Buckshot
06-09-2006, 05:21 PM
.............My wife was bugging me about what I was wanting for last Christmas and there was a Big5 newspaper insert handy. They were having thier sale on the M91/30 Mosins again. They're $89 and come will all the accuterments, which are kind of fun. So I just said "Gimme that".
These things are all arsenal re-done with forced matching bolts. All the other parts can be from any of the 3 producing arsenals so you'll find lots of different marks and stamps on'em. Including the bolts. However they are actually pretty nicely done and if you like the clubby things, attractive. The Christmas one was a 1943 production rifle so was very crudely finsihed. Or should I really say, not finished, as we accept the term finished?
However, everything that had to be well done for operation, was. The barrel was nice and shiny and the bolt operated smoothly and the chamber was well done.
I hadn't fired it since I'd gotten it so a couple weeks ago I loaded up 20 rounds. Ten rounds with 16.0/2400 and 10 rounds with Nobel Tubal 2000 which was a surplus number Graf was selling. Sounded like 4198 type stuff in the description, and so it proved to be (I'd reported on the powder previously). I call it T2K since it's full name isn't very handy. I loaded 23.0/T2K and used Dacron, which I left out of the 2400 loads.
The Russian rifles barrel slugged .302x.313" so I sized the Group Buy 'Fat 30' to .314" @ 11 BHN, and used Javalina lube with Hornady GC's. I seated them in the 2nd bottom LG and they JUST barely engraved, but still fed from the magazine. I was happy about that. The FN slugs fed fine, thanks to the inline feed of the Mosin.
At the range the 2400 loads were up first and from a clean oiled barrel the first 2 were high out of where the group eventually formed. The group wasn't too shiny at 50 yards as 8 rounds went about 2.5" biased horizontally.
The T2K loads I felt did really well for visual boolits, and thrown charges with FL sized brass. Add in the crappy Mosin sponge trigger. The 10 rounds produced a 1.5" group if you discount one flyer. Don't know if it was me or the load. I'll have to re-try the 2400 with some Dacron.
I felt it was good enough to use in a Burrito Match, so I loaded up another 20 rounds. I'd have 10 for practice and 10 for score. As it turned out, with the rear sight at 500 yards it was too low, and at 600 yards it was too high. I stuck with 600 and tried to show a sliver of white under the bull. The long sight radius was a help, as clubby as the rifles appear they hang well. Did I mention the trigger sucks? :-)
All in all I didn't do too bad and shot an 88 for score. Good thing we don't shoot for group! Worst shot was a 6 but I did manage 2 tens out of the bunch. Managing the trigger with the front blade skating back and forth under the bull and trying to show that sliver of white was the problem. So far I'm happy with the rifle.
...................Buckshot
These things are all arsenal re-done with forced matching bolts. All the other parts can be from any of the 3 producing arsenals so you'll find lots of different marks and stamps on'em. Including the bolts. However they are actually pretty nicely done and if you like the clubby things, attractive. The Christmas one was a 1943 production rifle so was very crudely finsihed. Or should I really say, not finished, as we accept the term finished?
However, everything that had to be well done for operation, was. The barrel was nice and shiny and the bolt operated smoothly and the chamber was well done.
I hadn't fired it since I'd gotten it so a couple weeks ago I loaded up 20 rounds. Ten rounds with 16.0/2400 and 10 rounds with Nobel Tubal 2000 which was a surplus number Graf was selling. Sounded like 4198 type stuff in the description, and so it proved to be (I'd reported on the powder previously). I call it T2K since it's full name isn't very handy. I loaded 23.0/T2K and used Dacron, which I left out of the 2400 loads.
The Russian rifles barrel slugged .302x.313" so I sized the Group Buy 'Fat 30' to .314" @ 11 BHN, and used Javalina lube with Hornady GC's. I seated them in the 2nd bottom LG and they JUST barely engraved, but still fed from the magazine. I was happy about that. The FN slugs fed fine, thanks to the inline feed of the Mosin.
At the range the 2400 loads were up first and from a clean oiled barrel the first 2 were high out of where the group eventually formed. The group wasn't too shiny at 50 yards as 8 rounds went about 2.5" biased horizontally.
The T2K loads I felt did really well for visual boolits, and thrown charges with FL sized brass. Add in the crappy Mosin sponge trigger. The 10 rounds produced a 1.5" group if you discount one flyer. Don't know if it was me or the load. I'll have to re-try the 2400 with some Dacron.
I felt it was good enough to use in a Burrito Match, so I loaded up another 20 rounds. I'd have 10 for practice and 10 for score. As it turned out, with the rear sight at 500 yards it was too low, and at 600 yards it was too high. I stuck with 600 and tried to show a sliver of white under the bull. The long sight radius was a help, as clubby as the rifles appear they hang well. Did I mention the trigger sucks? :-)
All in all I didn't do too bad and shot an 88 for score. Good thing we don't shoot for group! Worst shot was a 6 but I did manage 2 tens out of the bunch. Managing the trigger with the front blade skating back and forth under the bull and trying to show that sliver of white was the problem. So far I'm happy with the rifle.
...................Buckshot