Need advice on Mosin Nagant

camodude

Looking to buy one for a all around white tail rifle for P.A. & W.V.
What year should i be looking for thats the best ?
And the rec. is the round and better than the hex ?
I plan on puting a nice stock and have the bolt worked on and a mount put on by a local gunsmith . Any advice would be greatly liked ![:)][:)][:)]

rufe-snow

IMHO you would be way better off buying one of the Savages/Stevens bolt actions that Walmart sells, then buying a surplus M-N and then having a gunsmith sporterize it. Descent 91/30 M-N's are up over $100 now and a gunsmith will charge you at least that much for D & T'ing, mount, bending bolt etc. Once you have it done their will be no future collectors value and it's value as a deer rifle will remain marginal.

1988z01

Rufe is right on here. You can spend the same amount and get a nice Remington 770 in a 30-06 for a little over $300.
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=225399031
Now if you happen to have the other stock, and the gunsmith is a buddy who is doing your work for nothing, then get the nicest one you see at a gunshow for the money. I have several. One thing I can say is some shoot good and some, well, let's just say not so good. You just never know, and the USSR ain't doing any warranty work these days.

jonk

Personally I'd either buy a new production gun set up for a scope or just buy a 38 or 91/59 or 44 carbine, and shoot is as is. Get one with a good bore and muzzle, should hold about 3 MOA, plenty fine for deer out to 100 yards.

You gotta figure the cost of the stock and bolt mods will be at least $100 in materials, plus labor, plus the cost of the scope. And you're left with a gun with no more value to it than it had originally that's not nearly as smooth as a new production gun.

lilmor50

some years ago i came up with the mathematiocs of conversions."every dollar that you put into a conversion REDUCES its value by two dollar5s"
the nagant is a great military rifle but the bolt, the bridge and the "safety" are terrribly inconvenient at best

Garth

IMHO, sell it and buy an old Mauser rifle. Either the 7MM or the 8MM are great hunting rounds. The 8MM is bolistically similar to our 30.06. There are various aftermarket scope mounts available. Some attach without drilling and tapping. I recommend B-Square mounts. Best

Garth

IMHO, sell it and buy an old Mauser rifle. Either the 7MM or the 8MM are great hunting rounds. The 8MM is bolistically similar to our 30.06. There are various aftermarket scope mounts available. Some attach without drilling and tapping. I recommend B-Square mounts. Best

Tflogger

As issued, a model 38 is a good iron sighted deer and black bear rifle.
Any "sporterizing" lowers the value of the rifle and does not turn a sow's ear into a silk purse.

Henry0Reilly

If you've just got your heart set on this project a "B" barrel (Belgian proof) Finn is the very best, but you'll be spending more for the Nagant upfront than you would for a current production rifle.

Hex or round receiver has no effect on function, it was a production cost change.

beantownshootah

To answer the question, year of production isn't nearly as important as the quality of the bore and especially the condition of the barrel crown (ie muzzle).

For your purposes, there is zero difference between round and hex receivered guns.

As mentioned, once you factor in the costs of all the nice gunsmithing you want done, you'll probably be in for $300 or so, and could have bought a decent modern rifle instead.

That doesn't mean doing this can't be worthwhile, just consider what you are doing before you do it. If you're just trying to save on initial costs on a hunting gun, you're probably better off just buying a lower-end gun designed for hunting from the onset.

But note, that you don't really have to swap out all those things to have a decent setup.

This is my hunting setup. Its a stock Russian M44 carbine ($125) with bayonet removed (1 min with screwdriver), stock canvas sling (free with gun), aftermarket recoil pad ($15), foam cheekrest (cut it myself, free), cartridge holder ($7 at Dicks), S&K scope mount ($75) and Leupold 2x pistol scope.

A generic Mosin rear sight mount will work OK and can be had for $20 or less. So really, for well under $200\ plus cost of scope you could have something reasonably good.