Mosin Nagant sporter (lets see if i can rile people up)

[WyomingWhitetail]

So i was in the farm-ranch supply store that has a sporting goods section the other day looking at guns and they had probably 30 Mosin Nagant rifles on the shelf for like 90 bucks apiece. Now i know this is going to rile the history purist but is there any reason why one wouldn't make a decent sporter, and im not talking hacksawing the barrel of 2 ft and running the stock through the band saw and calling it good. Im thinking is there any reason that you couldn't take one and do like im doing in my Mauser build. Basically find one that is already beat up or modified, strip it clear to the action, new barrel, new trigger, new stock, and rework the bolt. Now ive never looked at one so i don't know how there built or been inside one to see just how everything works but other than the goofy magazine they look like you could make a attractive rifle out of them. I haven't really look at parts but the only problem i could think of is trigger but it looks like timney offers one. i don't imagine these are as highly finished as some of the Mausers but for just a nice little shooter i don't see why not. And for those who are going to say just buy a Remington it will be cheaper, right now i have access to the machines to do the work so it just costs me parts and i paid more for my Turkish Mauser action then a Mosin would cost.

 

[PawPaw]

There's no particular reason you couldn't sporterize a Mosin. It's your rifle, do what you want with it.

One challenge might be to mount a scope. The Mosin doesn't have a rear bridge like most commercial bolt actions and there's no convenient place for a rear base. You might use a forward mounted scope, but that's individual taste. I'm sure someone has a work-around for scope mounting, but I've never bothered to look.

The question in my mind is how much are you willing to spend on a $90.00 rifle?

Junior's done some work on a Mosin, so that might give you a starting point for your project. He also installed a peep sight on his rifle. It's decidedly low-tech, but decidedly rugged.

Have fun with your Mosin project. I don't believe you'll hurt the collector value.

 

[WyomingWhitetail]

Well I have other projects right now but since good actions are getting hard to find a thought I would investigate this some

 

[Scorch]

how much are you willing to spend on a $90.00 rifle?

That's the same question people used to ask in the 50s, 60s, 70s, etc, about military surplus rifles, and yet many many many Mausers of various vintages, Enfields, Springfields, Arisakas, Martinis, and yes, even Carcanos, were sporterized because someone wanted something "special". Ever seen a $750 Carcano in 35 Remington (that's 1985 dollars, BTW)? I built one for a customer (35 Rem rim diameter is the same as 6.5X52mm Carcano rim diameter). Soooooo, I say (the self-deluding voice of authority, right??) why not? You can build whatever you want, it's yours! And scope mounting is not an issue, there are side-mount scope bases, or EER scope bases, or with a little bit of care (and a mill, of course) you can make your own. Barrels are available, and you can upgrade to a good/better/best barrel if you really want the utmost in precision your rifle can deliver. You could even invent a wildcat cartridge if you're feeling a bit wild!

I say go for it! Oh, and let's not forget the pictures as your project progresses!

 

[Wyosmith]

Sure you can.
I have one on the rack in my shop now for just a re-stocking and "sportization"

It should be fun
Surly a Mosin with a good bore is at least as good a weapon to hunt with as most lever action 'deer rifles". More powerful, usually more accurate (with correct ammo) but slower for a 2nd shot, and having a safety that is also a bit slow to place on and off.
So "sporterising" a M/N is totally practical if you like such things Not expensive either

 

[kraigwy]

I'm a purist, I like military rifle to stay "as issued"

How ever, I'm also a realist. I know there are reasons to "modify" a rifle. If you don't shoot Vintage (as issued) Military Rifle Matches, or not a collector, history buff, etc. and want a shooter for hunting and plinking, WHY NOT?

There are reasons. Years ago, in the 70s I just had to have a 416 Rigby. Back then the only practical action for the job was a 1917 Enfields, so I got an action and made my 416, how ever I still have an "as issued" Eddystone.

I can't really condemn one for modifying a rifle to fit their needs.

 

[WyomingWhitetail]

well it seems that there are a ton of these out there and well im no collector ill never own a gun i can't shoot. Heck for the price i could buy to and throw one in the closet and build one. might have to look at one and see just what they are like. Anybody have pictures of any good sporter Nagants

 

[603Country]

The son of the rancher nearby brought over his Mosin Nagant the other day. I had heard ya'll talk about it on the forum, but I hadn't seen one until then. I have to admit that it was far more rifle than I had expected. And it was what I consider to be carbine length, so I suppose either the regular rifle is shorter than I expected or they do make a carbine version. The sights were very crude, so I'd put a scope on it in the 'scout' fashion - forward of the action. Overall, it looked like a pretty nice rifle to own. And short enough to travel with me on 4wheeler or Kubota RTV without needing to be modified. Not a pretty rifle, but a very sturdy rifle. The kid promised to bring it over to let me shoot it, and I'm looking forward to it.

 

[rr2241tx]

Brownell's carries Weaver side mounts in two sizes that will enable you to mount a standard 1" barrel rifle scope and still clear the bolt. There are good sporter stocks available. Nothing at all wrong with 7.62x54R. You can cut the barrel off to look right in the sporter stock and recrown on a lathe so it is perpendicular to the bore and call it good.

 

[lonstar45]

Mosin M44 Sporterized

Here are a few pics of my M44 that I sporterized. I made my own pillars for the stock and then glass bedded the action and floated the barrel in the ATI stock. This rifle has a Timney trigger so I no longer have to use the bolt safety because the new trigger has a safety that operates like the Rem 700's. And the trigger is adjustable from 1 to 4 pounds. I have the UTG tactical tri-rail with a 2-7 x 32 scout scope. I also threaded the barrel to accept a flash hider.

 

[WyomingWhitetail]

ya know when i fist seen them i thought the magazine looked a little goofy but i think with a little work one could make a pretty nice looking gun. About how strong are these actions are the comparable to a mauser 98? How about getting other calibers to feed from the magazine?

 

[TX Hunter]

With a Mosin, you can sporterize them, but I like the way they look as issued, especially with the Dog Collar Olive Drab sling atached.
Kind of takes away from it to modernize it.

 

[WyomingWhitetail]

so i just looked up the 7.62x54 cartridge and it seems to be kinda in between short and long action. Like ive said ive never look at one of these rifles up close but could you possibly take one and open up the magazine enough to use regular 30-06 length cartridge. Also its rimmed so that might cause some problems with feeding.

 

[tobnpr]

Hell, yeah. Very capable long-range caliber with similar ballistics to the 30.06.

Not a precision rifle by any means, but since you can do your own work, they're a fun project. Just be sure you start out with a nice barreled action with crisp rifling, or it'll obviously be a waste of your time and money.

Posted this in the other Mosin thread currently running (check it out), but here's mine, just completed.
Taking her out to 200 for the second time tomorrow, hopefully I'll have targets impressive enough to brag about.

I won't take up the bandwidth to go into details here (a lot of modifications), but feel free to pm me if you want more info.

 

[WyomingWhitetail]

hmm looks like a fun gun. Please post or pm some more info on it and what you did to it. If i do build one i would probably get a new barrel and chamber for something american. i was just reading where somebody was building one in a 45-70 which would be neat. so ive been surfing the net and i think that if one was to take one of these rifles throw it in a synthetic stock with a timney trigger and a rechambered short barrel it would be pretty sweet. Make like a 20 inch barreled big bore 3 round open sighted brush and timber gun. Just need to find a cartridge with a similar rim size.

 

[nimbleVagrant]

Unless you've got Comrad Stalin's personal rifle I say go for it. There's no shortage of 'em floating around.

 

[Cheapshooter]

It's yours, do with it what you want. Some day they might be worth more as collectors, but I doubt if it will be in your lifetime.
As far as my personal view, I've seen a lot of really cool looking M/N sporters. But they all have one thing in common...A very much less than user friendly safety for a hunting rifle if that is why you want to sporterize one. For just a cool looking and accurate range rifle, I might consider one myself.

 

[Kreyzhorse]

Your gun, your money and there is no reason it can't be done. You'll likely drop some cash on the project, but if fails at least the original investment was only $90.

 

[WyomingWhitetail]

well the timney triggers have a safety on them so that would cure the safety problem. Might be something im going to have to look into.

 

[Bamashooter]

I dont know why everyone always whines about the safety. It's diffrent but its not hard to engage or disengage. My son is 12 and he can manipulate the safety on all my mosin's just fine. If he can do it, everyone else should be able to. Come on man.....