10/2/2024 3:43:07 PM
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Section 9: Military Weapons Subject: Ever Sporterize a Military Rifle? Msg# 1212659
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Yeah, I have two in my collection now: a Chopped Mosin in the original caliber and an FN Mauser in .30-06. Both appear to be done pretty well. I'm particularly partial to the Mosin as the barrel was shortened and made handier. The FN Mauser also has a shortened barrel with a painted front sight that makes it easier to see.
Sporterized classics Another one that I acquired was this $35 T-53 Chinese Mosin. This milsurp was so rotten, I trashed the stock entirely and made it into a poor version of a Scout Rifle. This was in the start of my early days of collecting. I no longer have this gun as it was a Turkey to shoot and wouldn't hold zero for the life of me. I took it apart and sold the barreled receiver for $100 at a gun show It was a fun project, but not something I'd do again as I generally now believe the Scout rifle is a concept that has come and gone. Technology and doctrine have caught up to it and transcended it.
Image Title: Mosin Scout
Image Info: Description: This is made from a 35 dollar T-53 Chinese Mosin Nagant. When I mailed my C&R off for this on a "why not" whim, I got back a workable rifle, but a stock that was literally disintegrating every time I handled it and a bore that might have been used as a main sewer line somewhere. So, I decided that I had a "project" gun and that there was no inherent collector value in it. Off I went. The stock became firewood. It was unuseable and was literallly rotting in all the wrong places so I replaced it with an ATI stock. I was lucky that the T-53 popped in with no modifications. I then popped out the rear sight spring and range indicator,replacing it with a Picatinney rail setup. I then added a fixed power NC-Star 2.5X handgun scope, and swapped out the bolt handle with a bent variant. Getting the bore done was the most challenging. I couldn't see down the bore at all. So, I took a rifle cleaning rod and a mallet and literally hammered it down the bore to get the beginnings of the crap out of there. Bozhemoi!!! Once I got the majority of the crud out I could see light out the end of the barrel. Thinking I paid too much for this rifle, I took some sweets 7.62 copper fouling remover, then plugging the barrel at the crown, I poured it in and waited 30 minutes. The results were STAGGERING. It helped jar loose all the crap and I could see lands and grooves. Then using the same (now slightly bent) cleaning rod, I pushed patches until the solvent was out and then poured Hot Water down the barrel. More crap gone. I then took a steel "hurricane" brush and got the rest of the crap out. No bright shiny bore, but no pitting either. Just solid lands and grooves. Yea!!!! I then checked headspace (good), and then took it to the range. It fired, I had NO idea where the rounds went. 19 rounds later, I had it zeroed. The gun shoots surprisingly well out to 100 yards. Granted, it took me a box of ammo to get it zeroed, but it does work. |
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For reference, the above message is a reply to a message where: Robert suggested this as a poll question but I suggested it would make a better message board question, so he asked me to go ahead and post it... Have you ever owned a "sporterized" military rifle? What kind / nation of origin? What caliber? Robert's reply was: I've had several '03 Springfields, kept them all in 30-06, my hands down favorite caliber. PLEASE ADDRESS YOUR REPLIES TO ROBERT! |