3006guns
01-27-2019, 08:33 AM
Way back around oh, 1982 or so, I bought one of the Finnish Mosin Nagants appearing on the market. Since I'd read a lot about how the Finns went to great lengths to improve these guns, I bought one for the hefty price of $39.95 plus shipping. The rifle appeared to be in at least "very good" condition, with its finger joint stock, SAKO and SkY markings. To this day I'm still not exactly sure which model it is, but it had a nifty color case hardened nose cap!
That rifle sat in my collection until around 1998 or so due to other events in my life, then I finally hauled it out to the range. I couldn't wait to see the legendary accuracy that I read about when I fired that first shot........which landed a good five feet to the left of the target frame. Nerves? Flinch? I chambered a second round and fired, only to have it land in the dirt close to the first one. I looked at the front sight and it had been drifted so far over that it was in danger of coming out of the dove tail. At that point it was "cease fire" so I took the gun home and tore it apart. What I found was the first example of forend pressure I'd seen in all my years of collecting. The last eight inches of that stock literally popped to the left when the barrel was removed, by about 3/16"! You could SEE the curve quite clearly. Even with the heavier Finn barrel, the pressure must have been tremendous.
Bear in mind, these rifles, like all the other rifles on the market, were not just "surplus".......they were war reserves stockpiled by the various nations, so I was a bit baffled by the quality. I built a steam chamber from steel pipe and steamed that piece of wood for close to three hours and still couldn't budge it. Talk about taking a set! I finally reassembled the gun and stuck it back with the others, very disappointed.
About a year later, a friend bought a Russian Mosin and decided to put one of the composite stocks on it. He offered me the old stock and I accepted. I found that the Finnish rifle fit with only a minimum of woodwork, so I then took it out to the range. What a difference! After tapping the front sight over, that rifle was placing shots in an almost cloverleaf pattern at 100 yards. Pretty good for an old war horse.
Lesson learned......forend pressure is very real and can have vast effects on accuracy.
That rifle sat in my collection until around 1998 or so due to other events in my life, then I finally hauled it out to the range. I couldn't wait to see the legendary accuracy that I read about when I fired that first shot........which landed a good five feet to the left of the target frame. Nerves? Flinch? I chambered a second round and fired, only to have it land in the dirt close to the first one. I looked at the front sight and it had been drifted so far over that it was in danger of coming out of the dove tail. At that point it was "cease fire" so I took the gun home and tore it apart. What I found was the first example of forend pressure I'd seen in all my years of collecting. The last eight inches of that stock literally popped to the left when the barrel was removed, by about 3/16"! You could SEE the curve quite clearly. Even with the heavier Finn barrel, the pressure must have been tremendous.
Bear in mind, these rifles, like all the other rifles on the market, were not just "surplus".......they were war reserves stockpiled by the various nations, so I was a bit baffled by the quality. I built a steam chamber from steel pipe and steamed that piece of wood for close to three hours and still couldn't budge it. Talk about taking a set! I finally reassembled the gun and stuck it back with the others, very disappointed.
About a year later, a friend bought a Russian Mosin and decided to put one of the composite stocks on it. He offered me the old stock and I accepted. I found that the Finnish rifle fit with only a minimum of woodwork, so I then took it out to the range. What a difference! After tapping the front sight over, that rifle was placing shots in an almost cloverleaf pattern at 100 yards. Pretty good for an old war horse.
Lesson learned......forend pressure is very real and can have vast effects on accuracy.