mosin nagant rifling
If, the rifling is worn, can the bore be "redrilled" to improve or restore the rifling or am I stuck with it? I haven't tried shooting it, yet, but the rifling is very flat (for lack of a better term)
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I would test fire it off a bench rest, with good quality commercial ammo. Before anything else. In the past I've seen M-N's with dark eroded bores shoot decently, which surprised me.
Considering it's probably a 60+ year old, ex military rifle. There is not a heck of allot you can do to it or the barrel, if it doesn't shoot accurately. Cheaper to get rid of it, and just get yourself another M-N.0 -
quote:Originally posted by SilentRage
If, the rifling is worn, can the bore be "redrilled" to improve or restore the rifling or am I stuck with it? I haven't tried shooting it, yet, but the rifling is very flat (for lack of a better term)
No.
You can't remove metal to improve the performance of a barrel in the manner you describe. If your barrel's rifling is really worn out, the way to fix it is to REPLACE the barrel, something that's simply not cost effective with a $100 Mosin Rifle at this time. IE, nobody makes drop in replacement barrels at this time, so to replace one would require custom fabrication and installation. That can be done, but it will cost several times what the rifle itself cost!
If you're rifling LOOKS flat, its possible that all the grooves are full of grime, and a good scrubbing will fix things. But its certainly possible your barrel is just worn down. . .lots of these Mosins have worn out/corroded barrels from lack of care after use with corrosive ammo.
That's typical, but as Rufe says, sometimes even with absolutely lousy rotten barrels, the guns will still shoot OK. I'd say give this thing a real good cleaning, then take it to the range and see how it does. If it really shoots like crap, sell it and use the money you get to buy another one.
Incidentally, there is (or was) a whole open thread on this topis just recently, you can read more here:
http://forums.GunBroker.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=610048
Edit, responding to below:
Yes, you can drill out a barrel into a LARGER caliber, if you like, and it is possible to do this with Mosin Nagant rifles. . .IIRC some people have successfully rechambered them into .45-70.
But this isn't what the original poster was asking about. You can't drill out a rifle's bore into the SAME caliber! Now, in some cases its possible to drill out a worn barrel and then re-sleeve it with an insert that effectively provides a new bore. Don't know of anyone who has done this with a Mosin, but I suppose its at least possible to do it.
Big issue is that though these things "can" be done, its not really cost effective to do them on $100-200 rifles! From a practical/economic perspective, again, if yours doesn't shoot well, the simplest/cheapest thing to do is just find another one that shoots better.0 -
I have a shot out 256 Newton rifle barrel. Some day I hope to ream it out and re rifle it to 7mm. It will become a 7mm-06 instead of a 6.5mm-06.
Look at the crown on you rifle first. Examine the pattern left on it after shooting several rounds. JB bore paste is good stuff, so is Shooter's Choice.
Really old spam can ammo that has seen 50 years of varied storage conditions might not shoot that good of groups in any rifle.0 -
The grooves are full of a hard, waxy preservative grease. They would melt the stuff and dunk the entire rifle in it.
Just shoot it. The service ammo is supposed to be a little on the mild side and the pressure shouldn't be too high, especially if you've been cleaning it and most of the grease is out.
Have you been using the supplied brush? I don't think it's stiff enough to scrape out cosmoline. If you really gotta clean it, buy a brass brush and rod and use something like WD40 or kerosene for a solvent. Whatever cuts grease. If you've been using a brass brush, have the bristles taken on a swept back, tapered look? They may not be stiff enough to scrape the stuff out of the grooves.
The ends of a barrel wear out but there should still be good rifling in most of it. There's no way it's worn out.
Many of the Soviet Union's 7.62x25 submachineguns used half of an old M1891 barrel because the rifling in the middle should still be good.
There was a company in Bensenville, IL which drilled and rifled barrels to a new, larger caliber but I think they're gone and it's now illegal to destroy a rifled barrel. Oh, and the price was $250.0 -
I think most of the replies are a good fit for you. Find something that will dissolve/soften the hardened wax/grease, get it out, and shoot it.
I have had a few. I passed one to my boys to use when we go shooting. They shoot spam can mil-surp on the 100 yard mark....at a 36" gong. They smile 'till their shoulder gets sore. The very worst throat I've seen had an exterior refurbished and found it to handle a 3 way bulb just fine.
Given the buckets of advice you have, how can you go wrong ?
ENJOY !0 -
Well, its mostly worn at the throat and muzzle. There's still visible rifling,its just the lands are kind of flat. The center of the bore has great lands and is shiny. It has been counterbored, also. So, it probably will shoot good, I'm just not sure. This is my first m44. 0 -
I did clean the s**t out of it and gave up after 2hrs of brushing n running patches thru it. I was still getting dirty patches out when I stopped. It a 45'm44 and its in great condition as far as the bluing and stock. The action works great, all matching #s. So, I'm hoping the throat n muzzle lands wont be an issue. Thanks for all the great advice, guys 0 -
quote:Originally posted by SoreShoulder
There was a company in Bensenville, IL which drilled and rifled barrels to a new, larger caliber but I think they're gone and it's now illegal to destroy a rifled barrel. Oh, and the price was $250.
I've never heard that one. Is that a state law or a federal law? Very curious. [:)]0 -
A cheap cleaning technique that will not hurt you or the rifle, and will not cause relatives to berate you for making the house all stinky-
Visit Dollar store. Look for a tube of Goop. Orange based hand cleaner. Remove bolt. Coat a bronze bore brush with a healthy dollop of goop. About 25 full passes thru the bore from the breech.
Use the cheap funnel you got at the dollar store, pour a quart of HOT water thru the bore. Let drain. Wash bore brush under hot water. Then repeat. Let drain, heat will make it dry rather quickly. Check bore, hit it with a lightly oiled patch, and see how it look now.
Hey- it's 2 bucks, and the Goop smells like oranges.0
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