converting the 91/30 ex-sniper back to sniper

Yeah it's actually harder than drilling and tapping a non-sniper because the weld is stronger than the metal surrounding it. You can't drill through a weld, only grind it away. I reccomend a diamond abrasive bit. Or you can wear out 10 dirll bits.
 
When I had my ex-sniper converted back to a sniper, I just had a gunsmith do it.

I very much do not feel confident enough in my abilities to actually do such an operation and, for the $100 or so I paid, it was well worth it to have someone who knew what they were doing do it.
 
BE AWARE: not all the mounts fit all guns. The mounts were pinned and drilled through the mount into the receiver. This means that often one of the threaded holes will NOT index. The one time I had this professionally done, we had to TIG up the rear receiver hole, dress it, re-drill it, and then reblue the entire receiver. You can;t really drill the mount any easier to match the receiver hole because you have the lock screw recess to contend with.

The kits really are NOT marketed to sniper re-conversions, but rather to guys bubbafying regular infantry rifles ;)

You CAN do it, but retaining the services of a gunsmith is HIGHLY advisable.

If you search the site, you will find a long post I made a few months back detailing the process.
 
ok, found that post...

This one started out as a decomissioned PU sniper with a perfect bore and matching (restamped at refurb) numbers. The stock was a WW2 era 91/30 Tula stock that had been shortened in Ukraine by the refurb armorers by about 2 inches during a repair/rework process. The handguard was shortened too. It was also pretty beat up.

I got a correct Tula replacement stock with the Tula star on the underside and the "box-slash" refurb marking on the butt and a proper length handguard. Also got a milled base and mount, probably post-war (?) but definitely a correct set built to the correct military dimensions. The scope is a correct original (not a repro) 1943-ish WW2 scope that's been refurbed. Bolt handle is an exact duplicate of the original PU bolt by "JimR" from gunboards and built on the original matched at refurb bolt body. Scope cover is an original. Interestingly, the rear sight assembly and base are Tula bits and are unpinned. The mag assembly is also Tula, as are all the internals. Only Izhevsk bits are the cocking piece, bolt head, rear band and the rear sight spring. I didn't swap anything out - it came this way.

I think it came out well. All the restoration metal work was done by a licensed gunsmith (Jason Spencer at Gunco). The rear receiver screw hole was the only thing that didn't line up (out by about 1.5mm), so the errant hole in the receiver receiver was professionally tig welded up, a new hole drilled in a milling machine to prevent bit wandering, and re-tapped to specification. The receiver was then stripped of parts, spun off the barrel and given a Russian-style hot-dip blue duplicating the exact finish that was on it before the welding. The metal was not cleaned up anywhere except at the weld, both inside and outside the receiver. (old finish was at 100% too as it is a refurb) If you're going to do something, might as well do it right

Mount was also correctly filed for windage.

My only complaint is that the scope mount inletting might be too good. The smith inletted the wood so it looks like it grew around the metal. I doubt Ivan ever pumped out workmanship that good in the darkest days of 1943... but oh well. I can live with that.
Click to expand...

http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=140134&highlight=Tula+sniper+PU
 
like skirsons said, the filling on the ex-sniper is harder than the original metal of the receiver. so, the drill/tap bits from the kits are too 'soft' for the filling?!

if they are too soft, do i have to use diamond drill bits? what about the taps?


Claven2 said:
The kits really are NOT marketed to sniper re-conversions, but rather to guys bubbafying regular infantry rifles ;)
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
I don't remember who I traded my ex-sniper to here. If I remember he's from Northren AB and he re stored it and added a laminate stock. Looked good when he was done.

I got a soviet 91/30 and an enfield 1918 ShtLE in the trade, I think it was before the last crash several years back
 
I should think normal high speed steel bits would last for at least on rifle's worth of conversion work, but that's NOT the proper way to do it. If you mark the receiver and the drill hole isn't EXACTLY positioned in the center of the old welded in screw, it'll wander and give you an oblong (and useless) hole.

To do a proper job, you kiss the weld with an appropriately sized end mill to break the weld seam. Then you drill a pilot hole through the old screw and use an easy-out to remove the original plug screw. The pins also need to be kissed with the mill and hammered out from the inside of the receiver.

You need the appropriate sized tap to chase the threads of the original holes, assuming they line up with your mount base's holes. This is because the welding will have warped some of the threaded hole.

In most cases, at least one of the mount holes won't line up with your mount. Now you're into some serious gunsmithing work involving welding, dressing, re-boring, threading and reblueing the receiver. Hope you have deep pockets.

It can be done and does turn out nice when PROPERLY done, but this is NOT going to be the sub-$500 PU sniper rifle you likely think it is. Figure on several hundred dollars of gunsmithing work to get it right ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom