Re: Mosin-Nagant . . .
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: kortik</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Joop</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Killer Spade 13</div><div class="ubbcode-body">OK, I'm posting this here because so many people have gotten the hots for the MN after seeing the movie "Enemy at the Door" or what the heck it was.
The manager of the store at which I work part time has one. 1942 vintage. He's been dying to shoot it for years. Take him down to the hunting club range. Can't even hit a "Garage Sale" placard at 25 meters with the sight set on 100m.
Don't know if it's the ammo, the rifle or both. Bless his heart, he was so deflated with his expectations. Now this is shooting with iron sights and some old ammunition that have cases of an olive drab color.
The frowns were changed to smiles when they started shooting build, however.
Really, this thing must be shooting 2 feet high at 100m with the sight set at the 100m mark.
Ya get what ya pay for. . . </div></div>
Just curious; are you making a statement, or looking for advice? That would be the worst shooting Mosin I've ever heard of, by a long shot. Could be several factors involved, but to not be able to hit a sign that size at 25 meters is a sign of something seriously wrong and I don't think it's the design of the rifle or even the ammunition. </div></div>
When "store manager" having no practical shooting time gets hold of MN, may it be possibly considered as "something seriously wrong"?
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It could be, but I wasn't trying to suggest that. I don't know the shooter's general level of experience or proficiency, so I would leave that out of the equation, for now.
The first thing I would check, would be the bore, as mentioned. Any surplus rifle is susceptible to damage from corrosion, improper cleaning methods, or it could just be worn out, plain and simple. Also, Mosins are commonly found with counterbored muzzles. Generally, this isn't an issue, but I have seen a couple that were messed up and not the best shooters, as a result. By "messed up and not the best shooters", I'm talking 4-5 inch groups at 100 yards, which is about double what I would consider "average" for these guns, if properly assembled.
Next, I would check the action screws. This is another common problem with many milsurps, especially Mosins. If the gun sat in a safe for several years, I can pretty much guarantee that the action screws aren't as tight as they should be. I would tighten them (front one first), then fire a five round group and check them again. You'll likely be able to get a little more out of them once the action is seated.
After that, I would be looking at the trigger. Again, most of the refurbs (assuming this one is a refurb, but probably shouldn't ASSume!) have less than stellar triggers. These guns were thrown together from parts with little/no attention to fine tuning like they would have had, originally. The triggers/sears are easy to improve and this topic has been discussed here before, as well as a million other places on the net.
As for the sights, most of these were sighted with the bayonet fixed, which will shift the POI, especially in the horizontal. It's common for them to shoot to the right when it's not attached. I would drift the front sight to correct this, unless you plan on shooting with the bayonet all the time. The elevation can vary. Most, but not all, will shoot high and that will vary from rifle to rifle and, of course, with various types/origins of ammo.
I wouldn't dream of grinding anything until all the above has been sorted out. Even then, unless I knew that I was going to be shooting a specific lot of ammo for the rest of the rifle's life, I wouldn't even think of grinding anything. Usually, I can use a six o'clock hold at 100m and, possibly, depending on the load, a center hold out to about 300m. Or, just put the rear sight up to 3 and go back to the 6 o'clock hold, again. I just had a '43 Izhevsk out the other day and was using this method on water jugs and even clay pigeons at 240 yards, offhand. From the bench, I can hit jugs at 400 yards without too much trouble and all of this using surplus Russian light ball. However, I shoot them on a regular basis, so YMMV.
Yeah, you get what you pay for....and so much more! But, like pretty much any other rifle, unless you do a little research first, you may not be aware of the quirks of that system. I have an M1 Garand that was nothing special (read: horrible) when I first shot it. Maybe it was junk, too? Nope. I took the time to learn about it and practice with it and now it shoots 2 MOA or better with pretty much anything I feed it. The Mosin is no different.
