300 wsm monster mosin

[pacomdiver]

started out as a few stray ideas 3 weeks ago, a little tinkering in the shop, a consultation with my smith, a spare 300 win mag barrel and a orphaned sporterized mosin action. i sent the parts to my smith 2 weeks ago. and i got it back today, looks sweet. he set the barrel back to get in front of the old throat and threaded the muzzle 5/8-24. unfortunately mosin timney triggers are backordered thru all the places i looked

heres what went to the smith
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[I'll Make Mine]

If you've got the original Mosin trigger for that action, you don't really need a Timney for initial setup; I can shoot around 2 MOA with the iron sights on my 1943 Izhevsk 91/30 using factory ammunition and the trigger exactly as it came out of the cosmoline; the only thing I've done is scrape the barrel channel and shim under the receiver so the barrel is floated from receiver to the last inch of the stock. IMO, the only thing a Timney adds is a trigger block safety, and I rather like the Mosin's built-in cocking piece safety (pull back and turn to counterclockwise to safe, which locks trigger, striker, and bolt; reverse to fire or open the bolt).

[pacomdiver]

who said anything about not shooting it because i dont have the timney? its going to the range tomorrow with a stock trigger but am gonna put a timney in it. its kinda like driving a ferrari in a roadrace without brembo brakes on it. your not gonna get its potential out. im using them in 2 of my project mosins already. the timney is so much better and its a crisp consistant break.

i know what you can get from them, this is what a good shooting stock 1943 izhvesk 91/30 can do, all 5 of my snipers shoot these loads under an inch
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worked about 4 hours on it today,
i cut the bolt handle and moved it behind the stripper bridge and welded a bent bolt handle on. i machined the receiver out to accomodate the relocated bolt handle. i drilled and tapped the receiver for the scope mount block and drilled and tapped the scope rail into the block. i cut back and threaded the bolt handle. mounted the scope block and rail up. found a spare muzzle break to protect the barrel threads. put it all back together and grabbed my crappy beater scope and mounted it and bore sighted it. i loaded 5 rounds of middle road 200g smk's with rl19 and will try it out at the range tomorrow

[pacomdiver]

this is what i got back today at 3:00
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this is the extended bent bolt (literally) handle i made, couldnt find my round stock, so i improvised
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milling the bolt handle recess out
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drilled and taped the top scope mount block holes
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drilled the side holes for the mount
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this is the mount block before i screwed it on.
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at this point, the camera died, so i dont have pics from here till the completed action ready to test

[pacomdiver]

heres what ive gotten done so far
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stupid camera turned it upside down for some reason

[I'll Make Mine]

its kinda like driving a ferrari in a roadrace without brembo brakes on it. your not gonna get its potential out.

Well, that's a different way of looking at a Mosin -- to me, it's more like spending $2000 to convert my Ford van's back brakes to disk or spending $3000 to replace the 3.0 L V-6 with a 5.0 V-8; it'll still be a truck frame with high center of mass and coil springs, much more useful for hauling half a ton of whatever (with the seats out) or seven people (seats in) than for trying to drive like a sports car.

Really, it's just the Mosin receiver you're using as a starting point to build a custom rifle -- which is fine. If the Timney lets you shoot better, that's fine, too, but to me, the Mosin is still a truck -- and a pretty darned good truck!

[pacomdiver]

well the mosin sporter donor rifle cost me $35 and i pulled parts off it. the barrel is a pull off from one of my 300 win mags that i rebarreled (it was either rebarrel or setback due to throat growing too long, so i replaced it ). the muzzle break was a pulloff of an ar10 i unbanned. the block of aluminum was a piece of scrap laying under my milling machine.

so to sum up,
receiver and bolt plus mag-- $35
barrel -- $freeby
gunsmithing -- $ 12 pack of beer
muzzle break--- $freeby
bolt for handle--- less than $1
scope mount ---$leftover scrap
scope rail---$2 at a local gunshow
scope---$floater for testing projects
stock- used one from my other monster mosin and the sporter stock for foundation of the next one

time invested-
thinking/design-3 hrs
building -4hrs


total 7 hours invested and $50 cash,
whats not to like. i shot 5 shots thru it today. rounds 3 to 5 were shot for group and it shot approx a 1" 3 shot group with a random load recipe i looked up in the lyman reload book

[pacomdiver]

this is some of what my other mosin with the timney can do
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screwed this group up
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first group after 10 lapping rounds
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after almost 2 years in back of one of my gunsafes, i loaded up 10 rounds of the same load i was testing last time it was to the range. 2 were used for sight in on the scope and the last 2 at the 232 swingers
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[pacomdiver]

had it to the range today, the one test load i made shot a sub 1" group with 175 sierra match kings and reloader 19 but the one with the 208 amax was just over an inch, im gonna work with the 175's some more and tighten the group up

[TRX]

If you want to do something different about the magazine, Cheaper Than Dirt had Lahti-Saloranta box magazines on sale for $3.97 each yesterday. They're set up for the slightly-shorter Finnish 53R cartridge, but that's no problem for a handloader...

[I'll Make Mine]

They're set up for the slightly-shorter Finnish 53R cartridge, but that's no problem for a handloader...

Myth alert!!

The actual difference between 7.62x54R ("Russian") and 7.62x53R ("Finnish") ammunition is that the Russian version is designed for a .311-.313 groove, while the Finnish is intended for a .308-.309 bore. The Finns redesignated the rounds and marked their .308-barrel rifles for the x53R to clue in the shooter to avoid the Russian ammunition, which could produce excessive pressure. The case for both is nominally (as I recall) 53.6 mm long the chambers are cut to the same spec; the only difference is the barrel bore and corresponding bullet size.

Which is to say that a Lahti-Saloranta magazine that works for 7.62x53R will also work for 7.62x54R. Whether you can convert a Mosin to work with that magazine is the real question; by the time you're done, it would probably have been cheaper to get an Archangel stock and use their mags (they're taking pre-orders now, I hear).

[Hardcast416taylor]

I believe so far there are 4 Mosin`s that have been turned into .416 Russian Express rifles by a group of friends here in Mich. that wanted both the round and the challenge.Robert

[pacomdiver]

the mags are too wide to fit thru the bottom of the receiver,it would take too much machining to make them fit, however ive seen guys convert them for use in a psl

[Hardcast416taylor]

As we found out in the development of the .416 Express and existing magazine width, you can do relief cut outs on both sides of the Mosin magazine to accomadate cartridges of wider width. The cut out areas will be concealed by the stock when the job is finished and the stock is in place.Robert