Did you fail to read the thread? Or the other MN thread? Or the one before that with all the pictures? Or the thread about the complete rework with instructions?I love the cheap surplus 7.62 x 54R stuff.
I also have a couple hundred boxer primed cases that I reload my hunting rounds into.
M/N is the cheapest fix for wanting a "new" gun going at the moment.
I love getting a 91 / 30 and tweaking it into the best shooter I can, and then hunting with it. But just shooting tin cans out in the back yard (big back yard for me lol) is a blast.
I agree that the trick it to not drop a ton of money into a low cost weapon.
I have found that simply a full disassemble / cleaning goes a long way towards getting them shooting much better.
Without stoning the sear or anything, just making sure the trigger parts are clean and not rubbing any wood will help a lot with the trigger pull.
ETA: If you use surplus ammo with corrosive primers, I find that running a few squirts of Windex through the bore to get the salts out then cleaning as usual prevents any problems. (The ammonia in the Windex neutralizes the corrosive salts I have been told, anyway it works for me.) But be sure to clean after firing surplus ammo.
Make sure that no lacquer from some surplus ammo is built up in the chamber to avoid sticky bolt syndrome.
Most M/N's I have fired can be made to shoot 2 - 3 inchs with surplus ammo assuming the crown is ok. Notice that many of them have been counter sunk if the crown was messed up. If not there are home recrownings, but this is not something for the untrained to attempt as a proper crown is key to any barrels accuracy. Of all the things one might do to a M/N if you lack skill / tools a gunsmith recrown is the only one I would consider if I could get it done affordably.
(fortunately for me my son is a metal wizard and I can get him to weld bolts bent or help me crown barrels etc.)
For most just inspect the crown and buy one that is not dinged up and you are good to go.
Free floating the barrel is easy, just pull the stock and put lipstick on the barrel and make sure the stock is clean and dry then assemble it. then take it apart and sand off any lipstick marked spots. Go slow and take minimal amounts off rinse and repeat until no lipstick comes off on the stock. At that point a dollar bill ought to slide up and down the barrel. This prevents stock pressure from effecting barrel harmonics and thus accuracy.
The safety stinks so I had son weld a "U" shaped piece of metal to mine so I can stick my finger in it and pull it back and turn.
Also on my favorite one while I kept it all stock I did have him tap the rear receiver and help me put on a peep sight. My old eyes much prefer this over the stock notch, and I don't have to figure out arshins (russian unit of measure that the older 91/30's sites are graduated in.) Also the stock battle sight zero is 300 yards more or less on the stock sights and the thing shoots high at 100 yards.
To get cosmoline out of the stock I wrap it in old cloth and put it in the car on a hot day and it sweats it out till it is nice and clean. Just wipe off, rinse and repeat till it is all out. Also be sure you get all of it out of all the nooks and crannies of the metal.
These old guns are great, simple, and surprisingly accurate.
And for real excitement watch someone fire the m44 or m39 carbines around dusk. The fireball is enough to incinerate anything that was attacking you. :-)
You could save your self a lot of keyboard work by checking the archives.
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