mosin nagant 91/30 accuracy

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brutus101

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Hi!

What kind of accuracy I can expect if I choose a rifle with a good bore with iron sights. I'm young with good eyes.
I would use good ammo for my particular rifle.

And what about surplus ammo?

I am ready to work on it (bedding, trigger job, free floating?)

Thanks!
 
I get anywhere from 1.5",1.25" to .75" 3 shot groups with PRC ball and several 91/30's .Nothing worse than 2" so far.Harold
 
Depending on marksmanship and rifle 3-4 inch group/100yrd was a norm but that was with new rifle and new ammo.

Add to that age of rifles today,wear and tear,age of ammo and results cannot be predicted at all.Some will be great shooters,a lot will be mediocre and some will not hit a barn door from inside.

Of course reloading can improve results dramatically.



One exception-Finnish Mosins.A lot of them (but not all) shoot far better than the should for the age and results are very predictable and repeatable.

That has been proven on CGN and many other sites many,many times.
 
Shooting prone, I can get 2" (3 shot) groupings at 100m with 1962 CZ surplus and a front support on a fairly regular basis, until the barrel starts to get warm then I see a bit of vertical stringing. With a Polish M44 (Carbine) and the same conditions I tend to see a slightly larger grouping 2.1"-2.3" generally.

Expect some flyers here and there, a 5 shot group will almost always toss one out to 3-4" but plenty fun to shoot and they perform well unless they are worn out.

I haven't put my SVT-40 through the same course of fire, but I should some day.

Handloads would probably run better than I can align the iron sights shot to shot.
 
I will just sell the sks and use the money to buy a 91/30!
The sks is just frustrating way more noise, expense and cleaning time than my 10/22 and I get 6" @ 100 compared to 2" @ 100.

And I might be able to shoot the mosin pretty fast if I practice look at this guy!
 
Was out today with a new to me 1942 round receiver Mosin, crisp rifling but bore has some light pitting and is shining up some since I have been shooting it. At 80yrd with a slightly warm barrel I was hitting my steel target 5 out of 5 times, group measured 2"w by 1.5"h with iron sights and new norc surplus. I don't see any reason it shouldn't do the same at 100yrds.

It shoots pretty decently so far, looking forward to stretching out past 100yrds once I get out for some crown land visits.
 
I have a 1933 Izhevsk hex that had some work done to it by the previous owner. Stock was bedded, mostly, but it was refinished as well. Excellent bore and the rifle is as tight as a Swiss watch; there is absolutely NO slop in the action. I've had it do an inch with Prvi and it will do 3 inches with surplus ammo in a comfortable setting.

I have a M38 carbine that is sloppy as all hell (you can move the action in the stock at least a 1/4th of an inch) and it rattles all over the place, but the bore is as good as the one on my hex. With surplus it does like 4-6 inches and I've never tried Prvi in it. Honestly, I wouldn't feel too horrible if I had to use either one of those for something a little more practical than range plinking but the 91/30 that had some work done to it can shoot beautiful groups.

It's hard for anyone here to give you an example as to what your sight-unseen Mosin will shoot, but it's not inaccurate to say that they CAN shoot.
 
brutus101 said:
I will just sell the sks and use the money to buy a 91/30!
The sks is just frustrating way more noise, expense and cleaning time than my 10/22 and I get 6" @ 100 compared to 2" @ 100.

And I might be able to shoot the mosin pretty fast if I practice look at this guy!
Click to expand...

You did notice he would be having 3' or minute of man groupings by looking at the dirt splatter. He was just fast-ish.
I was getting about 5" groups at 100 yrds with my Polish M44 with 70's era PRC ammo on Monday. The 91/30's can do much better than that.
However you do have to consider the pure age of these rifles and they are not close to comparable with the sks or a 10/22 (even these 2 are night and day). If you were to get 5 91/30 and shoot them all you could find variations in group sizes. Bedding and tweaking can/could help but it has to be an adventure you want to take where the expectations are not unreal.
 
Here's a couple shots of the steel at 80yds ish, I'm sure I can shrink it with some commercial soft point ammo. Not bad for a wartime rifle with a dark and lightly pitted bore, it will most likely get an optic of some sort mounted. I was shooting off bags for that group but had no problem hitting steel unsupported other than a sling. Group measured 2"X1.5"



 
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As we know shooting from a good bench rest tests the rifle and the ammunition rather than the shooter. I have a tough time getting my mind around regular sub-2 MOA groups from cheap MILSURP ammo though. You are going far to find a lot of surplus ammo which will run better than 2 MOA, but the Gods of random bullet dispersion do smile on us all from time to time.:)

By way of comparison I shoot handloads in a nice M27 Finnish Mosin with a crisp trigger using carefully prepared and weight sorted Lapua brass, high quality bullets and individually weighed charges. About 50 percent of my groups off the bench @ 100 yds are less than 2 MOA.
 
brutus101 said:
I will just sell the sks and use the money to buy a 91/30!
The sks is just frustrating way more noise, expense and cleaning time than my 10/22 and I get 6" @ 100 compared to 2" @ 100.

And I might be able to shoot the mosin pretty fast if I practice look at this guy!
Click to expand...

That's how I shoot mine! Lol!

Trick is to only palm and clench the bolt knob, not grip it like a stick shift.
 
andr333y said:
What do you thing about 91/30 sniper variation? Is it worth extra money?
Click to expand...

It is if it is in decent shape and original, especially for collector value, what other real WW2 military sniper rifles can you buy for under a thousand dollars.

Also watch out as a lot are reproductions with repro scopes and mounts.
 
This is what it boils down to in the end. If your rifle has an excellent bore and the bore is on the tight side and of course the bedding is right the rifle should shoot very well. I read a piece on Gunboards where they interviewed one of the foremen in charge of assembly of sniper rifles. I wish I had copied it. His answer to "Were the 91/30 sniper rifles hand selected for accuracy before being assembled? NO."

Many of the rifles were checked for function/headspace/blue pill and were sent directly to the area of the factory where they were prepared and assembled into sniper rifles. That is when the selection took place. During the worst conditions sniper rifles were in high demand. They lowered their accuracy standards to the point that most assembled rifles were considered acceptable. When time permitted during lulls in the war, their standards were tightened. He iterated very specifically that ammunition quality was the biggest issue any sniper faced as long as his rifle/scope was in good nick.

The Finns were anal about accuracy supposedly and made changes to the MNs they captured if they didn't shoot well enough. You can easily find out what those changes were by doing some research.

I have MNs that have bore variations from .309in to .314in. The rifles with tight bores shoot better than those with the oversize bores for the most part. I am lucky that all of them have excellent bores and all but one real sniper rifle are in excellent condition. The real sniper looks like it has been dragged on the ground to hell and back but it is one of the best shooters with a lovely .3095in bore. With surplus ammo it will group into consistent four inch (9cm) groups time after time. The Molot sniper clones look like new but don't shoot quite as well. All of them though with handloads made with bullets of corresponding diameters will do much better from the bench/rests than they will with surplus ammo. As far as "are the sniper clones worth the extra money?" That is completely up to you and your own sensibilities. Remember the tech in the scopes is over 80 years old. Paralax is the byword of the day. But I will admit, I have a PE type as well as a PU type clone. I also have the real thing with a PU scope. They are all a hoot to take to the range and I can guarantee that all of them with ammo they like will shoot minute of BAMBI out to 300m easily.
 
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