This article written by Joe Weist, was published in Fouling Shot #173, Jan/Feb 2005.
In the last year the prices on the Mosin-Nagants have been attractive. I recently acquired a C&R (Curio & Relic) license and they are on the list. As much as I didn’t like the looks of them (like the T/C Contenders for years) they were starting to grow on me.
The first one came from Southern Ohio Gun. The stock was very nice and the bluing was like new. The bore was .315”, groove .305”, leade .315” and the muz-zle coned out to .317” in the grooves. I lapped my 314299 mold to .316” but the bore ride was too far under-size.
I also needed a bigger mold for my British #4 and Jim at CBE in Australia ([email protected]) makes molds for some different sizes that would match up better. I got a 314190 in which I lapped the body to .316” and the bore ride nose to .304”. That bullet loaded looks like a bullet stacked on top of another and is 1.083” long.
The next mold is the 316238. (The last three numbers on these CBE moulds are the weight.) It is 1.265” long, looks like the 311284 extra long. I lapped this mold to .317”. The bullets pushed back into the case too much so I made a bump down die for my lubricator to size down the front band tapered from .309” to .313” and bored it first to fit the bore ride as a guide. With five different powders and a good number of other bullets it ended up shooting three inch groups. The best load was 28 grains of 3031 and the CBE 314190. It would shoot 2-1/8” groups. With the muzzle like a funnel I gave up on it.
Next I saw an ad from Interordnance (www.interor-danance.com), which gave me five reasons why I needed a M-N 91-30. Best of all it was only a phone call away. I added an extra $10.00 for a hand picked bore, which turned out to be the best ten bucks I spent! They even cleaned the bore to check it.
The rifle was in excellent condition. It was of course packed full of grease. The groove is .312”, leade .313” and bore .302”. I opened up the rear sight which helped my fuzzy eyes. Brownell’s Farrsight Disk works very well too. With one side cut off some it really makes the sight nice and clear. The Lyman Hawkeye shooters optic aid works well too but for my eyes it’s a little cloudy. It sure is nice for indoor pistol shooting though.
In the last year the prices on the Mosin-Nagants have been attractive. I recently acquired a C&R (Curio & Relic) license and they are on the list. As much as I didn’t like the looks of them (like the T/C Contenders for years) they were starting to grow on me.
The first one came from Southern Ohio Gun. The stock was very nice and the bluing was like new. The bore was .315”, groove .305”, leade .315” and the muz-zle coned out to .317” in the grooves. I lapped my 314299 mold to .316” but the bore ride was too far under-size.
I also needed a bigger mold for my British #4 and Jim at CBE in Australia ([email protected]) makes molds for some different sizes that would match up better. I got a 314190 in which I lapped the body to .316” and the bore ride nose to .304”. That bullet loaded looks like a bullet stacked on top of another and is 1.083” long.
The next mold is the 316238. (The last three numbers on these CBE moulds are the weight.) It is 1.265” long, looks like the 311284 extra long. I lapped this mold to .317”. The bullets pushed back into the case too much so I made a bump down die for my lubricator to size down the front band tapered from .309” to .313” and bored it first to fit the bore ride as a guide. With five different powders and a good number of other bullets it ended up shooting three inch groups. The best load was 28 grains of 3031 and the CBE 314190. It would shoot 2-1/8” groups. With the muzzle like a funnel I gave up on it.
Next I saw an ad from Interordnance (www.interor-danance.com), which gave me five reasons why I needed a M-N 91-30. Best of all it was only a phone call away. I added an extra $10.00 for a hand picked bore, which turned out to be the best ten bucks I spent! They even cleaned the bore to check it.
The rifle was in excellent condition. It was of course packed full of grease. The groove is .312”, leade .313” and bore .302”. I opened up the rear sight which helped my fuzzy eyes. Brownell’s Farrsight Disk works very well too. With one side cut off some it really makes the sight nice and clear. The Lyman Hawkeye shooters optic aid works well too but for my eyes it’s a little cloudy. It sure is nice for indoor pistol shooting though.
Off the bench with this rifle I started out with two inch groups, but then got two groups of seven inches. If you can start with two inch groups why aren’t all of them that good? When I pulled the trigger I could see the cocking piece pulling down with the trigger. That was getting me. I took the trigger out of my 39B and it worked great in the 91-30. The back of the sear on the trigger on the 39 was polished and has about a two degree angle on it. The 39 also works on two pins through the trigger instead of a cam arrangement for tripping. An exchange like that may help the 91s. I polished the back of the sear, but be very careful doing this! It works completely different now.
Left to right (loaded) CBE 316238, CBE 314190. Bullets as cast, CBE 316238, Lyman 311284, CBE 314190 and 311291. Turning my attention to the stock, the metal to wood fit didn’t look too good. The wood was very much oil soaked like pine. The front lug screw had bottomed out. The magazine was pulled into the wood and the bolt hole enlarged. The rear bolt lug you could tighten up to whatever you wanted in the oil soaked wood. The front of the barrel is mostly floated but touched heavy to the left side. It was relieved all it could be but still hit somewhat.
What I was going do next I had done to a Swiss and it ruined it, but I was going to try it again. I pillar bedded it and took out all the oily wood I could. I used floor wax for release and used JB Weld to bed everything in. I also bedded under the chamber for two inches. I slugged the muzzle and found the first 1/4 inch was .002” oversize to the rest of the bore. I couldn’t get the barrel through the headstock of my lathe, so a friend milled the muzzle square in his milling machine. It helps to know a shooter that builds airplanes. I also cut the front sight down 1/16” as it shot low.
For loading the 316299 and 316238 I ran the bullets into the bump down die to fit the leade. Back to the range I was pleased to find I had stopped the seven-inch flyers. The groups were more vertical now but under two inches. Remembering my barrel was still contacting somewhat on the left side I pulled off the forearm wood and wrapped two wraps of my loading data around the end of the barrel. The next load shot good every time. It was CBE-316190 with 20 grains WC680 and it brought the groups down to .898” and 1.000”.
The next load that had been a wild shooter was CBE-316238 with 26 grains of 3031. Now it grouped into 1-1/4”. All of the groups now are nice and round. Other loads that work good are the 311291 mold opened up to .314”. With WC 680 it will hold under one inch. The 316299 lapped to .317” with 25 grains of Ball-C, 30 grains 4895 with 311284 opened up to .314”, 20 grains 4227 CBE 314190, 22 grains 5744 and the 311291, 50 grains WC872 with 316299, 22 grains Rel.#7 and the CBE238. Load all at your own risk! The CBE 316190 sized to .314” gave a group of one inch.
When you drop a bullet in the muzzle end it shows that the top land and the bottom land touch before the other two do. I don’t get too much of a star of lube on the muzzle end, but these barrels probably weren’t made to tight specs like the Finns are. I put in many hours and a lot of trips to the range to get this far. The gun was shot hot all the time and liked to be cleaned every 20 shots. If I had to get another 91-30 I would order it from this place.
What I was going do next I had done to a Swiss and it ruined it, but I was going to try it again. I pillar bedded it and took out all the oily wood I could. I used floor wax for release and used JB Weld to bed everything in. I also bedded under the chamber for two inches. I slugged the muzzle and found the first 1/4 inch was .002” oversize to the rest of the bore. I couldn’t get the barrel through the headstock of my lathe, so a friend milled the muzzle square in his milling machine. It helps to know a shooter that builds airplanes. I also cut the front sight down 1/16” as it shot low.
For loading the 316299 and 316238 I ran the bullets into the bump down die to fit the leade. Back to the range I was pleased to find I had stopped the seven-inch flyers. The groups were more vertical now but under two inches. Remembering my barrel was still contacting somewhat on the left side I pulled off the forearm wood and wrapped two wraps of my loading data around the end of the barrel. The next load shot good every time. It was CBE-316190 with 20 grains WC680 and it brought the groups down to .898” and 1.000”.
The next load that had been a wild shooter was CBE-316238 with 26 grains of 3031. Now it grouped into 1-1/4”. All of the groups now are nice and round. Other loads that work good are the 311291 mold opened up to .314”. With WC 680 it will hold under one inch. The 316299 lapped to .317” with 25 grains of Ball-C, 30 grains 4895 with 311284 opened up to .314”, 20 grains 4227 CBE 314190, 22 grains 5744 and the 311291, 50 grains WC872 with 316299, 22 grains Rel.#7 and the CBE238. Load all at your own risk! The CBE 316190 sized to .314” gave a group of one inch.
When you drop a bullet in the muzzle end it shows that the top land and the bottom land touch before the other two do. I don’t get too much of a star of lube on the muzzle end, but these barrels probably weren’t made to tight specs like the Finns are. I put in many hours and a lot of trips to the range to get this far. The gun was shot hot all the time and liked to be cleaned every 20 shots. If I had to get another 91-30 I would order it from this place.
