Hi folks,

Been working on a Moist-Nugget reburb project. OK, more like a complete remanufacture project. :-) This was a Chinese Mosin barreled receiver, a carbine, that I bought some years ago for something like $20. The barrel was a sewer pipe. However, the receiver looked like it was in good shape. It just needed rebluing. It came as a stripped receiver, nothing on it.

Therefore, since it obviously was not a collectible item, I figured, why not? Let's see if I can build a really precise Mosin-Nagant, in a modern interpretation of the Finnish M39 tradition. To that end, I purchased the following things for the rifle.

1.) pillar bedding kit
2.) Timney trigger
3.) Boyd's walnut "Classic" style riflestock
4.) Finnish magazine from Liberty Tree Collectors, since the Finnish mags have the anti-jam improvement
5.) Complete bolt assembly

I assembled all these parts onto the barreled receiver and sent it to McGowen Barrels, and they did the following stuff.

1.) New barrel, 26", in 7.62x54R, with a 0.308" bore so I can use 'Murrican-spec match bullets, and the Finnish M39 barrel profile
2.) Re-bluing of the receiver and the magazine, to match the new barrel
3.) Rock Solid Picatinny scope mount, installed (this meant drilling and tapping the receiver)
4.) Threaded barrel, in anticipation of the Hearing Protection Act bill someday becoming law (let us hope!)
5.) Target crowning (11-degree)

This is, obviously, a handloader's proposition, much like the Finnish M27 with its 0.308 to 0.309 bore. The barrel is so marked at 0.308".

Those who know Mosins know that the bolt handle sticks straight out to the side. That's great for irons, but it doesn't work with scope mounts. So, I had Jim "The Boltman" Robert modify the bolt assembly for a turned-down bolt, Mauser/M1903 Springfield style, to clear the scope mount. He also polished the bolt and modified the "safety" to be a ring that you can stick your finger into. This makes activating the "safety" on a Mosin far, far easier.

The riflescope will be a Redfield Revolution TAC-MOA in 3-9x40. This is a fine all-around riflescope that gets the job done very well. The rings will be EGW's new "Keystone" 1-inch rings. Already got EGW's thread protector on the rifle's threads. The EGW thread protector's pretty big, but it does a good job and fits very well.

Now, all I have to do is pillar-bed this rifle action into the Boyd's walnut stock, mount the scope, and sight it in before I can develop a good handload for it.

Will get some pictures of it soon. Definitely looking forward to finding out how this rifle shoots.

If you need to know about bedding, here is an ancient thread that's missing all the pictures but has instructions in among the tangents on the thread.

viewtopic.php?p=547759#p547759

Some pics survived in this bedding thread of a Mosin:

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=22738&p=286455&hil ... ng#p286455

CDFingers

A very laudable endeavor, the Finns came up with this in the 1970's. It's a Mosin Nagant M28-76 rifle. Here's a few pictures of mine and a comparison shot with an M39.

A few more pics... It is the most accurate Mosin I have. My M39 isn't bad either, but this M28-76 makes it look like a Russian Mosin.

I loves me some m39's, truth be told.

CDFingers

CDFingers wrote: Fri Mar 10, 2023 12:49 pm I loves me some m39's, truth be told.

CDFingers

It is a great rifle for what it is and intended for. Finns should have had a M1 Garand and things might have ended a bit more differently.

sikacz wrote: Fri Mar 10, 2023 1:04 pm

CDFingers wrote: Fri Mar 10, 2023 12:49 pm I loves me some m39's, truth be told.

CDFingers

It is a great rifle for what it is and intended for. Finns should have had a M1 Garand and things might have ended a bit more differently.

I was lucky to score a bayonet, so they're more useful now (I have a 67 Sneak as well as a WWII surplus one). Totally solid rifles.

CDFingers

CDFingers wrote: Fri Mar 10, 2023 2:02 pm

sikacz wrote: Fri Mar 10, 2023 1:04 pm

CDFingers wrote: Fri Mar 10, 2023 12:49 pm I loves me some m39's, truth be told.

CDFingers

It is a great rifle for what it is and intended for. Finns should have had a M1 Garand and things might have ended a bit more differently.

I was lucky to score a bayonet, so they're more useful now (I have a 67 Sneak as well as a WWII surplus one). Totally solid rifles.

CDFingers

I wouldn't mind another M39 someday. Or a left shouldering M28-76.

CDFingers, thanks for that thread. I'll study what's in there.

SikaCZ, those are some pretty nice rifles. With that said, I must point out that one of my Russian M91/30's shoots about as precisely as a Finn M39 with Prvi Partizan ammo. I know, not all do so, but this particular one does. Probably has to do with the barrel being in virtually mint condition when I got it.

CowboyT wrote: Fri Mar 10, 2023 7:08 pm CDFingers, thanks for that thread. I'll study what's in there.

SikaCZ, those are some pretty nice rifles. With that said, I must point out that one of my Russian M91/30's shoots about as precisely as a Finn M39 with Prvi Partizan ammo. I know, not all do so, but this particular one does. Probably has to do with the barrel being in virtually mint condition when I got it.

The platform was not a bad one. Finns essentially just improved on old Imperial period rifles. One of mine is actually based on a New England Westinghouse receiver, USA made for Imperial Russia to later become a Finnish rifle.

I know I've got those bedding pics somewhere, so I went looking. I did not find, but I did find once pic of KlownKannon's artwork on the stock. Click it to make it bigger to read it if necessary. Note the dates on the old files. This was just after the election of 2016. I am a guitarist.

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I think I have the rest of the pics on a thumb drive somewhere. I'll see if I can dig it up.

CDFingers

I found some pics from those two bedding threads that might help.
.

Above shows the front receiver screw hole filled with clay and the masking tape to prevent over flow--fresh out of when I took the receiver out when it was dry. I could have used more glas there, but it is still tight.

Above shows the B7 bedded and drying with the clamp and tape and clay and over flow.


Above shows the rear just after I popped it out.



Above shows the Frankenmosin bedded but with tape and clay still there.




Above shows the Frankenmosin freshly popped with front and rear bedding before clean up. I don't know how I got two of the same pics in there.

CDFingers

Hmm...will have to study this. Thanks for posting those pics. My riflestock being a Boyd's Classic Sporter, the foreend can be free-floated, but where the action sits likely will be very similar. I've got to Dremel out some space to fit the Timney trigger as well.

A few questions about bedding:

1.) Since I have the gear for pillar bedding, does the action really need to be bedded with epoxy, et. al.?
2.) If the answer to #1 is no, then would it help a lot or a little?
3.) Does the epoxy bedding make pillar bedding redundant, i. e. not worth bothering with?

Both methods of bedding merely imprison the action firmly in the stock. I found pillar bedding to be a bit wimpy, as the imprisonment covers a pretty small surface area. But the Boyd's stock is brand new, so maybe the action will fit very snugly. There is a new version of the acraglas that is like a putty, so there is not as much mess as the old way I did back then. I think the key is the paste wax mold release, which allows the glas to be snug without permanently cementing the action in the stock. I think pillar kits just do the rear action screw. Both screws would be better, but doing the entire recoil lug is really good, with doing the whole action is totally the best. I've done four and have not glued in an action. It is the total marriage of stock and action that makes the accuracy. If you have questions, post a pic and I can confuse you further. :-0

Oh, with Mosins, avoid letting the rear of the action touch the stock right there at the rear action screw. Their design can split the stock, so keep like a half millimeter gap, like two thicknesses of masking tape, right there at the end.

CDFingers

Thanks, CDFingers. I'll get a photo of this riflestock and post it here.