Something a 'lil different...

[Wannashootit]

Since I know everyone's tired of looking at the same old precision action builds...

Most agree that the barrel is the most important component of an accurate rifle, and I'll present this one as some empirical evidence. I enjoy building rifles off the Mosin-Nagant action; "crude", you bet. Bolt on most rattles like a bearing in a tin can. But, long before Savage introduced the Model 110, Mosin and Nagant designed a bolt with a floating bolthead way back in 1891. IMHO, this feature compensates for the sloppy bolt and minor misalignments in the same way as the modern designs. The Finns knew long ago that ditching the crude Russian barrels and replacing them with their own would produce an accurate rifle, and did this regularly with many built for Sniper training (the TKIV-85 is still used as a DM rifle) and comps.

With "generic" handloads this one did quite well- .311 McGowen blank chambered in 54r (most reloaders go with a .300/.308 barrel for obvious reasons)- and sent to LRI for fluting (awesome job). Suppressor ready with AAC 90t hider.

It won't win any benchrest competitions, but it is a very accurate rifle for the customer that wanted "something different". Vortex HS sits atop. Yes, just as with the Mauser- screw on a quality barrel, and it will shoot.

Moral to the story.... don't skimp on your barrel, or the optic.

Flame suit on, for the inevitable "can't put lipstick on a pig" comments


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[BurnOut]

That's really cool... I too have an appreciation for alternative methods to skin the cat.

You should be able to win a lot of shooting range bets with that thing... "I'll bet you $20 that I can shoot an MOA-sized group with my Mosin."

 

[steve123]

That's a very cool modernization!

The older I get the more I look at things differently.

I used to despise MN's, inaccurate, ugly, poor craftsmanship on the cruder examples, etc, then the day came I decided to try one because my new friends were shooting old rifles in friendly competitions.

It took me a while to figure out the 4-5" groups at 100Y with cheap bulk mil surp ammo was solely because of the ammo. The first reload attempt turned in 1.5" groups which is about as good as I can see with those irons anyway. Though I left the rifle alone to shoot it like it is.

Ha, I have a $1600 custom action that has a heavy-ish bolt lift. The ancient MN, and the Mannlicher Schoenauer, have an assisted bolt open feature that I think is just a neat thing, when you get 9/10's to open it snaps open almost by itself. It's almost 2018 and why we don't see as a common feature, self assisted opening actions, seems odd.

The MS I have is easily as smooth as any modern action if not more so, really it's just a well made MN action that's slightly different.

I know a guy that builds custom MN's too. His groups looked just like yours. It was his rifles that got me thinking the old MN isn't too bad afterall.

 

[Ledzep]

Just curious, any truing done to the receiver?

Ever since I spent the better part of a year working at a precision rifle shop, I gave up on "blueprinting" as a necessity ALWAYS. Glad to see someone step out of the box. I've been tempted to try this myself but don't have the spare funds to throw at it.

The other one I'd like to try is a $350 Ruger American with a PVA prefit in a Magpul or Boyds stock. I have the feeling it's a recipe for a (cheap) hammer.

 

[atomic41]

Now that is very cool! Nice work!

 

[Red_SC]

I have several of those turds still. I should rebarrel one for my Vietnam vet uncle, he would get a kick out of that. I may have to think about that...

 

[IanHusaberg]

Bad Ass!! Nice paint job. Looks like a real shooter. Who care what everyone else says. Your the one who is happy. I'm sure it cost a pretty penny to get to that state. Doesn't look like you could do any else to make it better?

Tell us about the trigger, aftermarket or massaged original?

 

[stello1001]

I think it's a really good outcome. Good job on it, and the paint job looks good. Those look like the exact same colors I bought to paint my howa. Do you have any more pics of it? You should really post up.

 

[Wannashootit]

Thanks, gentlemen. I don't post many pics, seems kinda braggadocious to me...but I'll add a few more.
The customer loved it, all I care about. The Cerakote camo was his color scheme, the stencils were hand-cut because I couldn't find any commercially available ones to match the "make it look like this" pic he sent. Simple, OD Green. FDE, Graphite Black airbrushed on the stencils.

Quickly answering the other questions...
Timney trigger, of course. I don't generally do it on customer bolts for liability reasons, but on mine I've modified the "brick" of a cocking piece that holds the FP to reduce weight and lock time because the Timney has the side safety, negating the need to use the cocking piece for a safety.

The stock is from Pro Mag, personally not a fan of polymer stocks, and I'll admit I was surprised at the initial accuracy with a generic handload and no bedding of the action. Must be fitting well, I needed to mill a lot of material out of the forend to free-float the barrel, then filled most solid with epoxy to stiffen it back up to keep if from flexing excessively with the bull barrel.

Truing...sometimes, not always- but not fully. I haven't yet single-pointed a receiver, and installed an "oversize" barrel.
Yes to receiver face, and the recoil block on the bottom of the receiver is never square/parallel to the bottom and sides of the receiver. A few minutes in the mill to square it up, solves that.
Finishing up a fixture for lapping the lugs, usually have good contact because it floats, and not needed.

Working on a user-replaceable barrel nut system to make rebarreling these as simple as Savage/Remage (I think I've got the extractor timing problem figgered out) for those that want to DIY.

Couple more pics as requested:

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Another one, this has the original Tula barrel which was in excellent condition.

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