Sporterizing the Mosin-Nagant

This story actually began several years ago with the purchase of yet another inexpensive military rifle. A large number of Russian surplus Mosin-Nagants of various descriptions came ashore in the U. S. and were snapped up by tightwads such as myself who are addicted to cheap-to-buy, cheap-to-feed, big-bore plinkers.

It was acceptably accurate (shooting minute of 55 gallon drum) and fun for awhile, but I soon found myself wanting to try various aftermarket products to see if I couldn’t turn this old rifle into something a little more useful and more pleasing to the eye. And with my typical optimistic naivete, I thought I might actually be able to improve on this century-old design.

And what a design it istiny little straight bolt handle; hard-to-see sights (at least for my eyes); a heavy, creepy trigger; a too-long barrel; and a safety that was anything but easy to manipulate. In addition, the stock was oil-soaked and heavily dented, the metal was rusty and pitted, and the bore was what could be charitably described as "somewhat rough." The wood was first to go.

After a futile effort to remove the battle scars, it was time to invest in an Advanced Technology injection-molded stock (from Brownells). While it lacks the fine lines of a classic walnut stock, it had two advantagescheap and easy to install. Let the Games Begin Installation of the Advanced Technology stock is a breeze: After making sure the rifle is unloaded, remove the two screws that hold the action in the old stock, and lift the action and magazine assembly away from the wood.

Reverse the procedure on the new stock and you’re done. If you so desire, this barreled receiver can be glass bedded using Brownells Acra-Glas gel. Most people who have had problems with bedding a plastic stock have not taken the time to do a proper prep job. As this stock is created in a mold, there is Top of page: On top is an original Mosin-Nagant; the rifle on the bottom shows what can be accomplished with a little time and a few dollars. frequently mold release still clinging to the surface.

Merely take some fine sandpaper and rough up these areas to receive the bedding material, and then use denatured alcohol to remove any remaining release compound. For a very stable bedding job, use a small drill bit (1/16 to 1/8 inch is fine) to make numerous shallow holes throughout the area to receive the Acra-Glas mixture. Use masking tape to protect the areas where the gel doesn’t belong.

And don’t forget to put a coat of the release agent that comes with the kit over all the parts that will come in contact with the bedding compound. The finished product will be an unbreakable, solid bedding for your barreled receiver. More Challenges With the easy part completed, it was time to see what could be done to improve the metal. It was hard to believe, but if anything it was even worse than the wood! The rear sight might have been fine for its original military purpose, but wouldn’t be

needed when a scope was mounted. So out came the propane torch, and being careful to minimize heating of the barrel, I applied heat to the sight. The sight assembly is retained by what seems to be soft solder, and the gentle heat, aided by some firm taps with a brass mallet, soon had it driven forward off the barrel. Advanced Technology also produced the scope-mount kit I used to turn the old war club into a tack driver (also from Brownells).

All that’s required is to cut off the old handle, drill and tap a hole, and install the new one. The scope mount is simplicity itself; drill and tap two holes and it’s time to put on your favorite scope. While there’s no need to go into the specifics of installing these items (the instructions that come with the kit are excellent), I will add one major caution: Installing the turned-down bolt handle that comes with the kit requires the bolt assembly be taken apart, and reveals something rather unique.

The firing-pin protrusion on this rifle is adjustable by the shooterno gunsmith necessary. But make a mistake and you either have lots of misfires or, if the pin protrudes too far, you run the very real risk of piercing a primer and getting a face full of high pressure gas. Many of the newly imported rifles come with a firing-pin gauge and it’s simple to use. Remove the bolt from the receiver and turn the cocking piece approximately one-quarter turn counterclockwise.

This uncocks the mechanism and allows the pin to protrude through the face of the bolt. Two of the notches on the tool are numbered 75 and 95 respectively. The firing-pin tip must drag on the bottom of the number 75 notch and must not contact the bottom of the notch labeled 95. If you plan on doing work on any of the Mosin-Nagant variants, pick up one of these little gauges the next time you’re at a gun show; it’s worth its weight in gold.

At almost 30 inches, the barrel is a bit long for my taste, though if you’re dealing with the carbine version, you can skip to the next step. I shortened mine to 22 inches. Much shorter and it would have looked out of proportion to the stock; much longer and it wouldn’t be nearly as handy in the woods. A properly crowned muzzle can add a lot to the accuracy equation, and can be done with common tools. While the muzzle-crowning kit from Brownells is a good investment, a fresh file and a brass screw work well also.

First, shorten the barrel with a hacksaw, ensuring that the muzzle face is perpendicular to the bore. A few strokes with a fine-cut file will smooth any saw marks and ready the surface for the "crowning touch." Take a brass screw, mount it in your variable-speed drill, and smear a small quantity of fine valve-grinding compound on the screw’s head. While the screw is slowly turning, press it against the barrel, moving the drill side to side.

Pause frequently to check your work and add more grinding compound as needed. Within a short period of time you’ll have completed the job. I also took this opportunity to add a "custom" touch. While visiting a fellow gunsmith, I spied an interesting piece on his work bench. He had just shortened a barrel and I snapped up the remnant. After a few minutes on the lathe and with a bit of silver solder, I had an FN/FAL flash hider on my Mosin-Nagant.

It added a distinctive touch and excellent protection for the newly crowned muzzle. There were numerous scars on the exterior barrel surface, along with a number of light rust pits that needed to be addressed. Some fine filing will get things started and strips of abrasive cloth will smooth out the worst of the dings. Place the barreled action in your vise (with leather to pad the jaws) and use a back and forth motion (like shining your shoes) with the abrasive cloth to remove the worst of the blemishes.

By using progressively finer grades of emery cloth, you can achieve the finish desired. No need to get carried away as the next step is to bead blast the barrel and action in preparation for the new finish. I then took the barreled action outside and thoroughly cleaned the bead-blasted surface with aerosol brake cleaner. Traditional blue looks lovely, of course, and Parkerizing, while sturdy, is difficult to apply in a home-shop setting. I wanted to try a different type of surface finish.

What about painting the metal instead, I wondered? Brownells offers a baked-epoxy lacquer in a variety of colors, and I opted for the matte black. For best results, gently warm the metal (a hair dryer works well) and spray a thin, even coat. Warm it again to rapidly dry the paint and spray a second coat, repeating until the metal is well covered. Three coats will usually do

Mosin-Nagant Bolt-Action Rifle (Model91/30,1891,1938 Carbine,Chinese Type53,and Finnish Variants) 21 Magazine Follower 22 Follower Hinge Pin, Upper 10 Ejector Screw 23A Follower-Spring Assembly (incl. 11 Ejector Spring follower spring, follower lifter, and 11A Ejector upper mag follower spring)* 12 Ejector and Spring, One-Piece Style* 23B Follower Lifter (contains no spring) 1A Bolt Head with Extractor 13 Trigger 23C Magazine Follower Spring, Upper 1B Bolt Head without Extractor* 14 Trigger Pin 24 Follower Hinge Pin, Lower 2 Extractor 15 Trigger Spring and Bolt Stop 25 Magazine Floorplate 3 Bolt Connector and Guide Bar 16 Bolt Stop Screw 26 Magazine Follower Spring, Lower 4 Firing Pin 17 Screw (guard, front) 27 Spring Screw, Lower 5 Firing Pin Spring 18 Floorplate Latch Screw 28 Follower Assembly (incl. magazine 6A Bolt Body with Straight Handle 19 Floorplate Latch follower, upper follower hinge pin, 6B Bolt Body with Curved Handle* 20A Trigger Guard and Magazine, follower lifter spring, upper 7 Cocking Piece Stripped magazine follower spring) 8 Bolt Assembly 20B Trigger Guard and Magazine, 9 Guard Tang Screw, Rear Complete* *Not Shown

the job. Let it dry for an hour and bake it for 30 minutes at 300 degrees, but be sure your wife and kids are away for the afternoon. The baking produces some fumes, but doesn’t seem to leave any lingering odor. The rifle’s new finish will be pretty tough and impervious to most cleaners and solvents. And if the surface is ever damaged, you merely clean the spot with sandpaper and alcohol, spray some lacquer on, bake, and you’re done. The trigger, like most other parts on this rifle, needs attention.

By using a honing stone, the two rubbing surfaces can be smoothed enough to produce a much nicer trigger pull. Be sure to maintain the original sear and trigger angles and remove no more material than necessary to clean up the surfaces. Adding some molybdenum grease to the stoned spots will help a lot also. More can be done, and for that I turned to revolver technology.

If you’ve ever looked inside a mediumor large-frame Smith & Wesson or a Colt Single Action Army (a.k.a., the Peacemaker), the main spring is easy to spot. If a lighter spring is not available for the Colt, many gunsmiths will remove material from its center section, leaving it with a wasp-wasted configuration (much like an old Coke bottle). This lightens the spring, but requires a deft touch to avoid taking away too much metal and making the spring too weak.

A simpler method is to adjust the tension on the strain screw on the Smith & Wesson. This allows a lighter trigger pull while still maintaining sufficient force to pop the primer. The same thing can be done on the Mosin-Nagant rifle by loosening the sear screw in quarter-turn increments until the trigger is light enough. While a trigger gauge is nice, more important is how it feels to the shooter. It’s possible to get a relatively consistent and safe 4-pound trigger pull.

After determining how far to back out the sear screw, secure it in place with some locking compound and test your work. With the rifle completely assembled, vigorously work the bolt back and forth to see if your settings are too light. If the cocking piece goes forward even once, the sear screw needs to be tightened. If your work passes the first exam, cycle the bolt forward and leave it in the cocked position.

Take a rubber mallet or any non-marring hammer and tap numerous times on a variety of spots on the bolt and action. You can also try dropping the butt of the rifle onto a padded hard surface. If all this jarring fails to cause it to go off, congratulations, the trigger should be safe. A simpler (although more costly) way to gain a smoother trigger pull is to install a Huber modified trigger assembly (available from Brownells or www.huber concepts. com).

Huber’s website details the modification, and it really makes a big improvement. To the Range I dug an inexpensive 6-power scope out of my stash of spares. After finding some 7.62x54R target ammo (there is really such a thing, this caliber has been used quite successfully in international 300 meter competition), I went to the range to see the results of my efforts. The old "tomato stake" (as my Rhode Island friends call it) would shoot 1-1/8inch groups all day long.

That sort of accuracy rivals a lot of off-the-shelf rifles being made with 21st-century technology. Conclusions Fast-forward several months to a cold November morning in Central Missouri. I had been assured by my hunting buddy that I’d at least see some deer and should have a good chance to take one. After lots of walking and dragging various parts of my anatomy over countless pieces of barbed wire, I was getting discouraged. We’d worked our way into a deep ravine and I wasn’t looking forward to climbing out.

There was more of that blasted barbed wire to cross, but I spotted an even lower areaone where the wire only reached about five feet above the ground. I crossed under and saw a small pond and, just this side of the pond, was a buck! I’m not sure who was more surprised, me or the buck. It took what seemed to be an eternity for his image to register on my brain and for my arms to react and raise the rifle. He didn’t move but I finally did, dropping him in his tracks.

He was a nice eight-pointer, one of the larger ones anyone in the hunting group had seen. The old Mosin-Nagant has since been retired to range-use-only, as I never liked the difficult-to-use safety. (When hunting, I carried it with an empty chamber.) While preparing for the hunt, I sighted the rifle to shoot 2 inches high at 100 yards, which should have enabled me to hit out to 150 to 200 yards. But my trophy buck was taken at 15 feetthat’s right, 15 feet! I’d rather be lucky than good. ■