Me and the Mosin

[Culpeper]

I took a Mosin to brunch this morning. Being the good host that I are I fed it a nice diet of Igman 7.62x54R. This vintage was fresh from 2023. Full bodied with a hint of naughtiness. I call it Rascal of the Armory.

This Mosin was a buddy's rifle that I borrowed for the week. He said the windage in the front sight was frozen and could not be drifted to correct it. Confidentially, I might add a two hundred and fifty pound hydraulic press might work in a pinch. Let's keep that between you and me, dear reader.

The fifty yard target told me what I need to know when I moved to the hundred yard. The first shot was pumpkin of the fence post with the rear sight at one hundred. I reckon that is for one hundred meters and not yards.

So....

Shot #1 rear sight 100, six o'clock hold
Shot #2 rear sight 300, six o'clock hold. Complete miss
Shot #3 rear sight 200, I forget. Way left.

After that I kept the rear sight at 200 and used Kentucky windage, truth be told the wind was dead calm, and started to use the right side of the target for the aim points. Those would be the numbers on the sheet with the black dots. The corresponding bullet holes are marked except #9. I forgot to mark it. It is up by #8.

My eyes started to get wonky after #7. So it will be another trip to the range with more than fifteen cartridges. I could see a fire ball in front of me every time the trigger was pulled. EEK! It is safe to say I was not shooting a .22 squirrel rifle where the recoil is concerned. Double EEK!

My course of fire was shoot one, walk to the target, mark, and walk back. The gave the barrel about two minutes to cool down. However I was expecting the 8, 9, and 10shots to be in the black but that did not happen. More research is needed.

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[butlersrangers]

How about some photos of the Mosin. If it has the original type of Russian rear-sight, the graduations were in "paces", (not yards or meters).

This is true and not a B.S. joke.

[Hunza]

b4 you try anything else try shooting with the bayonet folded out in front like you are going to stick something. the m44 doesn't like the bayo folded to the side accuracy wise.

[butlersrangers]

Oh, an M-44 carbine. The rear sight on those is calibrated in meters.

In the past, I had Polish and Romanian versions of the M-44. They were quite accurate with Czech surplus ammo (mildly corrosive) at 50 & 100 yards.
The handy carbines actually proved more accurate, for me, than a couple of 'legendary' Finish 'rebuilds', that I briefly owned.

When I shot the M-44 carbines, I simply removed the bayonets. (This is pretty easily done and the bayonet, spring-loaded grip, and pivot screw/pin, can quickly be re-installed).

Windex, with ammonia, did a good job of removing the corrosive salts from the bore, before finishing-up with nitro powder solvent or Clenzoil.

[Culpeper]

I would remove the bayonet, too, but it's not my gun. I have a personal policy of not screwing around with another guy's gun. That is third in line after wive's and girl friends.

I have never had to deal with corrosive ammo because I tend to avoid it in the first place just like poison ivy. I picked up the Igman ammo because it was boxer primed and non-corrosive. I could have got PPU but I heard good things about Igman. So I went for it.

[Culpeper]

Okay. First my very best regards and appreciation to Hunza. I took the carbine out for another spin. I did my normal work ups and failed miserably. I shall not revisit that to protect the guilty (me).

I had a last box of fifteen rounds and decided to run the carbine with the bayonet extended. Here is the sequence of fire.

This gun will shoot but the front sight needs to have professional work done to drift it for windage. Enjoy the pics.

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[Hunza]

your not done till you run down to the target and stick it with the bayo

[RickyG]

Drift the front sight.a tad with a brass punch.

[Culpeper]

Can't. The dove tail is buggered up from trying to drift the front sight.

[RickyG]

Ok. Gotcha. Your best bet if your not going to replace the entire front may be to drift the front by drifting the blade itself by bending it a tad at a time.