Irish51

I realize this is an old thread...I came across it in a Google search and was interested in what people may have submitted. I thought I'd share my experiences messing with military surplus rifles that I buy after Bubba has had his way with them. If the bore is decent and the price cheap, I'll buy them and bring them back to life again as decent hunting rifles. Most have been Mausers of some sort and caliber, but also a few Mosins.

I own at least 6 Mosins...three of which are still in their original military condition...one an M44 and one is a 91/30 Hex and the other a round receiver 91/30. The other three I have turned into 2 "sporters" and a "fun shooter" The fun shooter is an M44 that kicks like a mule, still in it's original stock with bent bolt handle and an ATI scope mount (drilled/tapped) w/ a cheap $50, 3-9X40 scope and I installed a bolt-on muzzle brake w/2 tack welds after I was sure I had it lined perfectly w/the bore. I can shoot 2- 2.5 groups with surplus ammo all day long @ 200 yds with it. The two sporters were hex receiver 91/30s that I cut down to 22", recrowned and put in cheap ($55) Ramline stocks I found on Ebay, bent the bolts and pillared the stock, free floating the barrel in the process and again used ATI scope mounts with $50 scopes. Granted, I bought the scopes, mounts and stocks on Ebay(some used) because I wasn't willing to invest too much into rifles I didn't really expect much from upon completion, so my total investment in the "fun shooter" was about $125...and no more than $200 in the 2 sporters I built from hex 91/30s. Keep in mind I did all my own work as well in a fairly well equipped basement shop. My uncle was a retired USMC armorer who taught me most of what I've acquired as far as smithing acknowledge. He'd always introduce me as his "barnyard gunsmith nephew" when meeting his friends.

Both 91/30 came from J&G and had prisitine bores and much to my surprise, upon completion, they both shot 1 1/2" groups and better at 200 yds with S&B soft point, 180 gr ammo...better than the stock M44 and stock 91/30 using the same ammo at 100 yds. I credit this to the fact that they were cut from good 91/30 barrels, recrowned and pillared, as well as buffing the trigger to reduce the trigger pull. They shoot as good at 200 yds as my Marlin XL7 30-06 does for this 60 year old hunter. I've taken a half dozen whitetail between the two from 100-200 yards. There is a special feeling of satisfaction in putting meat on the table with a WW1 rifle that has an investment of sweat equity put into it.

The reason I decided to attempt the project in the first place, was due to something my brother-in-law (retired after 30 years from USMC)had told me while sharing some of his Vietnam experiences with me. He said the VC snipers were picking off US GIs using scoped (3.5 fixed powered) 91/30s from 500 yds plus...and I figured the Mosin had to be somewhere near accurate and with a little tweaking and careful buying after lots of searching, I've got myself a great truck gun and 2 great deer rifles for half the price I would pay for something off a shelf. Personally, I think the steel in a lot of these old milsurp rifles in far better than a lot of the new commercial rifles being produced today, that are selling for $400-$500.

Point of fact : I never discount the old milsurp rifles for use as hunting rifles for folks on a budget who hunt out of necessity in our present economy to help cut the grocery bill. If they have a good bore and with an investment of $30 for good ammo, you can put meat on the table.