Con sidering buying a buba'd Remington Mosin Nagant

[Mickey Christian]

I have an opportunity to buy a 1918 Remington Nagant for $100.00.
It has been totally buba'd...barrel cut down with a civilian front sight installed and the stock totally desecrated, useless actually....absolutely no military aspect left to it.
However the barrel, original, has a pristine bore. Why I am interested is to make a custom sporter out of it. I would need a new stock and scope mount. Anybody know where I can get them.

Question is...is $100.00 too much to pay for the bareled action?
Thanks,
Mickey

[kcw]

I have an opportunity to buy a 1918 Remington Nagant for $100.00.
It has been totally buba'd...barrel cut down with a civilian front sight installed and the stock totally desecrated, useless actually....absolutely no military aspect left to it.
However the barrel, original, has a pristine bore. Why I am interested is to make a custom sporter out of it. I would need a new stock and scope mount. Anybody know where I can get them.

Question is...is $100.00 too much to pay for the bareled action?
Thanks,
Mickey

Check Brownell's item # 019-000-056WB for a spoter stock, J&G Sales for the "Insta-Kit scope rail base for MN". $100 too much to pay for the barreled action? Well, you can buy one of those military refurbished MN's at any gun show for about that kind of money, and you get the entire gun. That price usually includes the bayonet and some other stuff too.
Are you looking to simply make a winter project gun for the fun of it, or trying to make something to take afield? If it's the latter, you can probably buy a Mossberg ATR for $300 @ WalMart if you catch a sale. That will be cheaper than trying to make something out of the Mosin by the you get done, and it will shoot as least as well, or better.

[kcw]

Actually that should read "sporter stock", not spoter stock. And "..by the TIME you done". It's been a long day.

[joem]

kcw is spot on. Why waste a $100.00.

[dave]

A Mosin is a poor choice for a sporter anyway!

[Guamsst]

A Mosin is a poor choice for a sporter anyway!

Ok, I'll bite, disregarding the fact that a sporter is a poor choice in the first place, What makes a Mosin a worse choice than normal.

[randy langford]

Split rear bridge makes mounting scope a pain. not much can be done with the safety, trigger upgrades are pricey compared to Mauser's and while we are on Mauser's more stock options more trigger options more barrel options just more options with a Mauser. Oh and I agree unless you just want a project they are money pits and I have done a few Mauser's and one Mosin sporter.

[Mickey Christian]

Well....I did get it for $100.00. For multiple reasons. I know it is not the primo choice to make a sporter, but I am a tinkerer. It is an effective caliber...the barrel is in excellent condition, so should shoot real good...having had several MN's I finally warmed up to them some...I have recently been intrigued by sporterized '91 patern rifles (also have a nice '91 Peruvian but don't want to butcher it)...this MN has already been butchered...the rear sight base is intact so a scout mount/scope should do fine (or maybe a 1x gunsight of some sort)...composit stocks are readibly available and can be doctored up...I can weld a new bolt handle on...the barrel and receiver are Remington...have done many Mausers...safety remains a problem, but I have seen them modified with a ring similar to the Swiss rifles. I know I would never be able to sell it for what it will cost me, but I can buy what I need piece at a time as I chose.

Now a question. Is the date of the receiver the same as the barrel? I would think so, being US mfg. The bottom of the tang has numbers all over it, but not in any decernable order.

Thanks for all your responses. I do some weird stuff sometimes just because I take a shine to one idea or another.
Regards,
Mickey

[ggordon]

Please check carefully before shooting this-- a large number of these Remington Mosin Nagants were bored out to 30-06 ( I think by Bannerman's). I once bought one myself and the dealer didn't mention the conversion-- and the barrels wasn't marked to reflect the new chambering --I brought it back. I don't believe it's safe to shoot modern 30-06 rounds in these.

[Mickey Christian]

Thanks for the heads up. Just checked and it is still 7.62x54.
Mickey

[Art]

I wouldn't pay $100.00 for it, maybe $50.00, if I was feeling generous and I liked the guy maybe $75.00. I doubt a dealer or a hock shop would give him the $50.00. If you're just interested in the project knock yourself out. These are powerful accurate rifles and turned down bolt handles, sporter stocks and 'scope mounts are easy to find. If nothing else it'll make a decent truck gun.

I was watching one of the old Tarzan movies from the '30s with Johnny Weismuller and one of the Brit safari guys was carrying...are you ready, a Mosin-Nagant sporter. What a hoot.

[Mickey Christian]

Thanks all for your views. I did buy the rifle and have a nice monte carlo stock on the way. Can anyone suggest a source for a sniper bolt?

[fn111557]

You should have waited to get this stock. I have an original 91/30 sniper and will be getting a repro one to put in this in a couple months. Cann't wait!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oapv0tEq1kc

[Mickey Christian]

Thanks for the heads up. I do prefer wood. That stock in the video is UGLY to me.
Mickey

[Art]

try http://www.atigunstocksusa.com/default.htm or info on Boltman bolts at the Mosin site http://www.mosinnagant.net/Boltman/Boltman.html you can just google that one. One is a complete bolt body, the Nagant bolt is a three piece contraption so you don't need the whole thing and the other is the bolt handle only and that takes a little bit of gunsmithing I believe. You don't need an actual Soviet sniper bolt there are cheaper options.

[Guamsst]

Split rear bridge makes mounting scope a pain. not much can be done with the safety, trigger upgrades are pricey compared to Mauser's and while we are on Mauser's more stock options more trigger options more barrel options just more options with a Mauser. Oh and I agree unless you just want a project they are money pits and I have done a few Mauser's and one Mosin sporter.

Ok, that makes sense. As I have said many times before. I don't understand what makes people think that they are going to improve a gun designed by an engineer, researched by the military and produced in an arsenal....by taking a hacksaw to it in their garage...LOL

[Art]

None of these sporters based on military actions are anything like cost effective by today's standards. Back when the rifles and actions were cheap it was a different story. I saw a really pretty M1903A3 sporter with a nice commercial walnut stock with good figure and the telescopic sight included in a local gun shop this week......$275.00 for the whole set up. Looking at the rifle I figure the original owner had about that much in the whole set up when it was done originally. Today, that 03A3 even if it was a total mixmaster beater originally, which it wasn't by the way, would go for more than twice the asking price in that store. I have a 1917 mfg No.1 Mk. III* FTR 1955 straight from storage and in really nice shape. I got it for $17.00 and turned it into a perfectly satisfactory sporter for brush hunting. I also wrecked it's current value, it wouldn't sell for $75.00 today which is less than its original cost adjusted for inflation. But hey, they were a dime a dozen then.

[randy langford]

If you know someone that has a welder and knows how to properly do it welding on on a new bolt handle is no big deal just make sure they know to use a heat sink.

[edporch]

Please check carefully before shooting this-- a large number of these Remington Mosin Nagants were bored out to 30-06 ( I think by Bannerman's). I once bought one myself and the dealer didn't mention the conversion-- and the barrels wasn't marked to reflect the new chambering --I brought it back. I don't believe it's safe to shoot modern 30-06 rounds in these.

I too bought a sporterized 1918 Remington Mosin Nagant some years back.
I usually hate sporters, but the Remington caught my eye, as well as the pristiness of it.
The sporterizing job appears to be a quality job.

It doesn't look like any of the Bannerman pictures I've seen, and when I try to put a 30.06 round in the chamber, it won't go in all the way, whereas a 7.62x54R will.
So a I assume it's still in it's original caliber.

But this still begs the question that I don't know what I have, because the workmanship is too good to be a "Bubba" job.

[Marcus]

Photos would help a lot.

A lot of the U.S. Remington and Westinghouse Mosins that remained in the U.S. were sold off to Bannerman and other firms, and as I recall were also sold by the government through the NRA IIRC. Many of these were "sporterized" to some degree or another. Also, Interarms imported Finnish issue/captured and Spanish Civil War Mosins back in the 1950's and they cut many of them down into sporters.

For a bolt handle, the Soviet sniper pattern is one of the best. The best sniper style bolts I've seen were by a guy in New York named Mike Battersby - these were indistinguishable from originals. Max Shepherd supposedly does real good work too, but I haven't seen one of his bolts in person so I can't comment. Jim "Boltman" Roberts over at Gunboards also does nice Mosin sniper and custom bolts, but examples of his sniper bolts I've seen were not as good as Mike Battersby's.

Stay away from any of that ATI crap as far as stocks, scope mounts, or those stupid junk bolt handles of theirs. And that "Archangel" "dildo stock" is a horrible, ugly, nasty looking piece of trash that looks like some kind of plastic sex toy that gay space aliens from the planet Uranus stick up each other's butts. Kind of like "Star Trek" meets Rock Hudson, Elton John, and Freddy Mercury.

The best scope mount setup for a Mosin would either be a PE top-mount mount with 1 inch rings - available from Accumounts in Troy, Michigan, or one of the recent PU style setups that allow you to use Weaver rings - these are getting kind of hard to find these days. Also, if you get a PU base (again, Accumounts hast these) there is a guy on Gunboards and Calguns - 6mmintl - who makes a mount setup that fits the PU base and will allow you to use a large modern scope.

With straight, original U.S. Mosin M1891 rifles running from $500 to $1,000, even the sporterized ones have some value and collector interest. Besides the historical interest of these guns, even chopped up ones, they are a .30-06 class rifle, made by a top quality American maker. I've seen some beautiful old sporters based on these rifles - I believe Teddy Roosevelt and one, and his Bolshevik nephew Franklin had a very nice custom Mosin hunting rifle that he got from his Marxist butt buddy Joe "The Butcher" Stalin. Back in the late 1990's there were a few articles in "American Rifleman" concerning Mosins, including one where the author duplicated a very nice Mosin based custom rifle from the 1920's.

[kcw]

None of these sporters based on military actions are anything like cost effective by today's standards. Back when the rifles and actions were cheap it was a different story. I saw a really pretty M1903A3 sporter with a nice commercial walnut stock with good figure and the telescopic sight included in a local gun shop this week......$275.00 for the whole set up. Looking at the rifle I figure the original owner had about that much in the whole set up when it was done originally. Today, that 03A3 even if it was a total mixmaster beater originally, which it wasn't by the way, would go for more than twice the asking price in that store. I have a 1917 mfg No.1 Mk. III* FTR 1955 straight from storage and in really nice shape. I got it for $17.00 and turned it into a perfectly satisfactory sporter for brush hunting. I also wrecked it's current value, it wouldn't sell for $75.00 today which is less than its original cost adjusted for inflation. But hey, they were a dime a dozen then.

Something else that made "sporterizing" cost effective back in the day were the so called "Fair Trade" laws then in effect in most states. Under "Fair Trade" the retail price of guns (and most other manufactured products) was dictated by the manufacturer. Of course that result in a complete lack of price competition between retail outlets. The idea of discounting was largely unheard of. If a retailer decided to sell below that price point without the premission of the manufacturer he'd find his supply cut off. I clearly recall buying my first new gun in 1967, a Remington Wingmaster. The price was exactly the same, $129.95, regardless as to whether you called the little old gun shop in the village or that nice, new K-Mart that they'd just built in the cornfield on the edge of town.