Mosin Nagant, numbers match and corrosion?

[Mr. Black]

I have a hex reciever 1932 Mosin Nagant upstairs that I bought at BIG 5 sporting goods back in the mid 90s.

It has had about 5 rounds through it since we bought it (we fired back in the 90s).

The bore is rough with very slight pitting. I am not sure if this is due to corrosion or just poor machining practices. The rough finish is just too consistant to look like corrosion. It's just has a rough look to it.

The receiver shows signs of slight wear.

My old man noticed the other day that the bolt numbers don't match the reciever. Should I worry about this? the bolt is also a little on the loose side when returned to the in and down position.

I really have zero interest in this thing in it's stock form.

I have been contemplating making a bench shooting gun out of it.

Maybe an aftermarket stock and a RockSolid brand scope mount.

So the age old question is, is it worth sinking any money in it or should it just be hung on a wall?

Not sure what bothers me more, the bolt or the bore finish.

[Mr. Black]

I did shorten the barrel to an overall length of 22 inches. I am in the process of recrowning the barrel now.

The only issue I am seeing with the bolt at this time is it looks like someone filed off the trigger a bit to try and improve trigger pull. It seems to work ok but if you hold the rifle upright the bolt will pull out on it's own without pulling the trigger. I will likely replace the trigger for 6 bucks and see how it functions.

I also cycled a few rounds through it last night without firing just to see how the bolt felt.

I considered it to be completly normal. You could feel the bolt was up against a round. Took all the slop out of the bolt but at the same time the force to close the bolt was not excessive. I consider this to be a good sign.

I found this website to a forum with Mosin barrel grading. The pictures are halfway down the thread. I would consider this barrel to be like the second picture. I also see no signs of throat errosion.

Inspecting Rifling

For the lazy including me, this is what the fellow said.

Bore 1: corrosion rate 0 & (no wear, lands with sharp edges, intact crown)
Bore 2: corrosion rate 2 & (minor wear, lands with relatively sharp edges, intact crown)
Bore 3: corrosion rate 3 & (wear, slightly rounded lands, somewhat worn crown)
Bore 4: corrosion rate 3 & (severe wear, lands completely rounded, badly worn muzzle with almost no crown)
Bore 5: corrosion rate 4 & (notable wear, rounded lands, worn muzzle, distension in front of the front sight)












I may find the courage to fire this thing again thisweekend for the first time in 15 years.

[Mr. Black]

I have since fired 20 rounds through this thing. It performs flawlessly (not sure on accuracy).

No sticky bolt crap either.

I can't tell how accurate it is as it has no sights on it right now. The front got cut off and the rear was bent. I was shooting at a gong hanging in a tractor tire at 200 yards, sighting down the receiver. I was close with many going inside the tire but never got the gong.

I went ahead and bought the el cheapo ATI stock for it in the somewhat rare brown color. I have about 4 hours straight of inletting the receiver/barrel assy. That is using air tools and various implements.


I may spring for the Rock Solid scope mount and bent bolt and if the thing proves to be useless I can always sell those parts.

Not sure yet, all I know is it is fun as hell to shoot this thing.

[devster55]

That's a clean gun I love mine.

[kyle@pureflowairdog]

very nice. Mine is just a wall hanger though.

[Mr. Black]

Thanks guys.

I got my professionally modified bent bolt back from the shop last week.

I used the Ebay dude that welds on a new handle and grinds and polishes it smooth.

It is beautiful.

I couldn't justify the cost of the Rock Solid scope mount so I went ahead and installed the ATI scope mount. Read the instructions carefully and take your time. The hardest part is lining it up before you torque down the screws. I also bedded the scope mount onto the receiver using a two part high temperature epoxy. It's not the best mount out there, but I am confident it is a strong installation. I'll have my scope rings and scope installed by the end of the week and I'll post up some new pictures. Then it will be back to the range to see what kind of groups I can get out of some milsurp ammo.

[Mr. Black]

Took some quick crappy pics with me iphone.

[devster55]

You would be suprised how accurate it really is. If you want you can buy the actual sniper loads from some vendor in shotgun news.

[Mr. Black]

Got my scope rings and mounted it the scope up where it feels comfortable.

I was able to shorten up the ATI scope mount about an inch and a half. I was happy about that as when it's in its full length the rifle is ridiculous to load the magazine.

Too bad the scope is about 3 times with the rifle is worth lol. I had it from other projects though.

Hope to get a range report tomorrow. Hoping for a good bit tighter groups with the scope over open sights even with milsurp ammo.