Ex Mosin nagant sniper, is retapping difficult?

[Chefhunter]

I'm thinking of bringing an ex Mosin sniper back to life and was curious if anyone has retapped an ex sniper before. The old holes have been plugged and i'm not sure how difficult the task will be without a drill press. Any info would be appreciated

 

[Magellann]

It would be best to use a drill press, but not impossible to do without. Before you start drilling I'd advise to have the scope mount bracket in hand. There are at least three different spacings where the holes are drilled, depending the bracket you have. If you have to buy a PU scope mount, some come with the correct size drill bits and tap.

 

[bearhunter]

Some of those rifles are easily brought back to sniper form and some aren't.

I've seen some of them where the fillers screws were ground off so deep the whole area looked to be dished deeply.

Others have been done with some care "but" it depends on how they were welded over and what material was used as rod or filler.

I've seen a couple that were definitely welded electrically but most seem to have been done with oxy/acetylene and filler wire, which is very close in hardness to the receiver. The latter are the reasonably easy rifles to restore.

As mentioned, there are different brackets available. Before attempting to restore your rifle, get all of the parts together first. There used to be a KIT with all of the drills/taps/pins/bracket from Numrich and a couple of other places in the US, such as Liberty Tree. The scope and bases may need to come in from someone such as ###### Armories or one of the other banner advertisers

 

[Chefhunter]

Good information, besides west rifle I don’t see anyone else selling reproduction scopes. The Amazon ones are made in China and I haven’t heard anything positive about them. Once I get the scope I’ll see if the old holes are spaced the same.

 

[Magellann]

You can find PU scopes and mounts on Ebay from Europe. I found one that was the correct year for the rifle. Prices have come way down from where they used to be.

 

[gordonlbyrne]

Its not to difficult ,you can use a hand drill.use a center punch and punch the filler screw center from inside the receiver,then drill from the inside out with a small diameter drill bit.you now have the exact location of the original scope mount screws and can drill from the outside the receiver .
If i remember corectally the outer weld was very hard to drill and required a good sharp bit and cutting oil.