Mosin-Nagant Modiications

An untold number of gunsmiths of my generation learned their trade sporterizing and customizing surplus Mauser rifles. Back then, they were cheap and plentiful and we could all afford to learn by doing. Today, Mausers are no longer cheap and this generation has looked to surplus rifles of the Cold War period to find guns to learn and practice their skills on.

Before my son passed away from complications of Covid, he was trying to convince me that the Russian M1891 Mosin-Nagant rifle, invented in 1891, was his generation’s equivalent of the Mausers we learned gunsmithing skills on. I acknowledged that the Mosin filled the niche of an inexpensive and plentiful surplus rifle but questioned the wisdom of doing all that work to just end up with a customized Mosin.

The Mauser was and is a great design that lends itself to refining while the Mosin was designed to be abused by peasants and still function. Both rifles are tough, reliable, and will continue to operate in extreme conditions with little maintenance. The difference is that the Mauser accomplishes this with the elegant engineering of a German luxury car while the Mosin is engineered to have all the toughness and aesthetic appeal of a farm tractor.

I was recently at a local auction when the perfect example of what my son was trying to tell me came up on the block. Here was a Mosin-Nagant originally made by New England Westinghouse under contract to Russia. When the Bolshevik revolution took place in 1917 all the orders were canceled and the American manufacturer was left holding the bag for the units they had produced. These have since become very collectible and therefore rather expensive as Mosin-Nagants go.

Unfortunately, having been altered, this one is no longer in that category. However, it is still a very well made rifle with a pristine bore that serves as an example of what can be done after turning a run-of-the-mill military surplus rifle into a project for the beginning gunsmith. Let’s take a look at what was done, why it was done, and what we can learn from it. We’ll start with the walnut stock. The forend was shortened in the manner normal to sporterized military rifles.

However, whoever did this one took the pains to taper the forend The addition of spacers, a pistol grip, grip cap, and checkering make this Mosin-Nagant a unique and personal firearm.

and leave it with a very pleasant and finished look. The most impressive work was done in the wrist area. The standard military stock is a straight grip and there is not enough depth to change it into a pistol grip with a grip cap as was done here. In this case it appears the bottom of the wrist area was flattened and another piece of walnut was added to the bottom to allow a pistol grip—complete with grip cap—to be formed. The line where the two pieces of wood meet was hidden by checkering the area.

Despite the grip cap being too prominent for my taste, the work was excellently done. In fact, it was done so well it had me thinking it was an after-market Removal of the large military sight and installing a more conventional sporter sight streamlines the outline of this utilitarian Mosin-Nagant. The removal of the military rear sight required a much lower front sight blade. The previous owner made an interesting choice on a replacement blade. stock for awhile.

When I couldn’t find an aftermarket stock that had the sling attachment and the finger grooves, I took a closer look and found where the wood had been added. The checkering is coarse and the diamonds not brought to a point. This type of checkering is reminiscent of some European and English guns I have seen and goes along well with the overall design of the gun. Two black plastic spacers at the butt end appear to have been added to extend the length of pull as they do nothing to moderate recoil.

All in all, the craftsman that did the stock is a fine woodworker. Moving on to the metalwork I very much appreciate the modi- A sniper bolt with a longer handle sculpted to a more useful position as well as adding leverage to ease opening and closing the bolt. fied bolt handle. The sweep and curve bring the elongated handle to the right position for fast and sure operation. The length of the handle provides great leverage, making bolt operation much easier than with the stubby handle of the standard rifle.

I believe this was the bolt from a sniper rifle and the handle was heated and altered. The numbers on the barrel, bolt, and trigger guard are all different indicating that items were added and are not original to the gun. Unfortunately, the polishing done to the barrel and action before rebluing was both not enough and too much. It was not enough in that it did not remove all the pitting on the receiver and the gun was reblued over the pits. On the other hand, the barrel was buffed to death.

So much metal was removed from the barrel that the lettering is all but erased. It is not that the finish is bad, it looks pretty good but erasing the lettering reduces the value of the rifle considerably. The military rear sight was removed and the shortening of the barrel also removed the military front sight. A dovetail was cut for the rear sight and a sight marked "Savage Arms Company" was in-

stalled. I assume this was simply a rear sight the owner had available. The front sight base is soldered in place and fitted with a curious sight blade that almost looks like a dulled down checkering cutter. With all the work that was done on the wood and metal I can only guess that the owner had enough and decided that the buttplate didn’t need the polishing and bluing that the rest of the gun received. We are left with an interesting but strangely incomplete project.

Much as I would like to return this gun to its military configuration, the shortening of the barrel and destruction of the markings insure that it will never have the collector value it might have if left unaltered. Being me, I just couldn’t leave well enough alone so I polished and blued the buttplate, modified the grip cap, replaced the front sight blade, and polished the bolt. It is sort of making a silk purse from a sow’s ear but I simply couldn’t resist finishing the project.

A trip to the range involved getting the gun on target with the new front sight blade and proved that although lacking the elegance of the Mauser, the Nagant is more than accurate enough for hunting and casual range work. All in all an interesting and very fun project for the beginning gunsmith. Sporterizing was a great way to learn gunsmithing because surplus rifles were readily available and cheap.

As time marches on, what used to be cheap surplus are becoming historical pieces garnering increasing interest as collectibles. Even the Mosin-Nagant has seen increased popularity by collectors. As reported in these pages ("Rock Island Auction Company", March 2023) audits of firearms auctions in the past decade has revealed the average Mosin-Nagant price has tripled.

In 2015, a Mosin-Nagant averaged $211.83 in price, inching up another $32.33 in 2016 before rocketing up more than $200 in 2017 and holding that average for the next three years before continuing up to $692.69. Of course, top pricing assumes a specimen in top condition, with original serial numbers, all as-issued accessories, etc.

Lesser quality pieces, particularly one with significant wear or having already seen modification (particularly if the sporterizing attempt was less than stellar), can be had for much less. An unwanted old rifle lacking good qualities won’t appeal to collectors but might still be an ideal vehicle to learn and use your gunsmithing skills. AG American Gunsmith Reader Services 1.