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Have a 91/30 with severely pitted barrel. Got a line on a replacement without sights. I've read that replacing the barrel on this gun is very difficult, why? Anyone have any experience doing it? Anyone know of a gun smith that won't charge me an arm and a leg to do it?
Thanks in advance for the help.
Unfortunately, it would probably be cheaper to find another Mosin.
I got my second Mosin from SOG, and it was the lowest grade they had for $70+shipping and transfer. It was new looking aside from what looked like some storage dings. If you find another barrel for yours, you've got that cost, and a smith is probably going to charge at least $50 to do the work.
Have you shot it, and if so, how does it shoot?
There is almost no gunsmith that will not charge you an arm and a leg. If you have any friends that are machinest, look at their catalogue and what the tools cost. They're EXPENSIVE, I'm just talking about the cutting tools, not even wear and tear on their lathe, or even their time. A good gunsmith who you are basically trusting your life with, is a person with a specialized skill; they are not cheap. When you do anything to a barrel (threading, cleaning up the chamber, recrowning, etc), the barrel has to be spinning PERFECTLY true. Getting one to do this takes time, time is money; if you're not going to get it spinning perfectly true, might as well not even mess with it. It ends up costing more than SEVERAL Mosins. I'm gonna agree with huggy, look around for a new Mosin and get it, it'll be cheaper and you still have a beater rifle or one you can give away to someone who can't even afford a Mosin.Quote:
Originally Posted by indianjack
Somebody who can't afford a Mosin? Seriously, that is the saddest thing I have ever heard.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tomcat088
-Zach
+1 with what the majority of the people said. For even what a better grade 91/30 costs (not an x-sniper) it has to be cheaper just to buy another one, but you have probably already thought of that? Is there another reason you want to replace the barrel on this particular rifle?
Yeah, for a gun you can pick up at most gun shows for $100. I'm not sure how cost effective re-barreling one is. I don't know why it would be hard to change yourself.
Heck Numerich sells barrels for $55+ for a 91/30 another $40 and you have complete gun
I pulled the barrel off my 91/30 today, to do some measurements for a barrel replacement.
The barrel came off easy enough using a standard barrel vise and the receiver wrench for a small ring Mauser.
I found that the extractor cut on the barrel is somewhat odd, as that it goes halfway around the end of the barrel. It should be noted that the extractor cut on the barrel is 180 degrees, but the bolt only rotates approximately 90 degrees.
This is due to the fact that the extractor rotates with the bolt, unlike a Mauser and most other rifles where the extractor is mounted on a collar that rotates around the bolt body.
You may be in luck here, as it may be that the replacement barrel may line up enough for the extractor relief to work properly. I would assume that the Russkies did this so that it would only have to head space each barrel to any receiver instead of making the extractor cut to fit each rifle. ( The 180 degree extractor cut would be a form of "mass production")
If the head space would come out correctly, you would be in business.
Most smiths would not buy a set of "go", "no-go" gauges just for one barrel fitting, but, by using a piece of 3-M masking tape over the end of a cartridge, you should be able to make a "no-go" gauge.
Also, you would probably never line up for the factory sights, so, you would need to prepare, or resign yourself to a scope mount of some sort.
I have the ATI scope mount on my model 38/59 and love it.
Keep in mind that this also needs a bolt handle fix to allow the handle to clear the scope base.
If the replacement barrel worked out with just a simple pull off, and put on, you may get by rather cheaply, but, how good is the bore on the replacement barrel?
You probably would have as much in a "pull off, put on" as you would in just buying a better 91/30.
I am planning on putting a .308 bore heavy barrel on my Nagant so I can use better bullets when I reload, instead of the small choice of .310 bullets to choose from, so, I feel that the work is worth the effort.
try shooting it. a barrel change from what i understand would cost more than just buying another mosin keep it for a truck gun or maybe sell it for parts? if you would ever decide to sell i might be interested i could always use parts or just even keep it around for the heck of it i like mosins way too much lol