UPDATE: Mosin Nagant accuracy question

[Heartland Patriot]

Well, at long last I finally got to take my 1938 M91/30 Mosin-Nagant to the range today. Two friends and I put about 30 rounds through it, Prvi Partizan 150 grain soft points, brass case ammo. Granted that the trigger ain't the best and that I'm not a great shot, but one of my friends is a pretty good shot. And that thing was all over the place no matter who was pulling the trigger on it. Most of the shots were 6, 8, or more inches apart at 50 yards. For comparison, I can put 20 rounds out of my AK into about a 4 inch circle at 50 yards. My friend can do just a bit better than that. And that is with cheap steel case. Anyway, the question is this: does the bayonet being installed make the Mosin more accurate? Do any of you have actual experience with this? Because some folks on "the Net" say yes and some no. And, short of doing something that would make it look modern or alter it significantly, is there any way to at least get some practical accuracy out of it? I put a Decelerator pad on it and it was fine in the recoil department. I thought it was fun to shoot. Hope somebody can school me on this, thanks.

[Heartland Patriot]

I'll mic check the bullets for the Prvi rounds I have left...see if they are .311 or .308. And being an aircraft guy, I know that a few ten thousandths can make a big difference. Thanks for the heads up.

[Heartland Patriot]

U

The 7.62x54R bullet is .311" diameter - don't confuse this with our 7.62x51, which is .308.

There are a lot of factors which can affect a rifle's accuracy - condition of the bore and muzzle, chamber dimensions, how tight the action is to the stock, stock touching the barrel, trigger.... the list goes on. Bore condition and muzzle would be the first things to check.

I know some Mosins have been countersunk bored at the muzzle. If my muzzle end is rough, how hard is it to get that done? I like the rifle and I know it will never be a tackdriver, I'd just like to keep them on a paper plate at 50 yards.

[57Coastie]

The 7.62x54R bullet is .311" diameter - don't confuse this with our 7.62x51, which is .308.

There are a lot of factors which can affect a rifle's accuracy - condition of the bore and muzzle, chamber dimensions, how tight the action is to the stock, stock touching the barrel, trigger.... the list goes on. Bore condition and muzzle would be the first things to check.

I have to see if I can get my young granddaughter, so much computer-smarter than me, to program my computer to automatically give Andy an "I Agree" for every one of his postings.

This guy knows his weapons, how to care for them, how to use them, when to use them, and when to not use them.

My personal experience with my magnificent 1915 Swedish Mauser confirms his advice here in its entirety, including, "... the list goes on."

Jim

[leftyonly]

I have a recently acquired M44. I have spent hours cleaning the bore on this thing and still get nasty blue-green patches out of it with Hoppes Copper Solvent and Gunslick foaming cleaner. Looking at the bore, it a appears bright and smooth on the lands. I think all of the copper and crud is built up in the grooves in layers.

I know when we first shot it, before any extensive cleaning, it was all over the place. Last time out, it seemed much better...I am hesitant to use stronger chemicals or abrasives to clean it, but I have considered them to try to get it down to just the steel to start over with new deposits...

[Heartland Patriot]

Well, for starters, I mic'd the ammo...the Prvi is about .312 vs. .310 for some old Soviet FMJ light ball that I have. So that lets that out. Anyone have experience with Butch's Bore Shine? Seems like some stout stuff, is this okay in place of the Sweets? Thanks for then info and suggestions so far.

[leftyonly]

Bought some Sweets at lunchtime. I am eager to get it home and try it.

The Hoppes Copper Solvent seems to work, but very slowly. The Gunslick really did not seem to do anything...

I am eager to get it down to where I can get clean patches out of it. Like someone was said, it seems to be in layers, you can swab it to where it seems clean and then run a brush in it and get back to the same dark blue/green patches...

I have a LER 7x scope mounted on a rear sight mount, and we were able to shoot paper (10"x10") targets as 100 yards, but they were all over the paper and since I know the barrel is fouled, I would like to eliminate that variable...