How hard is it to rebuild Nagant Mosin or rifle?

Question

I've been looking for a Nagant Mosin rifle because I like the size, how the stock is shaped (it's pretty slender compare to others), and it's in my price range plus it have a lot of history. I have very little luck finding them on ebay and other place. So I decide to try gather all parts and put together a Nagant Mosin rifle. However I doesn't have any experience with putting firearm together. So I would like to know opinion of others. Should I try it or am I better off keep looking? I have about 2 to 4 months to look for one.

Answer 1

do not...DO NOT build your own rifle. only qualified gunsmiths are able to do it correctly, and more importantly legally.
if you cant find a mosin, you have been looking in the wrong place. Ebay doesnt sell firearms, so no you wont find one there. look for a local gun store, look in pawn shops or gun shows. the websites that have been posted are a good place to look as well. if all else fails most people with a FFL (federal firearms license, the only people who are able to legally sell firearms for retail and across state lines) will order one for you for very little over the cost of the rifle and shipping, my experiance about 25$.
i bought mine through century arms, sent to my local gun store for 135$
the soviets made millions of mosin nagants and other countrys have as well. they are out there in massed, just need to find one.
also another thing to check is to make sure that you get a good one. most of them are 60+ years old and many have seen hard combat. try to find one with all matching serial numbers. look for obvious damage to the rifle and stock. check the bore with a bore light for any pitting. you might want to get it checked out by a gunsmith before firing to make sure its in good working order. at the very least do a basic function check. throw the bolt, pull the trigger, hear it click. throw bolt, saftey on pull trigger, no click. dissasemble the rifle and clean the ever living **** out of it. do a function check. then i would use the old string and sandbag trick for the first round. check the casing for any signs of over pressure. blow outs or damage to the casing from the round firing. run the function check again. after that put the beast to your should and prepare for a kick delivered by chuck norris himself and a bang like your eardrum just went supernova....just like i like my rifles...

Answer 2

Buy a Mosin nagant already assembled and in proper working order instead of try to build one. As long as you have a legal registered receiver you can build a rifle legally if you have the knowledge. Check www.centerfiresystems.com for Mosin Nagant rifles. the 91/30 and M44 seem to be the most popular, M38 and 91/38's are around but usually not as popular. If you're lucky enough to find a Finnish Mosin, or one made by Westinghouse you've got a REAL keeper. The Finnish retooled Mosin's have a small s/a stamp on their receiver. There are ober 120 different configurations of the Mosin nagant rifles, some are VERY collectable, most aren't. Ammo for them is very cheap too, if you use the old surplus ammo keep in mind all surplus ammo should be treated as corrosive ammo(most of it is) and proper cleaning should be performed after every day you shoot it.

Answer 3

Try http://www.gunbroker.com or http://www.gunsamerica.com

I just checked Gunbroker and they have at least 35 Mosin Nagant rifles for sale, many of them for $100 or less..You should be able to come up with a pretty nice rifle for around $90...A dealer shouldn't charge you more than $20 to make the transfer...

If you live anywhere near Tulsa Oklahoma, go to the "Tulsa Arms Show", the next one is October 21 & 22...4,000 tables of firearms(etc), it would take you the full two days just to walk past all of the guns for sale...One of the guys I went with last year picked up a very nice Mosin Nagant, cheap!

On GB & GA people generally give great descriptions of their firearms condition. The folks who sell on these sites value their reputation...

Answer 4

Instead of piecing a rifle together, why don't you just go out and buy one? If there is a gun shop or sporting goods store somewhere in your area, I'm sure they could get one for you if you asked. They go for about $80 for a complete M44 rifle, $150 for the larger type.
I wouldn't try to put together a rifle if I didn't have any experience. It could be dangerous and require custom tools.
Mosin nagant rifles are great guns and if they shoot 7.62x54r ammo, are cheap to shoot.
Mike

Answer 5

Check out Surplusrifles .com. lot's of good info there.

The triggers on those really suck. Huber Concepts sells the best on the market for Nagant replacement triggers. John is in Fond du Lac Wi. His triggers are also available through Brownells as well.

Answer 6

When the Mosins were manufactured, they were test fired. The good ones were selected to be converted to sniper rifles. You can purchase a sniper version for around $495. I think the scopes cost $400.

Answer 7

If you can find the parts and pay for them, its pretty easy if you have some basic bolt action rifle experience. for example: I have a catalog where the authentic scope is offered for $300. Most would not be willing to cough up the money for it, but if youre a big fan of the rifle/its legacy, then go ahead.

Answer 8

They are pretty simple to build.
Remember these things were meant for use in combat and had to easily repaired by everyone in the field.
Just make sure that if you do set the firing pin that it is correct.
You can break the pin if it is not properly fit and it also can cause misfires or punctures in the primer.
I would suggest looking into a field manuel for it as well.
Try looking on the shotgunnews.com site.