Mosin Nagant 91/30 Scope Setup
Hey guys I've been thinking about getting a scope for my 91/30 for quite some time now, and I finally decided to act on it. To be honest though I don't know where to start and was hoping you guys could help me out. I'm sending my bolt in to get it bent. I know I'll need to get the rifle tapped so I can mount a scope on it, I don't want to get one of the scopes that you put in place of the Rear sight. I was wondering if anyone had any info about getting the rifle tapped and what not. The scope I'm planning on getting is the Leupold Mark 4. I included a link to the scope below. I was wondering when getting it tapped, do I need to take it into the gun smith with the scope and tell him I would like to get it tapped and mounted to the rifle? Or is there a standard procedure when drilling/tapping a 91/30? Sorry for the questions I'm just not exactly sure where to start with this project and any help would be greatly appreciated!
http://www.leupold.com/tactical/products/scopes/mark-4-lrt-riflescopes/mark-4-3-5-10x40mm-lrt-m3/
http://www.leupold.com/tactical/products/scopes/mark-4-lrt-riflescopes/mark-4-3-5-10x40mm-lrt-m3/
0
-
Split receiver means this won't take a standard scope mount.
You have to use a side scope mount (which is how the Russians did it), a cantilevered scope off the front of the receiver or rear sight, or a "scout" setup off the rear sight.
The latter is by far the easiest option, though not necessarily the most satisfactory, depending on what exactly you want to do with the gun.
Here's my Russian M44 with SK scope mount and 2x Leupold pistol scope. The SK mount cost about $75, but its absolutely rock solid, and IMO worth every cent. No drill or tap necessary for installation.
0 -
I was planning on using the 91/30 for the platform, but with that scope setup accuracy and what not isn't hindered? When I was doing research alot of folks had quite a bit of respect for this rifle's accuracy saying that people have been known to take shots at 900 yards or further.. I'm just wondering with the scope set on the rear mount if the precision accuracy is affected opposed to using a scope mounted off to the side of the receiver. 0 -
I didn't really answer your first question. If you have a gunsmith in mind, simply talk to him and tell you what you want to do. He'll tell you what parts you need to get, or he'll source them for you. Any gunsmith worthy of the title ought to be able to handle this job with minimal trouble.
Note that a proper side mount requires not only drilling and tapping the side of the receiver, and bending the bolt, but probably also relieving some wood from the side of the stock. I should mention that "some" people think you shouldn't "deface" historical artefacts like Mosin rifles by drilling them or otherwise irreversibly altering them. My take on this is that with literally something like 14 million of these made, with many having sewer-pipe like bores, I don't think its a big loss to world history to alter them.
91/30 and M44 are effectively the exact same rifle, just that the M44 has a folding bayonet (which I removed) and a slightly shorter barrel.
To address the second response, Mosin Nagant rifles *can* be accurate, but that assumes the bore is good (not a safe assumption since many/most of these have nasty corroded bores and worn muzzles), the barrel is floated or bedded properly, the trigger is good, and you're using good ammo (not cheap military surplus ball ammo). While its *possible* that your stock rifle out of the box will be like this, I wouldn't bet on it. Even if its possible to turn one of these guns into a fairly accurate mid or long range shooter, doesn't mean it will be cost-effective to do so.
I'd just say that if you're interested in what might be termed "serious" accuracy, you can get a nice Savage .308 or .30-06 for under $300, and this will not only probably be more intrinsically accurate than 90%+ of these surplus Moisins right out of the box, but it will have a better trigger, better ergonomics, and make scope mounting trivial. It can still be a fun project, but unless you're going to do most of the work yourself, once you start adding up the costs of bending bolts, drilling and tapping, trigger jobs, free floating, proper stock, etc, it doesn't really pay to try and upgrade a cheap stock milsurp rifle into a "sniper" gun.
A proper scout scope setup doesn't "hinder" accuracy; again, that's a function of the gun itself (including barrel and trigger) and shooter. Assuming you get a proper base the scout scope setup should be rock solid, with the scope being whatever quality you put on there. The limiting factors with a scout setup are low magnification, and narrow field of view. Basically the setup is good for fast/short range shooting NOT distant shooting.
In my case I wanted a cheap durable gun for hunting at 150 yards or less, and this is perfect for that. To my way of thinking, the 2x scope is a *lot* better than the stock iron sights, and that's all I really wanted.
In terms of where you mount the scope, in *theory* a low receiver mount should be the most conducive to accuracy, and all else being equal, if you "can" do that, you probably should.
In practice, I think you can still get excellent accuracy with a good solid side mount.0 -
Howdy debarbarian,
First upon first question should be-- before getting into modifies and an expensive scope, you may ask yourself if your 91/30 shoots honest tight groups already with the iron sights? Even with these old, tired work horses, is not un-heard of, yet far the norm, as what beantown points out. All I'm saying, is the basic proven platform needs to be there in place, or not much will be gained nor to be expected as far as long range accuracy.
"... alot of folks had quite a bit of respect for this rifle's accuracy saying that people have been known to take shots at 900 yards or further." Well, yes, only which people fired these long shots? In battle or a cozy bench-rest at a favorite shooting range? And, were achieved with one shot--one hit, or multiple shots fired to get a hit, as often in war???
Remember too, armies took production rifles of best proven accuracy and made these into sniper rifles. And, out of shear survival, the WW-2 Red Army produced some of the best ever sniper personal, using the 91/30, and many who were women, by the way.
Regardless, sounds like a neat project and wish success. Myself, if could throw an idear out to you, just because I like the 91/30 and it's history there of, and could not afford an original, would look to taking a good shooter and building in respect to coming close as can to an original Rusky sniper.
EDIT gruntled, and sorry debarbarian for getting off a bit your topic: "Just saw one at a local Big 5. They claim it is an original sniper rifle. Asking price is $699. Is that high, low?"...
Without seeing, can't say. Most doubtful though,(100%!), despite advertising, that they are all original sniper rifles, but merely an importers slapped together pipe-dream of run-of-the-mill $90.00 91/30's with a copy-cat scope/mount set up. Of which plenty can be found and cheaper than $700. Which goes with my idear of pieceing one together cheaper just for the fun of it.
Longtime time experience with Big-5 stores have found they know much about soccer balls and baseball bats, but little, usually, about firearms. Still, worth picking through if you do your homework, as one example when years ago picked up a handful of excellent Enfield No-4 Mk-2's at very fair prices, watching their sales ads.
45er0 -
Just saw one at a local Big 5. They claim it is an original sniper rifle. Asking price is $699. Is that high, low? 0 -
DerBarbarian....since you are going to have the bolt bent like a Russian sniper, why not go the Russian way and go with a PU 3.5 scope? That way you would not have to tap the barrel and would have the look of a true Russian sniper. Now, the real deal PU is a bit expensive but I think well worth it. The key is the quality of your barrel but if you have a good one then a PU scope might fit the bill. I have one and love it! Lots of Germans met their maker with that little setup. Good luck! 0
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
6 comments