I went to the range this weekend with a buddy, and he let me pop off a few in his MN. That was some serious firepower and I liked it. I'm thinking about getting one for use as a deer rifle. I checked my local shop, and they were selling barreled actions for $60. I can get an ATI stock for another $60, and a scope and a mount for around $100.



So, I guess the question is, should I even bother, or should I just get a "real" deer rifle? What says the hive?





Mike F

Well - I was thinking about the same - nice to find an old style rifle that could serve a dual purpose.

Another rifle to consider - is the Swiss K31 7.5 Swiss Schmidt Rubin  - somewhat of a better deer rifle, and will be a bit harder to find cheap ammo for it.

I think the MN is easier to find ammo - one option is to go to AIM - a sponsor for the rifle with stock for 99.xx dollars.

I think Boyds has a nice stock - not quite a drop in for under 100 dollars. Worth checking out.

Brad -

If you want a deer rifle, buy a deer rife.  A remington 700, or savage 110 will better suit those needs.

If you want a Mosin Nagant, buy a complete one from AIM or Centerfire, or JG sales for $80-90.  Enjoy your piece of history.

For ammunition sake alone I would recommend against the MN budget deer rifle.  Pick a more common US hunting caliber and I think you'll be much happier.

You're also getting a much nicer trigger, stock, action feel, and scope mounting options with a traditional hunting rifle.  All worth the money IMHO.

I say buy a complete milsurp, run some good hunting loads through it. If it doesnt do what you want or you don't like it get rid of it on the EE

Right now, you can get a brand new Savage Edge, or a Stevens 200 (almost the same as Savage model 10 and outstanding for the money!), with a scope for around $350, or less, OTD. Both will likely be much more accurate out of the box and with less messing around.

Thanks for the sanity check, guys.

What he said.

You'd be starting at ~$220 for the MN, without a scope, and you'd have no guarantee that it'd shoot well.

With the commercial offerings, you at least have some recourse if it doesn't shoot.

The K31 is simply amazing.  The Nagants have power, perhaps, but the precision of a K31 is incredible.  If you had to buy a comparably-accurate Rem700 in .308, you'd spend $800.  With the K31, you're in for a quarter of that, plus you get a removable magazine, better bolt manipulation and better irons.  So what if ammo is 50 cents a pop?  How much is .308Win?  I figure it's a wash.

If I had to grab any rifle out of my safe to shoot a deer with right now?  K31, no contest.  And just keep it standard.  The irons are plenty good enough out to ~300-400 yards.  Beyond that, the requirement to hold over for windage means I'd rather have something adjustable, but I get the feeling I could still do it if I took the time to really learn the sights.  But how many deer shots need to be taken at 300 yards?

Good advice in this thread...



HOWEVER.



You should still buy a milsurp 91/30 just to have one... or three.

I agree! I need an MN, a Mauser, and a Garand for the historical aspects of each.



 

You can always pull the bullets and reload with something else.  Any bullet for the 7.62x39, 7.7 Jap, or .303 Enfield will work.  Hornady, Sierra, Remington, et al make some very good bullets in .311.

pretty much, you can pick up 30-06, 308, 270, 30-30,, etc in pretty much Anytown USA, not always 7.62x54mmR

plus sporterizing Mosins is a pain in the neck, and the price for parts/labor you'd probably spend less money on either a decent used deer rifle or a new Marlin XL7 or XS7, Savage Edge, or Stevens 200

IM sent