Mosin...IVAN needs help

My hobby is finding old and abused weapons and making them look and shoot good again.

My latest project was pretty sad when I picked it up

 

 

 

As you can see this wwII veteran needs some help. So IVAN got a facelift!

 

 

 

The reality of what this rifle is, hit home when I had it at the range this past weekend. Shooting at the 100 yd range showed that the scope on this rifle is very  VERY much lacking. It is of very cheep vintage Chinese badness.

After shooting a few times, I could almost make out the target at 100 yds. It looked like a big dancing blob.

Nonetheless i did manage more hits than misses.

 

 

IVAN badly needs new optics, but this is a budget project. I have a grand total of $125 in it so far.

I just saw the Vortex that is on closeout as being discontinued??? Whaddya think?? 

NEED a new scope!

If your talking about the 2-7 Vortex, I don't think you could go wrong with it.

As far as scopes go, you best bet in this price range is Sightron S1 3-9x40:

http://swfa.com/Sightron-3-9x40-SI-Riflescope-P9200.aspx

Also, makes sure the base and rings are up to snuff.

It looks like you are using that ATI base there which is not known for being of good quality.  As you change the scope, it would be a good idea to check the mount and loctite all screws in place.  Not sure whether it is worth your while to bed it.

ILya

Koshkin...If you are a fan of the Mosins I am sorry for what happened to IVAN. I dint butcher him. Just tried to make him a bit easier on the eyes.

If you have a look at my target, you will see all the pasters on the lower half of the target. That was shot with some Privi Partisan brass case lead boolits. It was actually shooting pretty good. Then I ran out of ammo. I had some Mil Surp steel case stuff. I started out shooting way up in the left corner? Then with some adjustments it started coming closer.

Then I ran out of that stuff too.

This rifle is gonna be fun!

I've butchered a few Mosin's in my day too, so no worries there.  I am, however, happy to see someone make god use of the old warhorse.  These rifles are usually a lot more accurate than people give them credit for, especially if you work over the trigger a bit and pay a little attention to the ammo. 

As far as the Crossfire scope goes, I am not a fan.  In this price range, you want to keep things simple, so a basic 3-9x40 scope would be my recommendation.  Trying to go for a scope with more features is just asking for trouble.

ILya

But from what I understand there were somewhere around 15 million MN's built??? You can buy a crate full of them for $500. Or catch them on sale for $90

Anyhow

Maybe you could expound on your reasoning on avoiding the Vortex?

I might get the Vortex for my Urban Tactical rifle. which has a Burris FFII 3~9X40

and put the Burris on IVAN???

I am a fan of the 30mm tubes. Bigger hole = more light= Gooder

 

http://opticsthoughts.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=74%3Ariflescope-basics&catid=12%3Ariflescopes-random-musings&Itemid=4&limitstart=1

As far as the Vortex scope goes, I generally like Vortex products and quite a few of them are easily among my favourites.  However, the Crossfire line is not.  When you try to cram too many features into a cheap scope, something has got to give and it is usually the important stuff: glass and mechanics.  Vortex Crossfire is not any worse in this regard than a myriad of other cheap chinese scopes that try to check too many "feature" boxes.  If anything, it is better than most others simply because of Vortex' customer service.  Still, I am not aware of any scope as fully featured as the Crossfire in the sub-$400 range that is actually worth buying.

If you are on a budget, stay with simpler configurations.  In this price range they will be much better executed.

As far as butchering Mosin-Nganats goes, that really depends on the configuration.  There was a large number (17.4 million) of 91/30s built so most of them are not very collectable while being good shooters.  However, there are variants that are fairly rare and those should definitely be left alone.  For example, I have two M28/76 rifles that are very collectable.  There were very few made and even fewer imported into the states.  There are, of course, other very collectible Mosins since the total number of variations of these rifles is considerable (a couple dozen, at least).

ILya

If that is the case what would you reccommend for a slightly higher magnification scope than the 3~9x that is a bit lower in price. I can do without all the fancy side focus and BDC reticle.

Just a nice clear sight picture with a 12x or better mag?

Remember this is a $125 rifle

Like I said I would be willing to upgrade this guy

 

 

and move my FFII to IVAN

I really like The FFII but wouldn't mind a higher mag scope and then do a swap.

http://opticsthoughts.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=1:the-rating-scale&Itemid=4&layout=default

If you want 12x or so, the cheapest variable scopes I can recommend are Nikon Buckmaster 4.5-14x40:

http://swfa.com/Nikon-45-14x40-Buckmaster-Riflescope-P42208.aspx

and Vortex Diamondback 4-12x40:

http://swfa.com/Vortex-4-12x40-Diamondback-Rifle-Scope-P13289.aspx

Leatherwood Uni-Dial 4-16x50 is also not bad for about $280:

http://swfa.com/Leatherwood-4-16x50-Uni-Dial-30mm-Rifle-Scope-P11914.aspx

ILya

What would you consider the best scope mount for a mosin-nagant cost not being any concern?

That depends on how much work you are willing to do and which Mosin you have.

If you want something that would minimize the gunsmithing and still use a normal rifle scope (not the scout setup), "Jmeck" mount is probably your best bet.  This one is also likely to be the best option if you have a low wall receiver.

With a high wall receiver and if you have a drill press, a side mount of some sort is not a bad option if you can find the right mounting plate.  Smith Enterprises used to make a really nice mount which I put onto one of  my M39s, but those are almost impossible to find.

Your next best bet is one of the side-plates that allow you to us a POSP mount.  I've set up a couple of those for my friend's rifles and they are a little tricky to get straight, but they work.

I still have a couple of those mounting plates, so I might butcher one of my non-collectable Mosins in the future.

Lastly, if you want to replicate the look of a WWII Mosin sniper, there are rather good reproduction PU and PE mounts made by Accumounts.  I have a couple of those and the quality looks good.

He now also has some sort of a scout mount which I have not yet tried.  I have tried a couple of other scout mounts out there and I liked Darrell's the most.

ILya

It may not be much of an upgrade, but compared to the junk it had.... well we shall see.

This was a bit of an afterthought. I purchased a Savage discount package rifle, with the intention of using it for a project later on. It had a Bushnell Banner Wide View 3~9X50 included in the price. I have no intentions of using that scope on the slated project ...so it was donated.

I had a set of 1" tactical rings to throw in the deal.

Even though Bushnell Banner is still Chi-Com this Banner is light years ahead of what was on it!

 

 

 

I can already see an issue.

The tactical mounts are a bit higher. Not un-usable but it takes my cheek up off the stock.

HMMM.... might need to build an adjustable comb.....

 

Gotta go shoot now.

 

I cleaned the barrel on Ivan today with Gungravy Plus  WOW 

It ran out blue, then green and then black.  I use an old freezer drip pan to catch the old cleaning soloution. It looked like I changed the oil in my truck!

 

Standard Gungravy

 

I use a quart squirt or spray bottle

1/3 Valvoline universal ATF ( this has less odor)

1/3 odorless mineral spirits

the last third is light weight lubricating oil. I use non detergent compressor oil 10or 20 wt.

and citrus oil solvent (limolene)

 

This stuff works better as a cleaner and lubricant than ANY commercial product I have ever tried.

 

Gungravy Plus  (for copper fouling)

Start with a batch of the standard stuff above and add a bit of Murphys oil soap and some 10% janitorial strength ammonia ( Ace Hardware is my best source)

This mixture will seperate over time and it turns the Gungravy a pink color. Just shake it up before using.

Honestly this stuff works faster and better tha Hoppes#9 for copper

 I would like to find one of the lace on cheek riser pads. I think it might be really helpful.

 

By the way if you need 7.62 ammo CTD has NEW Russian Mfg. in 20 rds box for about $8.00

or 500 rds of same for $120.

 I would like to find one of the lace on cheek riser pads. I think it might be really helpful.

 

By the way if you need 7.62 ammo CTD has NEW Russian Mfg. in 20 rds box for about $8.00

or 500 rds of same for $120.