Something "new" to play with.
Ammo and components being in short supply for many calibers, I got to thinking about some guns I haven't seen in awhile. Tucked away for "someday." I dug one out today, a Mosin Nagant in 7.62x54R carbine. It was given to me many years ago by Captain Fred of The Shootists. Captain Fred passed away the same year as my wife and I won't get rid of the gun because he was a good friend. It will stay in the family. I have not shot it in a long time, but years ago at The Whittington Center I shot it quite a bit out to 800 yards are so and it shot quite well. I loved the Russian ammo with its huge ball of fire that you could see even in bright daylight.
I have 75 or 80 boxer-primed reloadable brass. Some are Winchester and some are PPU (Serbian). I am going to load 125 grain, 150 grain and 170 grain bullets and see how the old gun does. Supposedly the bore is .310" or .311" but the military bullets I've pulled and measured go from .3078" to .3095" ... though that could be because they are steel.
The 125 gr. and the 150 gr. bullets are .311" and the 170 gr. bullets are .308". I've seen other guys shooting the Mosin and getting really great accuracy with .308" bullets. Oh... just remembered .. I have some 180 gr. .308" bullets also. They would be fun to try.
Who knows? If the old gun shoots well with handloads I may just "sporterize" it, bend the bolt handle and put a scope on it. Viola! An elk rifle! Or long range rock shooter.
We shall see.
Any of you Misfits play with the Mosin?