i have a trunk junk MN m91/30 cut down to 18" in the original 7.62x54r, and it neither kicks too unpleasently nor handles too poorly. infact it is quite handy despite the cheap quality ATI "monte carlo" stock and the cheapy 4x NcStar scope in this older photo, shown with a MN m38 carbine for comparison. it does suffer a bit of a "mushroom cloud" but it's not to bad, it is loud though..
here's a bunch of trunk junk in a really old photo(didn't even own an AR then). the ATI "steyr scout" stock on the mauser in the bottom is a total piece of crap, as was the scope but it was what i could afford at the time. the mauser is a turkish m24(iirc) in the original 8mm(ok 7.92x57mm, why did someone start calling this 8mm and how has it become generally excepted terminology?), cut back to 16". i wish i had only cut it to 18" like the MN. it throws one hell of a fireball and kicks like a rabbid mule(though not as bad as a ruger #1 rolling block in .375 H&H mag which so far is the stoutest kicking thing i've personally fired).
the old ATI piece o' on the mauser has since been replaced with a fajen poly stock from midway(great stock for the small[actully cheaper than the ATI junk] price tag). and both the mauser and the MN now wear cheapy 2-7x illuminated pistol scopes by NcStar. they are junk optics i admit, but so far are holding their zeros well, are fairly clear and for the money hard to beat, iirc have a lifetime waranty, and when they do crap out i'm not out a lot of cash, besides i still have teh old 4x off the MN, and i plan on buying another spare or two as money permits. i couldn't and can't justify spending good $ on trunk junk guns that i have barely over $200 in each after initisl cost of the rifles, gunsmith work on the cutting and recrowning of the barrels, new stocks, decent shell carrying slings and scout scope bases... i know they're cheapy junker brush guns, but man are they handy and make damn good "handouts" in my opinion. i just need to figure out a quick cheap and easy way to add back up irons...
i love to take these guns, the mauser in particular along when several of my friends an i are off too a day at the range to shoot ARs and other EBRs. whenever one of my buddies or some fudd starts unapologetically dropping hot brass towards me or rather down the side of my face and across my head, or one of the black powder or other assorted fudd gun shooting fudds starts talking about how ARs and AKs have no use and should be banned. i like to outshoot them with ARs and then i'll sometimes run back to the truck and grab these up and 5-10 rounds later i've usually run them off with cuncussion waves, excessive decibals like thundar claps, lighting bolts from my eyes and balls of fire from my
arse muzzle
...
K.