I was wondering if there are any sourses for mosin nagant bbl's. Or if it is even possible to have one rebarreled. I have one here that "bubba" got ahold of with his hack saw. It was given to me for free so its no big deal, if it wouldn't cost too much it could be made into a shooter...... whatever....

got any ideas? maybe its just a tomato stake...

brick

You could probably get a replacement barrel from www.gunpartscorp.com/.  However, it would have to be installed by someone knowledgeable (like a gunsmith) with the appropriate headspacing gauges.

I doubt the cost would be worth it, considering that complete Moisen Nagents (around here, at least) can be found for less than $100.

Assuming the bore is still good and the barrel is long enough to be legal, I’d just clean it up, add sights if need be, and shoot it.

Or sell it for parts.

It has been done before, just not too often here in the US.  Mosin based sporters are/were popular in Finland & Russia.  Rebarrelled to 6.5x54R or other weird metric calibers.  How's your Finnish or Russian?  You might try the discussion boards at www.mosin-nagant.net/  I seem to recall seeing a Mosin sporter someone had done over there....heavy bull barrel, butterknife bolt handle, scope mount, custom laminated stock...real sweet.

With that big bolt face you might be able to go to 45-70, now THAT would be cool!  I haven't rebarreled a Mosin before and don't have the tooling.


McBalming

I do remember reading on the mosim board awhile back, there is a shop out west that is doing 45/70 conversions on Mosin actions and they work quite well, A slightly larger bolt head and maybe a mod to the mag box and a new bbl are are about all you need..

Hotchkiss's design is actually what Moisin Nagant built. I have a Hotchkiss reproduction in .40-65 (same case as a .45-70) (single shot, the magazine tube in the buttstock is hard to make work). It has a Douglas #8 contour octagon barrel (heavy as sin). Looks sweet. Have to wait for warmer weather, now.

I found a barrel for a russian 91/30 for $15,  lol,  or numrich wants almost 50 bucks for a 91/30 bbl or a Finn m39 bbl... could someone give me an idea what it would cost to have the bbl replaced. I don't have any money in this yet so if it wouldn't cost to much I think it would be worth it. The receiver and all the rest of the parts are in great shape, lots of blueing left and very little wear. Its not like its my main rifle, its just a goofy project... something to do.... the 45/70 conversion sounds cool but i think its more thsan i want to get into.

A slightly larger bolt head and maybe a mod to the mag box and a new bbl are are about all you need..

(Note, all of my measurements were taken with my rifle and with rounds I had around.)

The existing bolt head is 0.655" wide.  The width of the part of the bolt that's around the rim of the brass is 0.035".  The rim on the 7.62.x54R brass is 0.579" wide, and the rim on the 45/70 brass is 0.605" wide.  You'd have to open-up the bolt by about 0.013" all of the way around.   That would leave only 0.022" of thickness on the bolt head around the rim of the brass.  There might be enough steel left.  The rim on a 45/70 is also thicker, so you'd probably have to do some work on the extractor.  Tapco carries the bolt heads for only $9.99 each, so you could afford to practise.

Converting the magazine looks doable.  You'd also have to open-up the bottom of the receiver a little.  I tried to cycle some 45/70 rounds with the magazine removed, and it looked like a few minutes with a Dremel would be all that you would need.  The magwell narrows towards the front, so you would have to expand the sheetmetal magwell.  A flat surface and a big hammer device (BHD) might be all you need. Tapco carries them for $7.99 each or $15 for ten, so you could afford to make a few mistakes.  You'd also have to do some Dremel work on the stock to get the expanded magwell to fit.  The magwell probably wouldn't look nice, but I'm sure it could be made to work.

Feeding the round into the chamber seems like, other than actually finding and installing the barrel, it would be the hard part.  You would have to come-up with some way to get the 45/70 round aimed just right to get it to fit into the chamber.  Even with rounds using pointed tips, I couldn't get it to feed.  The edge of the chamber dented the lead.z

I found a barrel for a russian 91/30 for $15...the 45/70 conversion sounds cool but i think its more thsan i want to get into.

OK, just rebarreling.  As I understand it, the Mosin barrels are threaded into the receiver.  I've heard that some Mosin barrels are very (too) easy to remove and others can be very difficult.  The headspace and position of the sights are controlled by where the barrel shoulder meets the receiver.  So, you twist the new barrel onto the receiver until the shoulder touches.  If it's about 5 to 10 degrees short of where it needs to be (look at the sights), it's perfect.  Torque it down until the sights are vertical.  The headspace will probably be right, but check it anyway.  I haven't seen any 7.62x54R gauges, so the cheap hack of putting a couple of layers of tape on the back of a round might be your only choise.  It headspaces between the bolt, the rim of the brass, and the back of the barrel.  If you didn't have to use much torque to get the barrel in the right place, you can use a hammer to expand the shoulder on the barrel.  If you can't get it turned enough, you can file down the shoulder.  That's easier done with a lathe, but I successfully used a file on a FAL barrel.  If you get the barrel twisted to right place and the headspace is still not right, as a last resort, you can order a few of the bolt heads from Tapco for $10 each to try.  Aside: www.russian-mosin-nagant.com/clean.htm has great instructions on how to disassemble the bolt and how to check headspace.

If any of my info is incorrect, then please feel free to correct me.  I've never rebarreled one, and I have no interesting in doing it.  It's just info that I've picked-up from random reading.z

What about an S.M.L.E.? Could that be re-barreled and converted to 45/70? (My favorite caliber)

Brownells sells Clymer headspace gauges for 7.62 X 54R Russian for $30 each!

While Moisen Nagants can be tricked out nicely, IMHO you’re just not going to be able make a silk purse out of that sow’s ear!!

Quoted: What about an S.M.L.E.? Could that be re-barreled and converted to 45/70? (My favorite caliber)

Sounds doable except for feeding problems with the magazine.  

If you want to convert a military bolt gun to .45-70, the perfect solution is the Siamese Mauser.  It is based on the Mauser 98 action except that it was designed to handle a rimmed cartridge (the 8 X 50R and 8 X 52R Siamese rounds).  

When these rifles were introduced in the States about 30 years ago, they were often used to build .45-70 rifles.  Nowadays they aren’t very common – I saw a very used one in 8 X 52R at a local gunstore a few months ago for about $250.