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This was my first attempt to mount a scope on
a Mosin-Nagant or any of the Soviet m44 carbines.
There are so many m44s available today and for a pittance to
own one. I have purchased three of them for less than $60 and I
am constantly getting email from readers asking how to mount a scope
and turn them into handy little deer guns.
- The m44 is perfect for the role of a deer gun;
- It is handy, rugged, and accurate to shoot;
- It is chambered for the 7.62x54 Russian cartridge;
- The 7.62x54 Russian cartridge is close to the .308 Winchester
or .303 in performance.
This is the first of two articles on how to mount a scope on
the m44.
The first article (this article) will focus on the installation
of a "no-gunsmith" required scope mount, manufactured
by S&K scope mounts,
that allows for the installation of a "Long Eye Relief (LER)"
scope (or pistol scope). This scope and mount combination places
the m44 (somewhat) in the "Scout" category of rifles
and carbines.
Not to offend Jeff Copper, I will not try to use this term much
- but he is fairly responsible for bringing this vernacular into
our firearm vocabulary.
Note: The second article will cover installing a traditional
scope mount and standard scope on the m44 carbine. I don't know
when it will be finished as I have not received the mount yet.
S&K scope mounts are
manufactured in rural Sugar Grove, Pennsylvania - as they say on
their website - "where the hunting tradition is as old as the
forests that occupy the majority of the land area here".
The m44 S&K scope mount
used in this article is from their "Insta-mount" line
of scope mounts described as - "no-gunsmith mounts which
attach to ex-military type rifles without drilling or tapping".
S&K also carries mounts
for the following milsurp rifles:
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| For more information -
S & K scope mounts
http://www.scopemounts.com
RD 2, Box 72 E
Sugar Grove, PA 16350-9201
Telephone: (814) 489-3091
Toll Free: (800) 578-9862
Fax: (814) 489-5466
email: comments@scopemounts.com
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Figure 1 shows
the parts and tools required for this task. The firearm used is
a typical m44 carbine, with one minor difference - the bayonet lug
has been cut off and the exposed metal blued to match the rifle.
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The S&K scope mount installed in this article
replaces the carbine's rear sight leaf. I recommend removing the
bolt and making sure the carbine is unloaded before you start this
project.
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The m44's rear sight is
probably one of the easiest to remove of all the milsurp rifles.
Punch out the pin with a punch and hammer and the rear sight leaf
will fall out (as shown in figure 3). |
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Figure 4 shows
the rear sight leaf removed after removal of the pin.
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Next, remove the rear
sight leaf's spring. The spring is basically a curved flat piece
of metal that sits below the sight leaf and places upward pressure
on the sight leaf.
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Taking the punch and hammer
and placing the point of the punch in the small indent in the spring
and then tapping forward as shown in figure's 4 & 5, the
spring will easily come out. |
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I found the best way to
install the S&K scope mount
is to remove the nut the holds the mount into the rear sight frame. |
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Figure 8 shows
the retaining nut. |
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The retaining nut fits
into the undercut area of the rear of the carbine's sight frame
(as shown in figure 9).
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Slide the nut back as
far as it will move on the m44's sight frame (as shown in
figure 10). |
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Figure 11 shows
the bottom of the S&K scope
mount and how it needs to be lined up over the nut.
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Position the bottom of
the mount over the nut and slide the mount forward to line up with
the pin holes on the side of the sight frame. |
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Install the small retaining
screws, but do not tighten all of the way.
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Next finger tighten the
hex screw into the nut.
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Adjust the leveling screws so the mount is level with the barrel.
Even if the scope mount is level you will need to tighten the
screws so the scope ring cones can fit into the mount.
This also locks the mount in place so it does not drift around.
Now tighten the large hex screw on the top of the mount and the
small retaining screws on the side of the mount.
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The rings fit into the mount in a unique way (non weaver type
mount as shown in figure 16).
The cone on the bottom of the rings fit into the corresponding
holes (in the mount) and each are held in the mount by two hex screws,
one for each side of the cone.
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Separate the top and bottom
of the scope rings (as shown in figure 17).
The supplied instructions say to "mark the rings" so they are returned
to the exact post. (in the exact configuration they came in.) |
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Place the ring's cones
in the scope mount. |
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Place the hex screws (cone
screws) in the holes and tighten. |
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Then back off hex screws
1/2 turn.
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Place scope in rings and
position so you have proper eye relief (you can see a full and clear
picture in the scope). |
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Install the tops of the rings.
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Retighten the ring tops
making sure the gap on both sides is equal in distance. |
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Retighten the Hex cone
screws. |
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Figures 25 and 26
show the completed job. |
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|
 The shooting
session got off to a rocky start because I was not paying attention
to details.
First, I did not tighten the scope mount adequately and
as a result I could not figure out why my zero kept on moving. The
downside is that I did not realize this until after wasting 20 rounds
while trying to sight in the scope.
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The Zen of spending time at the range!
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Note: Can you ever really waste 20 rounds or is every
shot made, regardless of whether it hits where you want in the target,
a better shot than the one you did not make?
Pretty deep! Kind of a take-off on the "my worst day fishing..."
bumper sticker.
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Second, I wanted to move the scope's windage setting a couple
of clicks to the left and instead kept on moving the adjustment
to the right. After every adjustment I would fire a round and my
point of impact somehow kept on moving more and more to the right.
I really felt like a moron, once I figured out what I was doing
wrong. You would think as long as I have had my hands that I would
have figured out which one was my left and which one was my right!
Once I overcame all of the self-made problems and properly tightened
the scope mount and sighted in the scope, it was smooth shooting
from that point on.
The m44 with this type of scope and mount set-up is a very handy
little carbine indeed! It seems that when I grab the carbine and
pull it up to my shoulder the scope just naturally lines up perfectly
with my line of sight.
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 LER scopes
are easy to use once you get the hang of it, and that does not take
long.
Basically a LER scope allows you to hold the scope a greater
distance away from your eyes before you achieve the full field of
view.
This particular LER scope's optimal eye relief is 11" to 20"
away from your face. I actually find I like the LER scope better
than a standard scope. I don't squint as much and can comfortably
leave both eyes open if I choose.
The scope used in the article is an inexpensive
BSA Pistol Scope that I purchased for around $40 at
MidwayUSA.
They apparently are out of this model scope at the time
of this article, but I know they are readily available through other
sources.
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 No, I did
not purposely shoot a circle or a smiley face completely around
the "X" ring in figure 29. It just looks like it!
The grouping at the bottom of the 10 ring is made up of 7 shots
with 3 flyers (not bad flyers as they are still in the 10 ring).
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 For a very short carbine in overall length (40 inches
overall with a 20 inch barrel), this little scoped m44 is very accurate
at 100 yards. |
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S&K, in my opinion,
has made a very good product. The Insta-mount for the m44 is a very
easy to install and rock solid!
The S&K Insta-mount
installed in this article can be purchased for
$74 at the following
-
S & K scope mounts
http://www.scopemounts.com
RD 2, Box 72 E
Sugar Grove, PA 16350-9201
Telephone: (814) 489-3091
Toll Free: (800) 578-9862
Fax: (814) 489-5466
email:
comments@scopemounts.com
jlm ;)
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