Mosin Nagant 91/30 questions.

[CrimsonTrace23]

I am looking to get one of these rifles but I was troubled that the ones on AIM surplus. In the description it says they where shot with corrosive ammo. I was wondering how much this effects accuracy and barrel life. I know they are cheap ass hell, but I would like to atleast the best one I can for under $120. Any help would be great thanks.

[chowchow]

Might try Classicarms.us. Ask the owner if he can take a look of the bore . I would personally pick one with hex receiver and in laminated stocks. They are very affordable this time. Mine shoots really great.

[El_Ron1]

Go pick one out at a Big 5. $90...Corrosive ammunition was/is a fact of life with these and many other surplus rifles. Much ado about not much.

[aaronrkelly]

I am looking to get one of these rifles but I was troubled that the ones on AIM surplus. In the description it says they where shot with corrosive ammo. I was wondering how much this effects accuracy and barrel life. I know they are cheap ass hell, but I would like to atleast the best one I can for under $120. Any help would be great thanks.

Being shot with corrosive ammo has nothing to do with barrel life or accuracy.

Being shot with corrosive ammo and not properly cleaned has a bit to do with it. If it was cleaned properly you will look down the barrel and see nothing out of the ordinary.......if it wasnt expect some pitting.

I have some that are flawless, others that exhibit some pitting - they dont shoot much, if any, different in my hands. If the pitting isnt to severe I wouldnt be concerned.

I still shoot corrosive ammo in them, as well as my M1 Garand and a few other rifles.......just clean them correctly and your good to go.

Remember when these rifles were made and in service ALL ammo was corrosive.

[Grayhawk]

It's a safe bet to consider all WWII ammunition and before corrosive. I have collected many Mosins and still fire surplus ammunition in them. I clean them with a solution of 50% water and 50% ammonia. I generously swap the barrel and bolt face, leave it on for about a minute, then clean with a off the shelf bore cleaner.
When I first receive a surplus firearm...I clean the bore with Sweet's bore shine. I use a stainless bore brush. Remember you are removing copper along with other residue. The copper content in a standard bronze bore brush is contradictive. I sort of scrub the bore with the brush. Pitting is common, but as the other gentleman said, it doesn't always effect accuracy. Keep in mind, these are military rifles and your most likely not going to get 1" MOA. The Japanese use to urinate through the bore to neutralize corrosive salts. The corrosive salts come from the primer not the powder.
To find the year of manufacture of the action, take the barreled action out of the stock and look under the tang for a date. Also, when shooting the rifle most military rifles are bore sighted at 200 meters. If you are target shooting at 100 meters/yards you may have trouble hitting the bullseye without adjustment.
The information may be more than you want to know, but I am confident you will really like to shoot these rifles.
Grayhawk

[Grayhawk]

Sorry, I believe that was "Butch's Bore Shine".

[alwayshear]

I guess that kinda gives a whole new meaning to "shoot the piss out of it!"

[Thick45]

I have a Mosin-Nagant 91/30 Sniper Rifle. It has an excellent bore, and all of the ammunition I shoot in it is corrossive. However, I simply clean the way Grayhawk does, and it is a non-issue.

Get one and enjoy it!

[eddief4]

the mosins are great guns.

[FullClip]

As kind of a joke I picked up two Mosin 44s for me and my buddy just looking at how good they looked on the outside...too much goop in the barrel to check the bore. 85 bucks each and the dealer threw in the slings, oiler bottles and clip pouches. My buddy was always blaming me beating him shooting on me having better (more $$$) guns.

Flipped a coin to decide who got which gun, heads meant he got lower serial number.

Cleaned guns....his bore was pretty good, mine looked like it was a model of a Moon-scape with a bad case of acne.

Took them out to the pit and sighted them in with crappy surplus ammo. No differance between the two although I still out shoot him, with my rifle or his!!

We're talking 100 yard targets here and can keep most of them in the black shooting prone or off a make-shift bench.

Don't think that the bore condition is all that important with the Mosins for accuracy unless you can do your part or are talking real benchrest stuff. But they are hard to beat for shear muzzle blast!


Get a Mosin and shoot the heck out of it. Don't expect it to be a varmit rifle, but even with a crappy bore, I wouldn't want some Ruskkie taking pot shots at me with my Model 44. Have shot with some guys with real nice units that are impressive, but believe that it's 90% shooter and 10% rifle in those cases.

[Tim13]

A few things:

1) The M44 that you are considering buying has been fed corrosive ammo it's whole life, as has every other Mosin out there.

2) Buy the surplus ammo now while it's still relatively cheap i.e. twenty cents a round.

3) After you buy it, just clean it at the range when your done....or not. They are dirt cheap, and if you wreck this one, you can replace it for $70. The price on the M44's will only go down as the price of ammo increases due to the current ATF form 6 import rejections on surplus ammunition.

Bottom line is get it, get some ammo, and get some Aspercreme for your shoulder.

Tim

[Rocknropes]

I have a Mosin-Nagant 91/30 Sniper Rifle. It has an excellent bore, and all of the ammunition I shoot in it is corrossive. However, I simply clean the way Grayhawk does, and it is a non-issue.

Get one and enjoy it!

is it the original RUssian PU or PE sniper? how accurate is it? I've always wanted one of these but am not sure how accurate they REALLY are. do tell.

[Decguns]

I've sold several hundred Mosins in the shop over the years and own several dozen myself. Of the current batch on the market, bores vary from excellent to rough & pitted. Most have some "frost" in the bore often referred to as "salt & pepper" pitting. As long as the rifling is strong, it'll shoot OK.

The leading result of corrosive ammo on all surplus military rifles is corrosion at the muzzle. This is why so many Mosins on the market have been counter bored (the last few inches of the rifling drilled out). This has little effect on accuracy if done correctly.

Even with a perfect bore, a Mosin may prove to be inaccurate. As WWII dragged on, the equipment used to make barrels wore down and tolerances began to vary widely. You'll encounter bores with grooves ranging from .308" to .313", which can prove problematic in the accuracy department. The nominal groove size is .310" as is the standard diameter of Com-Bloc 54R ammo.

All surplus Com-Bloc 7.62X54R ammo is corrosive. Warm/hot water has always been the best way to remove the corrosive deposits. Even Hoppe's #9 does quite well if used liberally (it was made specifically for corrosive ammo clean up--contrary to popular belief it doesn't work). Buy it, shoot it, and enjoy it. They're great rifles!