Rusty mosin

[NapalmCheese]

Bought a mosin the other day as kind of a spur of the moment "why not" sort of venture. I finally got around to figuring out how to disassemble and clean it only to find a couple of decent rust spots on the bottom of the barrel. I imagine it's bad enough to warrant not shooting, now I just need to figure out what to do with the rest of it. It's a nice feeling hex action, but I don't think it's worth sporterizing (by either cutting the barrel or rebarreling and chambering for something else).

What do ya'll think? Pull the pin, put the bayonet on it and make it a wall hanger?

This section goes from 17 - 19 inches down the barrel.

IMG_20130422_154326_676.jpg by napalmcheese, on Flickr

Here's a few more shots

http://www.flickr.com/photos/napalmcheese/sets/72157633308030714/

[Chaos47]

While yes thats pretty bad, it does not look too deep. Probably would be fine to shoot.

[mosinnagantm9130]

How deep is the pitting? I've seen far worse than that on M/Ns before.

[NapalmCheese]

As best as I can manage with the calipers I have the deepest pitting seems to be up to 0.40mm at the worst, average seems to be closer to 0.25mm (or thereabouts). Barrel thickness at the muzzle looks like about 3mm (3.03 mm read on some cheapy plastic calipers).

[yatzee982]

It doesn't look all that bad, but then again if it splits or ruptures then what is your hand worth to you ? That's not a risk I would take when there are plenty of other Mosins still out there. Wall hanger is an option but you could also get it re-barreled if the rifle really "speaks" to you. In either case it would be a good idea to get it checked out by a competent gun smith. Where there is some rust there could be more ... best of luck !

[NapalmCheese]

Welp, I pulled the whole thing apart, Mosin's are easy to disassemble I found, and gave it a better inspection. That's the only area with any 'real' rust (that is not just a thin surface rust that wipes off with a little WD-40). I put the 0000 steel wool to work, got the rust out (I think, I'll probably do it again later) and started searching the web. I've been gathering C&R guns for a while but this is my first milsurp, I'm mostly a shotgun guy and shotguns tend to either be rust buckets or pristine. Anyway, consensus on the internet seems to be that external barrel pitting of the type I'm seeing is really common with milsurps and unless it's REALLY deep shouldn't be a cause for worry. I'll do some more research and decide what I'm going to do. Having some red dot around I may just make up a bunch of gallery loads and shoot on the cheap and easy. Thanks for the advice all.

Now to start thinking about casting bullets.... haha

[Lucky Scott]

I would shoot it.

[C&Rtrader]

i have seen way way worse... it is a mosin after all

[emptybottle151]

[NapalmCheese]

Haha, I think I'm seeing a trend.

[russt]

Shoot it!

[mosinnagantm9130]

Yeah, I'd shoot it.

[Alexjr1967]

I'd be willing to help you out and buy it off of you as a wall hanger ... Say $50 big ones...Haha

But as others have expressed I'd shoot it

[Jeff L]

I hope the bore is not that pitted.

[NapalmCheese]

I hope the bore is not that pitted.

The bore isn't terrible; worn, but the rifling exists and no large pits. I'm agreeing with everyone else, I'll get it out to the range before too long and shoot it like I stole it.