Horrible Day at the Range. I need help!

[AK545Man]

So I have a Mosin-Nagant with a pretty good bore, rifling is good. I scope it recently and went to sight it in today. The range guys bore-sighted it for me prior to the first shot. This is the first gun I have ever scoped. Not a match shooter by any means but I can hold my own. At least with iron sights anyway.

Today was horrible though. I went through 140 rounds and could not get anything consistent going. Only about 80 rounds or so touched paper. This was between the targets at 50 and 100 yards. Does anyone have any pointers or ideas that can help? Thanks in advance.

[BPTactical]

So I have a Mosin-Nagant with a pretty good bore, rifling is good. I scope it recently and went to sight it in today. The range guys bore-sighted it for me prior to the first shot. This is the first gun I have ever scoped. Not a match shooter by any means but I can hold my own. At least with iron sights anyway.

Today was horrible though. I went through 140 rounds and could not get anything consistent going. Only about 80 rounds or so touched paper. This was between the targets at 50 and 100 yards. Does anyone have any pointers or ideas that can help? Thanks in advance.

1- ensure the optics are mounted correctly.
2- are the optics of reasonable quality?
3- is the mount correctly installed?
I would be very suspect of the condition of the stock/mounting points. Frequently the stocks are so oil soaked and generally crappy that you cannot get the action or triggerplate to stock fit correct. If this is happening the action is dancing around in the stock and there goes any chance of hitting what you are aiming at.
If the stock is in reasonable shape you will benefit huge from pillar bedding otherwise just buy another stock.

[AK545Man]

I put a new synthetic stock on it and a scope mount. Had them fitted and put on by Gander Mountain. The scope is a Nikon Buckmaster (4.5-14x40). The mount seems to be centered and tightened very snugly. I'm also sure locktite was used. The stock is that ATI mossy oak one.

[Gunner]

Hows your shoulder

[AK545Man]

Hows your shoulder

Haha it hurts man. Shooting 140 rounds of 7.62x54 ain't no joke.

[Hannu]

What type mount it is ? Is it steel mount ? Photo ?
Generally, you should only use 1-piece side mount with Mosin and never use 2-piece mount where front and rear ring are not placed on the same 1-piece rail.

Stock is also very important with Mosin. I have seen some very accurate Mosins, but if you want to make it shoot you really have to know what you are doing. All things designed to improve more modern bolt actions do not work with Mosin.

Do not know what ammo you shot, what is your bore exact caliber and what is your bullet diameter ?

[AK545Man]

It's that ATI mount that comes with the new handle that you have to put on after you shave off the straight handle. I was using 182 grain Yugo surplus. I used the same ammo with iron sights a few months back and the accuracy was damn good. I'm not sure of my exact bore size, I know they can vary with Mosins. I believe the Yugo ammo is .311 but I could be wrong.

The photo is too big to upload from my phone.

[Hannu]

If it this kit, good luck with it :( http://quartermastersupplies.co.nz/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=7&products_id=167

If you wanna make it work, install a small red dot sight as forwards as you can (for example Aimpoint Micro) and cut the "cantilever" part off.

[AK545Man]

Lol yeah it is that kit. ¿No bueno? If not then the gun is pretty much destroyed. I wouldn't use a gun with two holes drilled in the top of the receiver. Wouldn't a red dot be kind of goofy for a full power rifle?

[AK545Man]

Update. I shot it today from a stable platform and hit.

[enthusiast]

If it this kit, good luck with it :( http://quartermastersupplies.co.nz/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=7&products_id=167

If you wanna make it work, install a small red dot sight as forwards as you can (for example Aimpoint Micro) and cut the "cantilever" part off.

What scope mount would be recommended?

Congrats on good shooting today.

[BPTactical]

Update. I shot it today from a stable platform and hit.

Are you saying you were Unstable the other day?
It's not bad once the Lithium kicks in eh?[Muaha]

[ldmaster]

SOOOOO many people think that a scope creates accuracy - it's possible you just have a MYRIAD of problems that can happen with any gun.

I bought a book on home gunsmithing that showed a lot of things you can do without major equipment to increase the accuracy of any rifle.

It MIGHT be the rifle, so you'd have to rule stuff out.

First and foremost, I'd shoot 10 rounds at 25yards from a bench over your iron sights. See if you can even get close to a group.

Second examine your crown, a LOT of imported mosins have crappy crowns, which is to say that the lands and grooves (both of them!!!) are uneven upon reaching the crown of the bore-use a jewelers loupe for this exam. 90 percent of the time you'll find damage, which can majorly affect each round in a different manner upon exiting the bore. Recrowning is cheap, and you can even get a brownell's kit for it. I'm assuming a pepperoni pizza pattern, with the rifle shooting all over the place - every time I've seen a mosin do this, it's been at least partially attributable to crown damage.

Can't hurt to look!

But geez guys, just because there's a scope doesn't mean a gun should shoot a group!

I remember the overtorqued barrel syndrome some AR's had about 15 years back, olyarms and bushhamster had to fix a few rifles where they'd cranked things too tight. Wasn't endemic though.

geez I'm old.

OH, and check your headspace, excessive headspace will ruin accuracy too, excessive headspace isn't a huge issue for nagant's, as it is in an autoloader. A gunsmith MIGHT have the gauges, or someone here might. Check the locking lugs for full engagement also, sometimes the shoulders get damaged and they lock up unevenly (for each round) and that also creates pizza's.

[AK545Man]

Thanks for all the input and info guys. I'm on paper but it is still not as good as it should be. I will check into some of those things listed in the last post. I don't know if I stated it before but with the irons it was fairly accurate. Maybe I'm just not a scope man? Haha

[AK545Man]

Are you saying you were Unstable the other day?
It's not bad once the Lithium kicks in eh?[Muaha]

Shhhh don't give away the trade secrets.