay solution. I'd either extend or replace the post. I bet you could drill/tap the front sight to make one of those 'adjustble front sights' for awfully cheap...

 

[pisgah]

Wow. I wouldn't get that ebay solution. I'd either extend or replace the post. I bet you could drill/tap the front sight to make one of those 'adjustble front sights' for awfully cheap...

Heck, yeah. When I saw that price, I thought, "Shoot, if I knew there were enough suckers out there who'd pay that much I'd sit in my garage shop and make them all day long, every day!"

It is not a tough or expensive problem at all, and you can solve it for $0 investment.

 

[Greyman]

good points it is a bit pricey. But, if you have the cash and you don't want to drill and tap yourself

I guess you could also look for bullets that have a lower weight. They would give a lower MPI. Unfortunately with different lots of ammo you can't adjust that front post to compensate.

 

[Goose1125]

Random thought, but if you're going to take the time to drill and tap that front sight, here's something else to do that made of world of difference on mine. Take the trigger out and drill and tap a small 4-40 hole into the very top of it and put a set screw in it. It will take the creep out of the trigger and make it a much better shooter.

 

[pisgah]

>Random thought, but if you're going to take the time to drill and tap that front sight

Not much time involved, really. The hole is already there. You might drill it out a tad larger, but then running a tap in wouldn't take more than a minute. That's why I say that $40 for that adjustable front sight is a sweet deal for whoever is making them.

 

[scssa_ar]

A Nagant's battle sights were made to be on target with military ammo at a distance greater than 100m. So the rifle should naturally shoot high at 100m. The best thing to do has already been mentioned, hold low. What sight picture are you using? A line of white sight picture would probably work better. Another thing you could do if you really wanted to get technical without changing the sights would be to reload your own rounds, but that would cost more too.

Also, when the bayonet is mounted the accuracy will be worse because the harmonics of the barrel are impacted.

 

[pisgah]

>Also, when the bayonet is mounted the accuracy will be worse because the harmonics of the barrel are impacted.

Well... maybe. The Russian manual of arms called for the bayonet to be mounted at all times. If you've ever mounted the bayonet on a MN and then tried to remove it without resorting to a hammer, this is why you had difficulty; for all intents and purposes it was meant to be permanently affixed.

For this reason, the rifles were actually sighted in with the bayonet in place. Now, I will confess that most of the many MNs I have shot did better without the bayonet in place. BUT, there are some that won't shoot worth a hoot without the bayonet, and almost all will shoot lower with the bayonet mounted than without.

Me, though -- I'd rather contend with the high shooting than walk around with a rifle nearly as long as I am tall!

 

[aprayinbear]

Another option.

Another option might be to leave the sights alone and change your loads. I found that by reloading with Beartooth 135 grain bullets and a reduced load from 12 grains of Red Dot, my rifle is right on the mark at 50-100 yards. The added benefit is almost no recoil, so after a day at the range I don't need a chiropractor. LOL. For plinking or target there's nothing like it. And I almost forgot, this load is very accurate in my 91/30. Here's a pic of a recent range session shooting at 60 yards with open sights.

Just my 2 cents worth. Happy shooting!

 

[lazydog]

check out ************** for a good scope mount.i already use one of their boltbodies with the bent bolt.i also have it in an ati stock and pillar beded.it really shoots flatter i think than an 06,more like a 308.i reload and use barnes 150gr and sierra 180gr.

Inappropiate link - link deleted

kdub
Moderator