M91/30 iron sight adjustment

[sj92gt]

Hi folks! Let me start off by saying that I am new to Calguns.net and I am very excited to be part of this community. I am also new to the world of firearms. I picked up a M91/30 Mosin Nagant and was wondering if there was a way to tell if I need to adjust my rear sight or my front sight? I also need info on how to properly adjust the sights without damaging the rifle. The point of impact seems to be high and to the right. Any and all help in regards to this matter would be greatly appreciated. Thanks and happy shooting!

[paul0660]

http://www.surplusrifle.com/shooting/mosinsights/index.asp

You can make a taller front sight with epoxy and a file.

Most mosins do shoot high.

[Milsurp Collector]

Hi folks! Let me start off by saying that I am new to Calguns.net and I am very excited to be part of this community. I am also new to the world of firearms. I picked up a M91/30 Mosin Nagant and was wondering if there was a way to tell if I need to adjust my rear sight or my front sight? I also need info on how to properly adjust the sights without damaging the rifle. The point of impact seems to be high and to the right. Any and all help in regards to this matter would be greatly appreciated. Thanks and happy shooting!

If you have the bayonet, attach it and see if it changes the point of impact. The rifle's sights were probably zeroed with the bayonet attached http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/s...d.php?t=359241

If that doesn't help or if you don't want to shoot with the bayonet fixed you will have to make the front sight post taller and drift it to the right.

[Fate]

They're zeroed for 300m. Closer than that and soldiers were told to aim at belt buckle. That would yield a chest shot. You can use a coffee stir straw to slip over the post and cut to proper height to get a 100m zero. It doesn't permanently alter your rifle which is good. For the right, you need to tap your front sight to the right a tad with a hammer and a brass punch. I made a punch from some $3 brass rod that I got at a hobby store and cut to size.

[16in50calNavalRifle]

First, welcome to CalGuns, second, welcome to firearms, third, welcome to the wonderful world of inexpensive, interesting, entertaining Mosin Nagant rfiles.

The above responses covered your questions well - you can see you've got a great resource in the great CalGunners posting above, and more like them. Just a few variations on those above posts.

The plastic coffee-stirrer solution is a great, and wonderfully clever, fix for shooting high @ 100 yards.

As Fate said, you slip the coffee straw over the front sight post. A few tips. The trick is finding the right size (diameter) straw. Starbucks and Coffee Bean use wooden sticks (comrade, strike them from the field re-supply list!), so just be sure to check at other coffee places (appropriately enough, I found the perfect fit with straws from the snack bar at Cabelas outside Reno - though they are brown .... I found the same size, but in black, at a local coffee place in Reno, so I use those). I have tried, per suggestions on other forums, some electrical heat-shrink tubing (Home Depot), and while it's thinner and more like the actual sight post, it doesn't stay on due to recoil. Speaking of which ...

These plastic straws weigh nothing, so eventually will jump off the sight post with recoil. I use Goop glue (auto supply stores) to secure them to the front sight post. You can remove the straws and scrape off the dried glue later, if desired, so no permanent change to the rifle.

Suggestion: using some good magnifying glasses and a scalpel or sharp knife, cut a correct-diameter coffee straw in pieces with lengths of 9mm, 10mm, 11mm, 12mm. At the range, start shooting a piece stuck onto the front sight post, starting with the 9mm piece. When you've walked your impact points up the target til you are happy, note which piece is on the sight, and you have your fix. Back home, glue that one on, and cut some spares of that length to keep with your gun tools.

I have added comments for your left-right sight adjustment question, too. If your shots continue to hit right when you are calibrating your coffee-straw fix (make sure to shoot off of blocks/sand-bags, on the bench), note the position of the "witness marks" on your front sight (little lines on the muzzle/forward side of the sight, and the barrel-mounted base for the sight - they are usually lined up when re-arsenaled and sold to you). As noted above, you'll have to drift (push) the sight a bit right to correct for the error you describe.

Brass punch is the proper tool - but if you're not a collector and the rifle's for shooting, a steel punch from Sears or the like will work as well w/out much marring of the finish. Disassemble the rifle, secure the barrel in a vise (padding around it), and use a hammer and punch to drive the sight out of its dovetail slot. Clean up the sight and its base with mineral spirits, steel wool, etc. and dry it. Put a drop of LocTite (blue, Home Depot) in the dovetail slot, then push the sight back in, with the witness mark ending up just a bit right of center (that is, just right of its companion witness mark on the sight base, or to the left of it, as seen from the muzzle end).

Next range trip (with properly-sized, glued-on, redneck-gunsmithed, sight-post coffee straw), see if your shots line up more centered. If they're left of aim point, you'll need to bring the front sight back a bit towards the center (that is, closer to witness marks being lined up); if still right, you'll have to move the sight a bit more to the right. LocTite blue will yield under pressure, so it's perfect for holding the sight in place but not resisting when you use a punch/hammer. Just tweak it between range trips, right or left, until you are happy with the way your shots hit. Remember to be methodical and keep notes at the range when you are calibrating your sight post and left/right error (at least until you have the info you need ..... then blast away, that's what Mosins are great for).

Check out surplusrifle.com for an amazing source of practical info and helpful members, and also 7.62X54r.net for historical info on Mosins - and listen to MilSurp Collector and the other knowledgeable posters on CalGuns.