I have had a (Mosin Nagant spell) for several years that I picked up at a garage sell. 1944 stamped on it and it was made in Finland I think. I think this is the same ones that was considered very accurate. As I look down the barrel from the muzzle end the rifleing is very thin and gets heavier towards the action. The reason for the question is I know the rifle was designed for long range due to adjustablity on the rear sight. I was thinking about having it drilled tapped for scope, bolt reworked for scope and then maybe refinish and new stock. Any ideas?

Try SurplusRifles.com forum for ideas on scope mounts. Alot of info on the mosin. I too have a M44, but mine is Russian. Some attach right to the front sight base and can be used with a scout scope.

A new (well, new to you) Nagant ranges from $59-109, I wouldn't really waste any more than $25.00 on a new barrell for it. But the scope is a good idea. If it were me I would drill and tap it or get a cantilver rail, but a lot of people have been putting scout scopes on them with success.

Here is my buddies with a scout scope set up off the rear site:




Or of course you could go with a traditional sniper style mount like mine:

WestVirginiaBrent
Those look good. I guess my real concern is the rifling. I know they are cheap guns price wise. But there is nothing cheap feeling about them, heavy and solid, I guess thats why Ilike them. What do you think about the rifling? Can you send me some specs on the scout mount.

If it has 1944 on the top of the receiver its not very likely to be from Finland. If it has a small number '44' on the barrel shank along with a [SA] stamp somewhere else on the barrel shank then its likely to be a M39. If not, then its probably a dime-a-dozen russian rifle. If its a Finish rifle, do not drill and tap it,you'd be better off selling it and using the money to buy a Savage or Remington. M39s are usually worth $250-400 depending on which Finish company built them and condition, drilling the receiver will make it into a $100 rifle instantly.
If its a russian rifle, knock yourself out, it'll be a cheap lesson on how expensive sporterizing a surplus rifle really is- best bet is to get a scout mount and a long eye relief scope- much cheaper than smithing the entire rifle and finding out that it won't hit the broad side of a barn because its shot out.

It has 1944 on the barrel 253426 stamped an S stamped inside of gear looking symbol and SA above that. I have pics but can't get them to copy and paste on the post. Anyone know how to do this.

pic

By all means, shoot it first with the iron sights using decent quality ammo to see if it is accurate enough to bother putting a scope on it. IF it is a Finnish barrel, it will shoot .308" bullets. Just because it has "optimistic sights", is no sign it is actually a long-range rifle!

Your gun was made for WW II..

The Russians were trying to defend their homeland against the German invaders. Their only last line of defense was their people.

They didn't need a good gun. All they needed was something that you could point and it would go BANG!

There was stories on the History Channel about - if you were late to work, they would send you to the Goolag - someplace up in Siberia where they made them rifles.

If you were late for work twice, they put you on the front line, put that rifle in your hand, told you to walk out into no mans land and they let the enemy shoot at you - so their snipers could shoot at the enemy snipers. If they missed, they told the next person that they had to go out and pick up the rifle where ever you dropped it and start walking. They did it over and over and over again!

They made those rifles by the millions and quality was not a issue - because the owner of that rifle had a lifes expentancy of about 15 minutes.

When you are at war, and the enemy is at your gate and you only have 15 minutes to make a rifle. You wouldn't care either if the bore was straight or if the rifling was any good. They made them as fast as they could!

About the best accuracy that you can expect - would be to hit a pie plate at 100 yards. Thats all the more that gun was intended to do.