Nagant Range Report

[jmayton]

Well, if you've read any of the posts here you'll know I'm a bit defensive about my Mosin Nagant M44 with it's cheapo Ebay scout mount and scope.  I just got back from the range and it hadn't lost it's zero and it grouped 1.75 inches (3 rounds) at 100yds with Wolf 200gr ammo.  I certainly can't complain.

[1911crazy]

That sounds ok you did good. Is that with the soft point ammo?  I have a few boxes of the barnaul 204gr soft point back when it was only $4 a box of 20. I'm sure that the 200grs will be great for hunting anything.  Shooting 1.75 groups @ 100yds sounds good to me with an M44. I think thats dam good.....

[jmayton]

I'm certainly pleased.  it's the Silver Bear 203gr softpoint. 

[Jagguy]

Is that with the bayonet extended? My M44 shoots 18" to the left at 100 yards but dead on with the bayonet extended. Took me a while to figure out why I was hitting the other guys target!
-g

[jmayton]

I've removed the bayonet...but the lug is still there.

[30-30man]

If your 44 will group less than 2", you have something special. I'm not saying you're fibbing, I have just never seen one do it. I've read how everyone who bought one of these $69 rifles managed to get MOA or better so I took the plunge several times..  I've bought at least six 91/30s and never got any better than 4-6".  Most of the ones I had could not do better than 5".  I've tried all the tricks found around the net and still no dice.  All of mine had really good bores too.  I bedded, recrowned,tried the cork under the barrel trick, and even did a trigger mod with no results. I use a clamped rest when I sight in, so I know I wasn't pulling.  They look so cool with a scope mounted, I really wish I could get one of mine to shoot.  I've given up on them as hunting rifles I'm afraid.  It's not just the Mosin, I've had poor luck with a couple of Yugo mauser too.  Good luck with yours, I'm jelous.

[Brithunter]

Hi There,

     The trouble I found with the Mosin Nagant is getting decent ammo. I brought a 1953 Radom made M44 that was brand new/unissued some years ago,many year ago as I sold it several years ago. When we brought them we also got 1,000 rounds of Russian green laquered light ball ammo and that ammunition was accurate. Hitting a 2" post at 200 yards was fairly easy so they can be accurate it depends on how they had been treated and what you feed them. Oh that Russian ammo had 0.308 bullets in it

[jmayton]

I haven't shot anything but the Russian ammo in it...mainly because that's all I've found.  I thought about getting a few boxes of Wolf Gold so that I can have some reusable brass and then loading my own.  But I can't reload it as cheap as I can buy it, plus it shoots good enough as is considering the condition of the gun, so I don't think I'd see a huge increase in accuracy by shooting handloads.  But I would like to get my hands on some better quality factory ammo and see how it shoots.

[WILD_WEASEL]

Hello,

I'm on my second M44, as the first one I bought would only group at 3" using 150gr .312 Hornady SP, IMR4350, andWLR primer, handloads.  Anything else would be hopelessly scattered all over the target at 50 yards.  My second M44 has more potential, after a quick cleaning it shoots consistently into 3" with anything I ran through it at 50 yards, including some 60 year old Bulgarian.  Since then I have used a homemade electric bore cleaner to remove some really nasty crud and free floated the barrel to an inch from the tip of the stock.  When arsenal “reconditioned” the cocking piece was buffed to the point of removing most of the knurling, so I replaced it with an “as new” one I picked up at a gun show for $6.00.  Wow, that did wonders for the trigger pull!  I’ll let you know how she shoots after my next trip to Angeles Shooting Range in the next week or two.  If I can get it to shoot consistently into 4” to 6” at 100 meters I’ll be happy.

[jmayton]

Weasel, sounds great.  I want to get one of those cocking pieces with the ring welded to it so the safety is easier to use.  As for accuracy, any m44 that groups 4 inches or less at 100 is a great shooter.  I just happened to have a good day with mine.  It's usually in the 2"-3" range.

[WILD_WEASEL]

At around $100 Mosin Nagants are still cheep enough to own and shoot a few until you find one your happy with.  Sold my first M44 at a gun show for what I paid for it, so I'm not out anything and used the cash to buy a sealed tin of Bulgarian light ball for a rainy day or zombie apocalypse.  Ten years ago you could get excellent Enfields and Swedish Mausers for under $100.  No doubt, in the near future the price of Nagants with good bores will climb too.  An added plus is that the bullets (.311/.312) and powders I use to reload for my 303's also work in the 7.62x54R, so I do not have to stock a bunch of odd components.

Happy Shooting,

[jmayton]

30-30, until I got the scope on there, I couldn't group better than 3" and most of them were in the 5" range.  With the scope I get groups 3" or less all the time and the occasional sub 2" groups like the other day.  I would have to say average for mine is 2.5" which I'm more than happy with. 

One correction for all...I shot several types of ammo that day and I may have been a bit confusing on which I was using for what.  The 1.75" group was shot with Wolf 200gr FMJ.  I hunt with Silver Bear 203gr soft points.  I also had some old surplus ammo that I shot as well.  I shot the group with the Wolf and then fired a couple of the Silver Bears to see where my point of impact was.  They were close so I didn't fire a third.  Anyway, sorry for the confusion.

[30-30man]

I've tried scopes too.  I've used the ATI mount on all of mine.  They have been drilled and tapped using my drill press and bolted down with a healthy dose of JB weld. I've used a laser on all my holes so I know they're straight.  The bolts were modified from a source on Ebay but recently I haven't seen these services offered by the same guy that did all mine. 

I'm down to only three Mosins now.  All of them are scoped (1943 & 1940 Izzy) except one.  I have a 1925 Tula Hex that has all matching numbers and a shiny bore.  I just refused to alter it.  I know it's not worth much but it't just too pretty to mess with.

[jmayton]

I didn't want to seriously alter mine either...that's why i went with the scout mount...no permanent alterations to the gun.  it's just not the best system, but it works and it keeps everything original.