Mosin Carbine Accuracy

JDForBrkFst

JDForBrkFst

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I bought a Mosin Nagant M38 Carbine a month ago or so and decided to improve its accuracy. I did a trigger job on it, and the Finnish method of bedding the stock. The accuracy did improve, it shoots approximately 2 1/2-3" groups with Russian surplus spam can FMJ still, but it really came into its own with the Russian LVE soft point ammunition. It consistently shoots 5 round (real) groups of 1.75 inches at 100M with the iron sights. I thought others may be interested in this for those wishing to improve the accuracy of their Mosins. The two mods are very simple, a quick google search will yield a wealth of information from different sources so I won't bother posting any links. For the trigger job I only polished the moving surfaces of the trigger and was astounded at the results. The bedding method I opted for was running a strip of very thin cork sheeting (purchased at Rona) down the length of the stock, I oiled the cork to prevent it from absorbing water and well, you can imagine how that would go if one didn't oil it. There are other methods as well, using cork only in the last inch of stock for one. I used the full length cork method after having excellent success in improving the accuracy of my wife's full length Mosin. Why mess with a good thing? Anyways here is a picture of one of the severl groups I shot with the LVE, I wish I had that ammunition before I did the accuracy mods so I could gauge the improvement in group size.


I know how some of you can be about pictures so here is one of the carbine I took when I was out scouting for bear season two weeks ago.
 
I am not sure if it's standard practice to oil the cork. Having said that, I just saw it as a possible/probable rust issue by not oiling it. I put a decent lot on, damn near saturated I suppose. I used whatever plain gun oil I had on hand.
 
I was out today with one of my M38s. I was getting 4 inch groups at best. The LVE 200gr soft points had slightly better groups, but I had to move the sight elevation to 300m to make up the trajectory drop to compensate for 150 to 200 gr bullet.
 
I think bedding with cork is worth a try.
I've shot through a little more than 2 cases of ammunition this winter and one consistent pattern has emerged. The first 10 shot target is almost always the tightest. As the barrel warms, the groups open up.

Triggers in the "as received" condition as all over the place - a few a OK but most are bad and a few are dangerous (see my post in the $199 M44 thread). Polishing helps but the larger problem with mine has been geometry. Most of the sear/spring assemblies have "false" bends or are twisted along the bend axis. You can restore the correct geometry by careful bending. The key word is careful - they will break if you are careless. Marstar and Tradeex are sold out and nobody exports these parts to Canada from the US. I got careless with one so now I'm hunting on EBay etc.
 
Fiddler, I have mine on 400 when running LVE. Considering filing the front sight down to bring i to where I want it as this is now my go to round.

Mark J, I'll have a look at that post. I'm curious about the trigger geometry bit. I knew about how SKS triggers can be dangerous if the sear? angle was incorrect. Mine was close but required a little tweaking to ensure safety.
 
I need more time on the range with it, only fired it up the first time yesterday. I strive to find the happy setting where I can shoot surplus ammo and good hunting rounds without changing too much. I got not bad groups with all of: Russian surplus, LVE 204gr SP, and MFS 204gr SP. I have a batch of .312 home loads that I've worked up for other Mosins with good results, but have yet to fire them in this rifle. Where I hunt for whitetails, a 150 yard shot is probably one of the longer shots you would ever get. So I could be quite happy with a 4 inch group at 100 yards, and preferably an inch or two high to compensate for the drop going to 150yards on the heavy bullet. I usually keep notes with most rifles of what they like to shoot best and what adjustments I've made. As long as I'm confidant I can drop a deer, all is good.

As far as the trigger group, I'm very much accustomed to heavy/clunky mechanical pull from old milsurp triggers and don't see a need to change anything.
 
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Good point. I'm so used basing my holds off a 100M zero that's what i feel most comfortable with. If I did file the sight to be zero'd at 100M with the LVE I'd be shooting surplus 6-8inches low (If memory serves). Perhaps a compromise is best.
 
JDForBrkFst said:
Good point. I'm so used basing my holds off a 100M zero that's what i feel most comfortable with. If I did file the sight to be zero'd at 100M with the LVE I'd be shooting surplus 6-8inches low (If memory serves). Perhaps a compromise is best.
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Your shots would probably be a foot and a half high using surplus. Its 58 grains lighter.
 
Like most people, I been shooting surplus ammo (Russian) with my M91/30 and M38. I wrapped 1" stripes of corks at recommended locations, cleaned & buffed all the moving/contact points with my Dremmel using Flitz, and I cut out 16ga sheet metal pieces and placed them around the recommended areas. The grouping has greatly improved from 5" at 100m to about 2" (I'm an average shooter at best). Mayve next winter I'll glass bed and make the trigger double action on one of them....

I tried out a box of MFS SP yesterday for practice before hunting season starts and the grouping was better than the surplus ammo (20 rounds, 1.5" at 100m ).
I want to try out the LVE SP you mentioned. Where did you buy it?
 
Normally I'm loathe to put time and energy into a $200 truck gun, but this actually sounds like a stellar idea! Mine came in pieces, which I cursed at the time, but now I like being able to "play lego" with the various parts:

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One-Shot said:
I tried out a box of MFS SP yesterday for practice before hunting season starts and the grouping was better than the surplus ammo (20 rounds, 1.5" at 100m ).
I want to try out the LVE SP you mentioned. Where did you buy it?
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I picked up both LVE and MFS 205gr Sp from Westrifle. In general the LVE shoots a little better groups and seems to knock over the whitetails a bit better, although the point of impact may vary from rifle to rifle. I'm not really sure what the actual differences are between the two brands of bullets. I don't get the same results in every rifle, this is my own generalization of how the rounds respond to my rifles and my way of shooting.
 
I own a Finn 91/30 that came with most of the tuning they do to make the MN shoot. Yes, it works.
I sometimes am rewarded with the odd slightly over 1" group @ 100yds with milsurp, but then again the Finn rifles come with a tighter bore more matched to surplus ammo.
I know they would shoot even better with match grade ammo designed for it.

The OP's group for the M38 is excellent IMO and I'd enjoy it.
 
Thanks, I am happy with it. Has anyone else had the finish on their Mosin flake off in spots? Is it a sacrilege to refinish a milsurp stock? My wifes rifle is fine, but my carbine finish isn't doing the best.
 
JDForBrkFst said:
Thanks, I am happy with it. Has anyone else had the finish on their Mosin flake off in spots? Is it a sacrilege to refinish a milsurp stock? My wifes rifle is fine, but my carbine finish isn't doing the best.
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IMO. Did you buy it to look at it for a future profit sale. Or did you buy it to shoot it?

After checking out the mosins. I ordered one I'm not going to worry about selling it. I'm hoping to toss a scope in it. Zero it and get a deer this year. (Also plan on doing the aforementioned mods for accuracy)
 
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