Mosin Nagant: which one?

[cheese1566]

Looking at maybe getting a Mosin Nagant M91/30 in 7.62x54Russian.

1. Should I get a Hex receiver or round?
(Pros and cons.. I may someday scope it, but doubt it)

2. Should I get it through Southern Ohio Gun or J&G Sales? or is there someplace better
(I see the SOG may come with more goodies and are $10 cheaper, but may have heard bad things about shipping times.)

3. Are the "handpicked" for $10 really worth it?
(kinda like the CMP when ordering, luck of the draw...)


I would be looking to get this since they are cheap and and I haven't used my C&R license yet. I would mostlly get it to have a project and conversation piece. I would of course reload for it and do casual plinking at the range, hopefully with some cast loads.

Any thoughts on these two?

[mike in co]

FIRST CHOICE...a finn rebuild

second choice...any not counterbored, look for strong rifling.

hex because scope mount will be easier.

but i would get a 20" before a long bbl...they do heat up and wander a little. the plus to the 91/30 is a longer sight radius.

i only have 2 91/30's..and one is an antique finn rebuild, but a bunch of 44's, 38's, 59's.

i hesitate to buy sight unseen in mil rifles.

remember "fatory refurbish" means a new finish..only

mike in co

[cheese1566]

Thanks mike!

My options at this point are only the long barreled versions. I was opting for the carbine, but see that neither dealer has them on the web anymore.

If I spend anymore than $100 I'll direct my money for a "neglected" US manufactured bolt action in the sales racks at the local gunstores for a project.

I don't expect much for $69, except that all the parts are there and no major issues. The bores are a gamble, but I won't be doing any precision or long term match shooting with them.

A local shop has some on the rack, but started at $150- I think they are looking at some quick easy cash. I have looked them over and have seen what they are about. (The manager-very helpful and gave me some free small parts for my AR- refrained from telling me where he got them and how much.)

[azrednek]

If you have a Big 5 sporting Goods in your neck of the woods, try there. My neighbor picked one up from Big 5 about a month ago. After cleaning the cosmoline off it appears unfired. If you order via telephone from J&G. Call them during the week. On weekends the place is packed and the sales people are in a hurry.

[jonk]

You may be pleasantly surprised if you aren't expecting much. My M44 and M91/59 will shoot 3-4" at 100 yards. My 91/30 and M39 will do 2-3" if using good handloads.

Figure 6-7 or 5-6 for surplus ammo, respectively.

[Dutchman]

One particular 91/30 purchased from AIM for $120 with a laminate stock happened to be a brand new unused laminate stock. It wasn't refinished. Surprised and pleased me as it was an upper end rifle in the world of Russian refurb 91/30. Still, for $70 you can't beat the "refurb" 91/30 with sling and bayonet. Its too bad there aren't dozens of choices in milsurp rifles for that price but at the least get a couple/few of these under-$100 Mosins while the gettin' is good.

Finn Mosins are much more $$$. I bought a like-new Finn 91/30, new stock & new Finn barrel for $230 about 18 months ago. Once you've shot a Finn barreled (or Belgian) Mosin you'll throw rocks at the Russian Mosins. My Finn m/1891 with the Belgian "new" barrel from 1942 will put 5 shots into one hole with 311299 at 50 yds. There are 3 Finn Mosins in this house to include the VKT m/39. Lots of Russian Mosins as my son-in-law has an unhealthy fetish forming for the things.

I'm not partial to the Mosin carbines. I gave my Polish m/44 to the son-in-law and he bought two more m/38 from J&G not long ago that are both highwall receivers and pretty nice little suckers overall.

mike in colorady-- buying sight unseen when they're $50-60 was the great joy and excitement of basic crufflerism, the religious practice of milsurpittis. What great times they were....

Dutch

[mike in co]

mike in colorady-- buying sight unseen when they're $50-60 was the great joy and excitement of basic crufflerism, the religious practice of milsurpittis. What great times they were....

Dutch


yep with no limit on rifles per month...my club used to buy them by the case and sell them at cost .

i have considered that on the mn's and did do it with 98's...bought 3 98's for 200 delivered...only sold one of them......the other 2 were great.
( and i did buy 4 p64's this year to cherry pic the best 2. i may do it again next yr...but they have gone up a little)
mike in co

[Ricochet]

They're all good.

[jack19512]

[COLOR="Blue"]

3. Are the "handpicked" for $10 really worth it?
(kinda like the CMP when ordering, luck of the draw...)






If I am not mistaken when it comes to hand picked some(or all)of the dealers only go through the first 5 rifles for example, not all of the inventory until they find you a good one. If the first 5 happens to contain a really good one then you are in luck, if they don't then probably just a wasted ten bucks. Not sure how they would determine a good one from a bad one if they are packed in cosmoline though.

[Ricochet]

It's usually from a quick glance externally. I never pay the handpick fee.

[Dutchman]

Going back to 1995 I've always paid HP. The rifles I bought from SOG that were HP were graded by and at Century Arms before they got to SOG so all SOG knew is the box was marked HP. I got some very nice rifles that way but that was then..

Though I'll still usually consider the hand-pick to be part of the price and just pay it. Good karma.

Dutch

[Nora]

I like them all, so which one??????
Hand picked is extra, but is just that. If you want something special, or don't want something, it is the way to go. Say you want to make sure it isn't counter bored, or that it has strong rifling. Then it would be best to call and tell them that and spend the extra. Other wise they will just go in and grab what ever is on top. That may be what you want, or it may not. Also by calling them you will also know if what you would like is available from them as well.

This is what I think of SOG. I'd go with J&G myself, but that is just my opinion. http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?p=647776#post647776

Nora

[Shiloh]

I'm sure they are available, from where i don't know, but I have never seen one that wasn't a counter-bored muzzle.

Shiloh

[Beekeeper]

I have bought Mosins from both SOG and J&G Sales and much prefer J&G.
Their normal run is usually better than SOG's Hand Picked.
Plus I do not trust SOG as they have a bad rep on a number of the guns they sell.

That said I only bought from them once and asked for Hand Picked .
I got something that looked like it had been put through the meat grinder.
Called them and got "S***t A**d " answers so have never bought from them since.

My money My choice.

Jim

[BIG GUN]

I have an M44 refurb that will clang a 12" gong at 300yds. using Bulgarian surplus ammo.

[dualsport]

Is it practical to cut off the counterbored part and recrown? What's the downside of counterbored barrels?

[Ricochet]

The counterbore IS a recrown. It was done to eliminate the part of the bore belled out by cleaning rods. It's just drilled out to give a clean, sharp edge to the rifling and a straight tube section after that, much like one might find in a variety of muzzle attachments. It's big enough that I can put the head of a 9mm Parabellum cartridge down into the counterbore. You're unlikely to improve anything by cutting it off and recrowning yet again, and you're unlikely to be losing anything by having it there. The Russians seem to have done this on most of the carbines, whether they needed it or not. I think the most important difference between Mosin barrels affecting accuracy is how worn the throats are.

[Nora]

The down side to counter bored barrels is that they are shorter in the rifling area. This does not necessarily make it a bad barrel. Especially when compared to the end of it before the work was done.

The problem as I see it to cutting off the end and re-crowning is that you will have to find a different front sight, as this will be part of what is cut off. If you are going to use a different stock, say an after market sporter then yes IMO it would be worth cutting it down and re crowning it. I'm a fan of Williams sights, and they can be had very reasonably from Brownell's to replace the old one.

I've often thought of re-barreling my M38 with a 91 barrel and cutting it down to the original length to get a fresh crown. The problem there is that MN's are a PITA to swap barrels as they have to have the groove for the extractor line up properly.


My .02

Nora

[Ricochet]

The barrels are reportedly difficult to break loose from the actions, too. Earlier ones had a threaded hole in the bottom of the receiver ring to install a grease fitting to lube the barrel threads under pressure before removing the barrel.