mosin nagant accuracy
I have a 1930 tula hex reciever mosin with good looking bore in good conditon but i cant seem to hit anything is there anyway its the sights or a certain amount of yards its more accurate at
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There are some MN that give great accuracy, some don't. The problem was the quality control was average at best in the MN factories. Bore range from .308 to .318. Also it depends on the crown of the barrel. And ammo plays a big part. In part they are a great buy and if you find one that shoots great Even Better! 0 -
Set-up a 4 Ft.x 4 Ft. piece of cardboard at 25 yards. Shoot 5 rounds and see where it hits, high, low, left or right. Also see how it groups. You should be able to group your shots under an inch or two with a rest. Adjust the sights then move back to 50 yards and repeat the routine.
Finally, do the same again at 100 yards. With quality ammo and a solid rest you should be able to shoot 3 shot groups of 4-8 inches. The Mosin-Nagants are military rifles and aren't tack drivers. I have some that will consistantly shoot 3-4 inch 100 yard groups with iron sights. I also have a few that won't group better than a foot, even on a good day.0 -
Loose action screws? Does the forend rattle a bit around the barrel or does it fit snugly?
How's the rifling in the very end of the muzzle? That and the very beginning of the rifling is the part of the barrel that wear out. See how far you can stick a bullet into the muzzle. If you can stick a loaded cartridge point first into the muzzle until the mouth of the case touches the barrel, then the barrel is shot out. Also if it sticks a bit on its way out.0 -
A few points:
-Shooting with iron sights is hard. Shooting with 19th century Russian designed iron sights is harder. A simple "scout" setup with a low magnification scope or even red dot can help here.
-Typical surplus 7.62x54R ammo isn't all that accurate.
-Lots of Mosins have heavy gritty triggers; that doesn't help either.
-Free floating the barrel can help.0 -
Also ammo plays a great part in how they shoot. I own several and have learned most shoot light ball the best but I have one 91/30 that is a tack driver at a 100 yrds but only with heavy ball 0 -
I have a 91/30 from 1943 that is extremely accurate. On most any day it will make 5 shot groups of 3" or less at 100 yards. One day (never before and not again since) I shot a 5 shot group of just under 2" . I couldn't believe it and tried again...exactly 2". The amazing part is that this was with surplus light ball. The rifle loves the stuff. I can't do better than about 3" with my own handloads.
This is in stark contrast to the first one I had. With a pitted barrel and a bad crown (bought it online, so couldn't inspect before) it would barely keep rounds on a 2' square target backing at only 50 yards...high, low, left, right, you never knew where it would hit.0 -
You said a "good looking bore in good condition", so I take that to mean a bore that is not corroded, throat-eroded, or excessively worn at the muzzle from improper cleaning.
I've slugged several dozen Mosin barrels that were either bright, or had a slight dullness. These were both pre-war and wartime rifles. The bores ran .300" and .301", with only one at .302", and the grooves in these barrels all measured .312" or .313". Two of the guns were original unused snipers, and one of these was the .302/.313 gun. Both of the snipers shot into 1.5 MOA, rested, 5 shots, with military ball, as did one of the infantry rifles. Russian quality control seems to have been pretty stringent, as none of the infantry Mosins with a properly fitted stock and a good bore shot over 2 MOA.
Guns with rough (but not horrible) bores (that were not slugged) would usually shoot about 4 MOA, sometimes better. But when an ill-fitting stock was added to the equation, the groups would open to as much as 17 MOA, much overriding any barrel condition.
What shakes out of all of this, is that a properly fitting stock in any weapon, but especially in guns like the very long-stocked Mosin, is critical. Any warpage which causes uneven bearing on the barrel, will exacerbate as the barrel heats and expands against the wood, changing the point of impact.0 -
the stock foregrip like to shake itself loose every now and then , could that be a big factor 0 -
The hand guard wood coming loose is common, make sure the retainer spring in the stock moves freely, and sometimes you have to bend it out a little to make good contact with the barrel band.
A loose action screw is usually the culprit with bad groups.
One that escaped a re-arsenal may have a worn muzzle and crown from a Russian farmer being over zealous with the steel cleaning rod.
Every Mosin has it's own preference of milsurp ammo.
With the sights at the lowest setting, it's going to shoot at least 4-6" high at 100yrds. Battle sights, theory = aim at the belt buckle for a center mass hit.
Anytime I have a new to me Mosin, (which is frequently, it's a sickness)[B)] after cleaning, it gets evaluated for accuracy. I remove the bands, handguard, and cleaning rod. Loosen the action screws, tighten down the front one, then the back one, then it goes to the range without the parts I removed.
Test ammo is lightball, Russian, Polish or Hungarian. Two targets at 50yrds, sandbag rest, 5 shots slow fire at one target, reload and rapid fire at the other.
If I'm not getting at least a 4" group on the first one, I know I already have problems. If I get a 4" or less group, and I'm spraying rounds all over the second target, it's usually a barrel bedding problem.
91/30's have long barrels, lots of harmonics in play there. Free floating can make things better or worse, but it's where you start.
Use a dowel or a deep well socket about the same diameter as the barrel, wrap a piece of 80 grit sandpaper around it. Work the full length of the barrel channel, blow the dust out, and bolt the action back in tight, front screw first. Don't worry about the handguard and bands, we'll get to that later.
Take a dollar bill, half wrap around the barrel holding the two ends of the bill straight up and tight. Slide it down the barrel all the way to the action, if it hangs up, mark that spot on the stock with a soft lead pencil, and hit that spot again with the sandpaper, repeat until the bill freely slides all the way down. Your barrel is now free floated.
The barrel channel in the stock is now bare wood, open to moisture and you don't want to have to do this again, so it needs to be sealed. I wipe a coat of TruOil on the bare wood, let it set for 5 mins, and wipe off all excess.
Now you have to float the barrel from the handguard. Talk the neighbor kid out of some of his Play-Doh. Roll up long thin strings, lay them the length of the handguard down the top of the barrel. Carefully set the handguard in position and hold down firmly where the bands sit. lift it up without disturbing the Play-Doh strings.
Where it's smashed the thinnest, is where you need to use the sandpaper again. Clean all the strings out and repeat until they barely smash. Clean it up again, use the TruOil in the handguard channel, and put it back together. You're ready for a trip back to the range.
Groups should tighten up, if they don't and the shots start to string out, you need a barrel pressure point to dampen harmonics. Do this with two pieces of felt about 3 times the thickness of that dollar bill. Just thick enough to apply pressure on the barrel when the handguard is banded on. One piece in the stock channel, and one above it in the handguard channel. The ends should be about 1/16 to 1/8" below the top edge of the channel, and placed about 3" back from the front end of the handguard. I've used electrical tape for the same effect when I couldn't find my piece of felt.
Sounds like a lot of work, but the results are worth it, and it usually takes less time to do, than it took me to type this.[:)]0
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