MN 91/30 accuracy problem

[dewingrm]

Greetings. I recieved a 91/30 in a trade a few days ago. The barrel looked pretty good with very crisp rifling after thorough cleaning. I went out to shoot it yesterday and I couldn't hit the broad side of the barn. I started shooting at 50yds and couldn't hit a 2x2' piece of wood, so I moved to 25yds and still couldn't hit it. Then I became desperate and moved to 10yds and finally was making hits. One of the hits on the piece of wood looked rather large, upon further inspection the bullet had key holed or hit sideways.

I inspected the barrel but could not see anything wrong with the rifling. It actually looks a lot better then some of my other milsurp rifles. Any ideas on whats going on or how this problem could be remedied?

I'm not sure if it matters but the ammo I was using was Wolf and Albanian milsurp.

[brentwal]

Check the muzzle crown for damage, but it sounds like an oversize bore, MN made during WWII can sometimes have this problem. Have a smith size the bore, some people use cast bullets of the right size and have great shoters after that.

Brent

[dewingrm]

Brent, you may be on to something since I can't see any crown damage and the rifling is very crisp and clean. My 91/30 is dated 1941 so it would fall into a WWII produced rifle. I have a feeling this MN might just become a wall hanger. I don't really want to cast bullets for it right now, maybe later down the line. Thanks for the info.

[sharpshooter]

Ask the jerk who you traded with. I can't imagine why it would keyhole like that unless the barrel is not original. Has it been replaced?

As far as being on paper, some MN's shoot really high with certain types of ammo, or wide if the bayo is not attatched. My 91/30 shoots about 14" high and 8" wide at 100 yards with iron sights. It's currently scoped, and some day I'll correct the iron sights.

[dewingrm]

I'm pretty sure the guy that traded with me did not have any idea that there was a problem with the rifle since it was still in the cosmo and had plenty of old gunk in the barrel. The barrel is original but it did not come with a bayonet so I can't try it with a bayo attached. I'm going to try it with different ammo next weekend to see if I can get better results. If not, no big deal, just another reason to buy another 91/30. ;f

It really did surprise me though. I've never had a problem with any of my other C&R rifles. Thanks for the replies.