mosin nagant advice?

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NSfirefighter

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g'day all

i turn 18 in may so i figure nows as good a time as any to start coming up with a wish list wanna help a new guy out a little?:)

ive always liked the old war rifles especially mosins but i have come to a few small snags so i figured id ask the people who would actually know a thing or two

now i like mosins but i find the 91/30 looks way too long for my liking granted ive never gotten to handle one but just looking at some video and pictures it looks like it might be too long for me (im not really a small guy i just perfer something more compact) so i was thinking about a M44

now back in the days when i was a little guy in the cadet marksman program i realized i really cant use iron sights i find it hard to focus and so i think i would perfer optics

im not gonna have alot of money but does anyone know where i can get a PU scope? does anyone make them new? and would mounting a PU to a m44 possibly offend the great milsurp gods? lol

my other question is regarding ammo now from what i gather there isnt any new mfg 7.62x54R is there? so im basically stuck with surplus ammo right?

how difficult will cleaning be using the surplus ammo and if possible is there any alternatives to the surplus?

i hope i explained that clear enough hope someone can be of help thanks in advance

cheers
firefighter
 
You're not alone on the iron sights vs. scope challenge, but scopes and Milsurps generally don't go together except for expensive (and long) sniper rifles. Adding a scope can be expensive and will reduce value, unless you find one with scope mounts already installed.

I'd start with an SKS which are inexpensive, still have milsurp ammo available and are fun to shoot. A scope can be added relatively inexpensively.
 
Reloadable ammo

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Some of the IGMAN or PRVI-PARTISAN 7.62x54 Russian is boxer primed, and reloadable. You can still find it at Gun Shows, or as old stock at stores.

Norma makes it, and I believe cases are available. I have not bought any lately as I have purchased lots in the past, but I still get the occasional box at Gun Shows if the price is right.

I am not sure what Trade Ex has, or Marstar. You might get on their websites and look.

You will have to slug the bore to get a proper measurement for bullet diameter. Some bores are "generous" in diameter.

For fun shooting on shorter ranges, cast bullets work quite well. I have used 123 grain bullets for the 7.62x39 for cheap practice and target loads. They work well in the .303 British also. Remington bulk bullets can be bought at Wholesale Sports.

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firefighter: Don't give up on iron sights until you get good training and a good optometrist. The front sight needs to be in sharp focus, rear sight and target not so. I'm 66 near sighted, tell the optometrist I want one lense to focus at 28", this works for rifle and pistol, but target must be large at 100 yards. Most people don't understand aperture sights, so get a coach. good luck
 
glycerin said:
firefighter: Don't give up on iron sights until you get good training and a good optometrist. The front sight needs to be in sharp focus, rear sight and target not so. I'm 66 near sighted, tell the optometrist I want one lense to focus at 28", this works for rifle and pistol, but target must be large at 100 yards. Most people don't understand aperture sights, so get a coach. good luck
Click to expand...

right on

thanks for the advice everybody
 
I had a chance to try both the 91/30 and m44 before buying, my cousin works at the gunshop.

I bought the 91/30 and paid 40 dollars extra for it (200 total, matched # everything). Worth every friggin penny.

The m44 has serious muzzle blast, and like many people I find the blast more distracting and conducive to flinch than recoil, though recoil was also a little bit snappier in the 44 than the 91/30. The 91/30 was tamer, quieter, and more relaxed to shoot strings with than the m44.

Both guns are heavy. The 91/30 is longer, and I'm in a wheelchair, but I'm a shooter, not a gun carrier. I do more target shooting than I do carrying. If I were a hunter, and spent many, many hours stalking and hunting animals, and only shot once, maybe I'd go for the m44, but I shoot the hell out of the landscape, (at targets, formal paper and reactive both), and leave nature walks to the hippies.

I load all my mosin ammo with a lee loader, it was only 28 bucks to get started reloading this round, and better than paying a dollar a round for the PRVI hunting ammo, or waiting to shoot between shipments of military surplus.

It's a little slow, but I'm patient, and it's really easy on brass, because it only neck sizes. I can load a couple hundred in an evening, though I use the lee auto prime, because it's easier and faster. The Collet for the 54r for the autoprime doesn't come with the collet pack but it's only 2.19 cents individually.

I bought it, and my Graf and sons brass (mexican) from ellwood epps. I think brass was about $30/100, lapua was very, very expensive.

I use .311 diameter bullets for the .303 british, and they work very well. I was told that the .308 bullets "work fine", by lots of "experts", but I soon found that the resizing die is cut properly for the 7.62x54r and though they "work fine" the first time, the second time you reload your brass, the .308 bullets go into the necks like a cork into a bottle.

They just sit there barely held, and will come out in the box if you jar it on the way to the range, spilling powder everywhere, or in the magazine under the stress of firing, so you're down to loading single shot.

P.S. When I talk about muzzle blast, it's really serious with the m44. There's just a hell of alot of powder in the case, meant for a longer pre-1900 rifle, and after a bunch of rounds I found myself squinting or shutting my eyes completely when I pulled the trigger. It was an atavistic reaction, and I couldn't help it. The more I tried to stop myself, the worse it got.

I had to do dry firing at home to break the habit. If I only shot once, when hunting, I think I could deal with it, but we shoot at least a hundred rounds a day out of the mosins each, and I just can't get over being slapped in the eyes and face with hot gasses. My buddy corey said it was worse when prone, he got a face full of dust, grit and small gravel every time.

The other thing none of the internet "experts" told me, is that in extended strings of fire, we heated up both guns and the both oozed a little reddish/orange oil from the forestocks.

And another thing the internet "experts" didn't tell me, was that the the rear barrel mounted sight might be adjustable, but it's also just above the chamber and gets scorching hot in record time, so wear gloves.

I really burned myself, and that's hard to do as my hands are callused from wheeling the wheelchair all day, every day, I actually heard my hand sizzle, and that was after only 6 or 7 strippers IIRC, maybe 30-35 rounds!
 
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I did try a muzzle break (bolt on) on my M44 a few months ago and it sure helped. And it didn't require any modification to the rifle (leaves no trace on it). I was able to shoot some 50 rounds and didn't feel (too) bad after that...

Lou
 
Bobby Ironsights has it right!

I've owned th m44, m91/30 and m38.... I like the m44 and m38, but I love my 91/30!!!! If you look around you can find a nice bore 91/30 for $125-$175 at a gun show and start off your addiction. Especially if you can do the work yourself, or bribe more talented friends with beer, you can then buy a PU scope from eastwave or kalinka etc etc etc and mount it and a bent bolt on your mosin.

You may also be surprised at shooting it iron sights though. My vision is aweful, and I'm managing!

P.S. - though it is your gun, historical accuracy and gun value go right out the window when you put a pu scope on an m44 or (god forbid) an m38!
 
Igman make some soft point, but Igman is only re loadable if one wants to widen the primer flash hole...if you don't you will break your primer pin. :runaway:

Seller & Bellot makes modern non corrosive ammo in FMJ, and hunting soft point for this cartridge. Nice stuff IMHO. :)
 
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