I wanted to say before you jumped into the article:

I know there are going to be people that read this and say - "why spend $300 to build a sporterized milsurp rifle? And an m44 carbine none the less; that is like putting a wedding dress on a sow! You could go out and purchase a complete, brand-new, scoped Savage 110 for around the same price and it would shoot better!"

This all may be true, but remember folks, getting there is half the fun!

Prior to this article I had never sporterized a milsurp rifle to a high degree. I have installed triggers, replaced rear and front sights, and even installed Long Eye Relief (LEF) scopes. But these tasks did not modify the subject rifles in a permanent way; at least not in a way that could be easily seen with the naked eye.

Lil' Black Beauty’s prior incarnation, before meeting me, had been a Romanian m44.  Her obvious flaw or imperfection? Someone had done a very poor job trying to remove her bayonet lug. They cut it off without cleaning up the mess they had created (sanding, polishing, and reblueing).

The test bed for several prior Surplusrifle.com articles; you’ve known her as the Mojo aperture sighted m44 and her latest stage outing was an LEF scope on an S&K scope mount.

She was cheap ($49) to begin with and I hold no inclination that she is a collector’s piece. All that being said, she shoots really well. The old girl has held a special place in my heart and I decided it was time for us to make one last trek down the sporterizing row for Surplusrifle.com.

What I wanted to do with her -

1. I wanted to install a Monte Carlo sporter stock on her;

2. Install a standard Weaver style scope mount, rings,  and a standard scope;

3. Have the bolt handle bent so as to be able to cycle properly with the new scope mount.

Like most of you, I have seen the ads showing the ATI black glass-filled nylon stocks and scope mounts for Mosin-Nagant rifles.  

I had communicated via email with a reader that claimed to have installed 30+ of the kits and never had a problem with any of them. This raised my interest, so I thought I would give it a try.

Note: Before writing this article, I had requested a sample bolt and mount kit from ATI and did not receive it until after I had actually built the carbine and had written the article. Because of the amount of time that elapsed after my request I was skeptical that I would actually receive the sample and decided to purchase the parts on my own. I therefore did not feel obligated to follow my original premise for the article, which would have been to solely focus on the ATI parts. I ordered and paid for the parts and decided to use only the scope mount from the kit.

As you will see later in the article that I chose to spotlight a bolt product that I believe is exceptional and I thought brought great value and rounded out the focus of the article.

This does not mean that I think that the ATI bolt is not a good product. I have actually tried it on another Mosin-Nagant bolt and found it to be a very strong and reliable bolt handle that is easy to install.

While surfing the web I came upon Jim Roberts, the Boltman's website. Jim specializes in bending Mauser and Mosin-Nagant straight bolts. From the pictures, I liked what I saw and his prices are very reasonable. I decided to expand the scope (not an intended pun, but I like a good laugh) of the article and include his bolt. I packaged up my bolt and sent it off to him to be modified.

"We offer two styles of these bolts, so you can choose just what you want for your needs. We offer a "sniper" bolt that is made in the same style as the original sniper bolts used on the Mosin-Nagant, as well as making a more sporty swept type bolt for hunters and shooters. Both are strong, well made, and have been widely praised by collectors, shooters, and hunters alike. These are quality items done by a skilled machinist and will fit any 30 cal Mosin-Nagant." - Jim Roberts, the Boltman

Jim Roberts aka Boltman's Contact Information

Web Site: http://www.mosinnagant.net/Boltman/Boltman.html

Email: jhrobert@charter.net

Getting the Girl Ready for the Ball

I started the project by making sure the carbine was pointed in a safe direction and ensuring that it was not loaded.

Once completed I proceeded with removing the front and rear handguard bands, followed by the removal of the handguard.

Excursion to Hell

Note: I had read in message forums that people would drive out the pins and the sight bases would literally just fall off the barrel. I say - Hah!

I tried to tap off the front sight base with a punch and hammer. I did this for almost an hour with absolutely NO success; accept for dinging up the rear sight base.

I tried soaking the front sight base in a tub of Ed's Red homemade solvent. I first did this for a couple of hours - to no avail. Then I tried it over night - to no avail.

Note: I don't give up easily. Some would call this an admirable trait. My wife calls it "annoying" and some other more colorful things.

Exasperated, I went into the message forums and searched for more information. I read that the m44's sight bases may be either epoxied or soldered on to the barrel.

I had a propane torch. You can see where this was leading? I heated the front and rear sight bases and then with great anticipation tried to tap them off. AFTER AN HOUR OF THIS, I COULD NOT SEE ANY MOVEMENT AT ALL!

I decided to take a break and think about what I was doing.

The next morning I was at the hardware store and explained my dilemma to the friendly hardware specialist. He said "use a cold chisel".

This falls into the "use the correct tool for the job" category. The front sight base came off with some serious tapping, but it finally came off.

The rear base was a little more difficult and I had to use the rotary tool to cut a couple of slits in the sight base. Then with the use of the cold chisel, it tapped away from the barrel in two pieces.

The question you have to ask yourself, if you are committed to removing the front and rear sights, is how much time are you willing to spend on this and do you have the correct tools for the job? You never know, your sight bases may just tap off the barrel after removing the pins.  But if they don't, then plan on spending many hours pounding away.

Note: As an added bonus - because of the incessant pounding and other noises emanating from the garage you may find your spouse standing in the garage door asking you - "How much longer do you think this is going to take?"  But, only if you are really lucky!

The ATI Kit and Tools

The ATI scope mount & bolt kit comes with mostly everything you will need to install the scope mount. I have to say the scope mount by itself is worth the price of the entire kit.

If you shop around for a comparable Weaver style mount for the Mosin-Nagant you will find nothing less than $50.

As show in figure 11, you get two drill bits, a 10-32 tap, and the machine screws to fasten the mount to the receiver.

The #11 bit is used to make starter holes in the receiver, while the #21 is the bit that is used to drill the holes completely through the receiver.

The 10-32 tap bit is what you use to cut threads in the receiver's drilled holes. You will have to purchase a tap handle similar to the one shown in figure 12.  The prices of a tap handle ranges from $5 and up depending on the quality.

Note: If you plan on using the tap handle for other projects then you may want to spend a little more. The one I picked up had a tendency to allow the bit to spin at the end of the tapping of each hole, no matter how much I tightened the tool. It worked, but not as well as I had hoped.

Copyright © 2001 by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

The ATI mount is a well designed mount that is manufactured specifically for the Mosin-Nagant rifle or carbine. It is held in place by two screws at the front of the receiver. Prior to installing the mount the fact of only having the mount fastened at the front of the receiver by two screws concerned me. Later after I had installed the mount I was able to put to rest any fears I had.

As show in figures 13 and 15 you can see that there is a tapered area at the rear of the scope mount that allows for easy loading of cartridges and discharge of spent cases. 

Note: You will no longer be able to use stripper clips to load the rifle or carbine after installing the mount.

Installing the ATI Scope Mount

I was actually nervous about installing the mount in front of the camera. I had not performed any dry runs or had even done this task before. I was afraid that I might actually permanently damage the receiver. To top it all off - ATI's disclaimer at the beginning of the instructions did not leave me with a lot of confidence.

I overcame my fears and continued. The conclusion I finally came to is that as long as I followed the mount placement instructions, provided by ATI, then I would be all right.

ATI's instructions state -

The instructions also recommend using a c-clamp to hold the mount securely to the receiver while drilling. I tried this and discovered that if I followed the pictures in the instructions that I could never get the assembly to sit flat on a drill press (which is also recommended). I also reasoned that if I had left the trigger on the receiver, then I would have had the same problem. Everything I have read about performing this task on any rifle is that you want the receiver and mount sitting flat and perpendicular to the drill bit. I found a web article that addressed this problem and suggested using very stout rubber bands to hold the mount on the receiver while drilling. I tried this and found it worked really well. The mount sat flat and squared with the receiver the rubber bands held it tightly in place while I drilled the holes. 

Note: I was able to make sure the mount was squared with the receiver by taking my caliper and opening the jaws so that I could place the lower jaw on the square part of the bottom of the receiver and the top jaw on the top of the scope mount.

ATI's instructions describe this process as -

I then oiled each of the drilled holes with machine oil.

ATI's instructions describe this process as -

I placed a small amount in the holes so as not to seep into the receiver once I installed the screws. I then placed the mount back on the receiver and installed and tightened both screws.

ATI's instructions describe this process as -

Stock Assembly

The ATI Mosin Nagant Monte Carlo Stock For 7.62x54R is described as -

Fits all models of 7.62x54R rifles and carbines. Transform a Mosin Nagant into an appealing hunting rifle without gunsmithing or modification. Checkered buttstock and forearm, Monte Carlo style cheek rest, rubber butt pad and sling swivel studs included. Length of pull 13.5". Made in USA of black, glass-filled nylon. Mfg Unconditional Lifetime Warranty. - ATI

I installed and tightened the rear guard tang screw at the top rear of the receiver.

Note: The ATI stock does not have an upper handguard and does not require or make use of the handguard bands of the original m44 stock.

Installing the Scope

The Bolt

Jim, I received the bolt today and I have got to tell you - you do
excellent work! My words cannot contain my excitement. This thing is a beautiful work of art. I am almost afraid to shoot it or get it dirty. It cycles very smooth. I have enclosed a picture of the final product
and will send you a link when the article is finished. I am going to take it to the range this weekend and finish the final part of the article - the range report.

Jamie

Jim suggested that he would send a bolt body that was designed to specifically fit the ATI stock and scope setup that I was using. For speeds sake, he sent me a bolt body that he had already worked up and polished. He then assembled the bolt body with my bolt components. Jim even stamped the new bolt body with my original serial numbers.

Even without the camera's flash, I was not able to get a clear picture of the bolt with the camera. It is just too bright! I ended up using the scanner to get the images in figures 39 and 40.

I think figure 41 really shows off the beauty of Jim's work. Notice the contrast between the black ATI stock and the boltman's bolt.  Jim's bolt handles are an excellent product and I would not hesitate to use his bolts on any of my rifle projects.

Jim Roberts aka the Boltman's Contact Information

Web Site: http://www.mosinnagant.net/Boltman/Boltman.html

Email: jhrobert@infionline.net

Lil' Black Beauty

Range Report

Usually I load my own 7.62x54r, but I was recently at a store and found the Wolf Performance Ammunition 7.62x54r 200 gr copper FMJ Non-corrosive Berdan Primed Ammo for $5.97 per box. Really kind of hard to pass up!  $.29 per round is around what it cost me to load. So I picked up 5 boxes for the article. The only down side is that the Wolf cases are not reloadable. But for the price you really can't complain.

Mosin-Nagants have always been somewhat tricky for me to load cartridges into the magazine. I expected that the scope would make it an even more difficult task.

I was wrong. I found that I had absolutely no problem loading cartridges. Actually it seemed easier. The difference was I was loading them into the receiver at a side angle instead of directly from the top.

I also expected the recoil to be substantial as it usually is with an m44, but adding into the formula a 200 grain bullet and I thought it would surely kick like hell.

I was also wrong about this assumption. The ATI stock with it's butt pad made the recoil very manageable and not an issue whatsoever.

The bolt cycled smoothly and was easy to operate.

I made sure that the scope mount and rings were tight.

I fired a couple of shots into the burm and checked the mount and ring screws again for tightness.

It did not take me long to get the scope sighted in. I picked a spot on the burm to the left of my target and fired.

I had the scope set all the way to 9x. This setting allowed me to see the point of impact of my fired rounds and adjust the scope's windage and elevation accordingly. I find this method easiest when first trying to sight in a scope. Once I had it in the general area of the point of aim, I moved to the paper and made the final adjustments.

I fired a total of 80 rounds and all targets looked like figures 45, 46, and 47. I was very pleased with Lil' Black Beauty's performance.

Overall she was a joy to shoot. The only problems I encountered were that the safety is somewhat awkward to operate with the scope installed (not that a Mosin-Nagant safety is easy to operate to begin with).  Also, the floor plate latch kept on coming undone and I would spill my loaded cartridges onto the shooting table. I temporarily fixed this with a small piece of cardboard pressed behind the latch. I was able to permanently repair this malfunction when I cleaned her at home later.

1. I will definitely install a Huber Concepts Mosin-Nagant trigger when they are released for sale;
2. I would like to get the muzzle crowned;
3. I would like to install a good muzzle brake to tame Lil' Black Beauty's wild bucking due to the recoil of shooting the full size 7.62x54r cartridge.