Rebarrel a Mosin Nagant

[milprileb]

Anyone have a gunsmith identified t hat can pull off an old barrel from a Mosin PU sniper rifle without destroying receiver (chewing it up too) and then put on a replacement barrel from a refurb Mosin with a primo barrel ?

Thanks in advance for any help

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[ptf18]

Best of luck to you. I'ld offer a bit of advise... make sure that whoever removes the old scrap barrel cuts a relief cut in front of the reciever to relieve tension on it. I had a beutiful all matching Swede m96...with welded up chamber. I got a new L-W barrel for it and sent it of to a supposed mauser Expert gunsmith who promply twisted the heck out of the receiver while unscrewing the scrap barrel. Told me a line that the receiver was soft because of the welded up chamber and thats why it twisted. No releif cut on the shank of the barrel was found when I go the parts back...

Lesson learned.

[jonnyc]

Might it be cheaper to just get another PU? Cost of a new barrel and the associated 'smithing fees could be close to what a new rifle would cost.

[Cajun]

On a Mosin Nagant forum that i frequent.. Someone inquired about this and it was highly disregarded as to the work it takes to do it.

It has been done but from what Ive read. It aint cheap and its a pain in the ***!!!!!


Plus youd be destroying history in a way. But hey its your rifle. I wont judge what you do.

[Patrick Chadwick]

Anyone have a gunsmith identified t hat can pull off an old barrel from a Mosin PU sniper rifle without destroying receiver (chewing it up too) and then put on a replacement barrel from a refurb Mosin with a primo barrel ?

That is using two rifles to make one. I do not think that it makes sense. Speaking as an inveterate "tweaker" who has on occasion obtained usable to excellent results out of barrels that others regarded as scrap (and I have published photos on the forums to demonstrate it, so I am not making unfounded claims) I think you may be acting prematurely if you replace the barrel.

The last rifle I refurbished, just before going to Italy, was a Finnish 91/30 sniper that was a wallhanger candidate. With factory ammo it could not reliably hit the paper at 50 meters. When I had finished, it slotted shots into 1.5 MOA at 100 meters. At which point I felt I had done enough, and handed it back to the owner for load development.

So let's hear what is wrong with the present barrel before you (or anybody else) gets serious with a pipe wrench!

My first guess it that the actual groove diameter could be in the range 0.310-0.312. So if you feed it 0.308 bullets, performance is going to be dismal.

Over to you for some measurement and feedback.

[milprileb]

Bore diameter is 314. Barrel is on a original PU sniper. I want to put a Ex Pu sniper barrel on this
rifle and restore its accuracy.

As you know, PU sniper rifles never had .308 barrels , only a few Fin models had them.

However, considering the fact that a gunsmith has yet to be found that has the experience to do this
and only because of that, I have elected to take the ex PU sniper, re sniper it and shoot that restored
rifle. The old PU original sniper is retired.

[Patrick Chadwick]

Before giving up on the old sniper, this is what I would do:

Take a round of the factory ammo and pull the bullet very carefully, so as not to lose the powder.
Measure the bullet diameter. If it is 0.308, carry on.
If the pulled bullet weighs 174-180 gn, then keep the charge in the case.
If the pulled bullet is a 150 gn or similar, either reload with a known powder, or reduce the charge by about 2gn (please check a reloading manual for a plausible, safe reduction) and replace the powder in the case.
Now seat a Hornady #3130 in the case, down to the crimp groove BUT DO NOT CRIMP.
As the #3130 has a diameter of 0.312", the case neck should still be tight enough to hold the .312 after pulling the .308. If you are worried about this, then unload the powder and resize the case.

Make up 5-10 rounds like this. I know this is a rough-and ready method, but fine tuning with seating depth etc can come later. I would just want to see how much difference is made by the larger, more cylindrical bullet. In my experience - quite a lot.

Of course I am am not advising you to do this, merely saying what I would do in the same situation.

In four cases out of four that I have tried (2 Enfields already mentioned, the Finnish 91/30, and the Argentine Engineers Carbine) the #3130 produced an enormous improvement by providing a better fit and guidance in the larger bore/groove and/or deep throat of those old service rifles. In oversize/deep throated bores, boattails allow a skewing and gas blowby before the bullet is properly seated in the rifling.


And I too would like to find a source for 174gn flatbase bullets for my 303s!

[milprileb]

Patrick,

.312 Hornady 174 gr bullets already used. Its is not about hand loading or load development , its all about rebarreling a old sniper.
I got 45 yrs of hand loading and shooting 30 caliber rifles, I am not a novice at this. I am seeking a fine smith who can rebarrel
the old PU sniper. The old rifle needs a new barrel or its a wall hanger. That is where this is.

Here in USA, the attitude is just buy another Mosin Nagant. well, yeah but you see, I like my old sniper and want it rebarreled. I get a lot talk from gun smiths but they all duck when I say rebarrel this PU sniper. If it were a Springfield 03A4, no problem but a Mosin...or a No.4 Enfield.... Oh No.... t hey don't have a clue how to do it.

[Patrick Chadwick]

.312 Hornady 174 gr bullets already used. Its is not about hand loading or load development , its all about rebarreling a old sniper.

OK, got that. It's just that I hate having to give up on the old bangers.

[milprileb]

That is why I would want to rebarrel a real original PU sniper with a ex PU sniper barrel. Sniper part replacement to a real sniper rifle.

However, gun smith talent found to do a rebarrel is to date : zero.

I will take ex PU and restore it to PU status as US gunsmiths can still drill a hole and tap it, install a scope mount. I can get a Ex PU up and running
with correct WWII Soviet base, mount and scope. It won't be "Original" but it will be restored to "correct in parts" like a "CMP CORRECT GRADE M1 Rifle".

Since I own the ex PU with bright bore already, can't use it just to rebarrel my real PU sniper, just use the EX PU and use it as a restoration.