Mosin M91/30 Front sight problems
- King Johhny
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Mosin M91/30 Front sight problems
I have an M91/30 That has issues with the front sight. When I took it to the range I would get it to hit the bullseye @ 50yds 1,2, maybe three times and then it would be all out of whack, hitting either far left or far right. is there a way I can remove the front sight and clean it? it is obviously moving around either a little or lot with each shot. I have some guntite and I was thinking that as soon as I got inn the bullseye I would put some on. or should I boresight it first?
Thanks
Thanks
M91/30 1940 Izhevsk
Oct 1944 Springfield Armory M1 Garand
Czech post war K98k
Izawa Jyuko Series 9 Type 99
SMLE No.1 Mk.III 1918 "peddled scheme"
Oct 1944 Springfield Armory M1 Garand
Czech post war K98k
Izawa Jyuko Series 9 Type 99
SMLE No.1 Mk.III 1918 "peddled scheme"
Re: Mosin M91/30 Front sight problems
Have you tried pecking on it to see how loose it is?
“Freedom is the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.” George Orwell, English novelist, essayist, and critic, 1903-1950
Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.
C. S. Lewis
Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.
C. S. Lewis
- steelbuttplate
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Re: Mosin M91/30 Front sight problems
Have you tried taking a Valium before you go to the range?
" There are two kinds of people, the good people and the ones that aggravate the hell out of the good people"
Re: Mosin M91/30 Front sight problems
Depending on how loose it is, different suggestions to a fix would be appropriate.
“Freedom is the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.” George Orwell, English novelist, essayist, and critic, 1903-1950
Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.
C. S. Lewis
Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.
C. S. Lewis
- Junk Yard Dog
- Owner/Founder

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Re: Mosin M91/30 Front sight problems
Drugs and guns? I think notsteelbuttplate wrote:Have you tried taking a Valium before you go to the range?
Leave it as it is. The ages have been at work on it and man can only mar it.
Don't hit at all if it is honorably possible to avoid hitting; but never hit soft.
Theodore Roosevelt
Don't hit at all if it is honorably possible to avoid hitting; but never hit soft.
Theodore Roosevelt
- steelbuttplate
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Re: Mosin M91/30 Front sight problems
Easy BigDog, I wasn't advocating becoming a drug addict, sorry bout your friend. I'm just saying If the rifle will hit the first 3 on target the 4th and 5th might be getting jerked and not squeezed., ....SBP....62 Mosins and about to bid on an Enfield.
" There are two kinds of people, the good people and the ones that aggravate the hell out of the good people"
- Junk Yard Dog
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Re: Mosin M91/30 Front sight problems
He was the competition for local milsurps, he wasn't a friend of mine, but I had no ill will toward him. He was a mess from all the pills these head shrinkers proscribe like candy these days. He hurt only himself and his family, didn't even leave a note. Enough of my friends are dead this winter, but so far not from harming themselves. I am waiting to find out what the family will do with the guns, the ones not covered with body fluids, they will probably end up at the local gun shop on consignment, the family will need the money, insurance doesn't pay out when you blow your own head off. I think I will just leave them alone, I would be thinking of brains every time I picked it up, but he is said to have had some nice Mauser's.
Leave it as it is. The ages have been at work on it and man can only mar it.
Don't hit at all if it is honorably possible to avoid hitting; but never hit soft.
Theodore Roosevelt
Don't hit at all if it is honorably possible to avoid hitting; but never hit soft.
Theodore Roosevelt
- King Johhny
- Posts: 240
- Joined: Wed Feb 18, 2015 4:07 pm
- Location: North/Central FL
Re: Mosin M91/30 Front sight problems
I've been able to move it(that's how I sighted it in) but like I said every time I get it sighted the recoil knocks it way off. I know its not me because im not a terrible shot. I also think it moves in the back of the car on the way there and back(the range is off a dirt road).millman wrote:Have you tried pecking on it to see how loose it is?
M91/30 1940 Izhevsk
Oct 1944 Springfield Armory M1 Garand
Czech post war K98k
Izawa Jyuko Series 9 Type 99
SMLE No.1 Mk.III 1918 "peddled scheme"
Oct 1944 Springfield Armory M1 Garand
Czech post war K98k
Izawa Jyuko Series 9 Type 99
SMLE No.1 Mk.III 1918 "peddled scheme"
- Junk Yard Dog
- Owner/Founder

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- Joined: Sat Aug 27, 2011 12:54 pm
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Re: Mosin M91/30 Front sight problems
cut a small shim from beer can metal, remove the front sight blade, slip the shim down in the dovetail, tap the sight blade back in place. Most of the time this will hold it, if not then aquire some extra sight blades and try them until one fits, there is some variation in the size of the sight dovetails.
Leave it as it is. The ages have been at work on it and man can only mar it.
Don't hit at all if it is honorably possible to avoid hitting; but never hit soft.
Theodore Roosevelt
Don't hit at all if it is honorably possible to avoid hitting; but never hit soft.
Theodore Roosevelt
- King Johhny
- Posts: 240
- Joined: Wed Feb 18, 2015 4:07 pm
- Location: North/Central FL
Re: Mosin M91/30 Front sight problems
I know this may sound stupid but do you remove the sight just by knocking it off? I tried that once with no luck.Junk Yard Dog wrote:cut a small shim from beer can metal, remove the front sight blade, slip the shim down in the dovetail, tap the sight blade back in place. Most of the time this will hold it, if not then aquire some extra sight blades and try them until one fits, there is some variation in the size of the sight dovetails.
M91/30 1940 Izhevsk
Oct 1944 Springfield Armory M1 Garand
Czech post war K98k
Izawa Jyuko Series 9 Type 99
SMLE No.1 Mk.III 1918 "peddled scheme"
Oct 1944 Springfield Armory M1 Garand
Czech post war K98k
Izawa Jyuko Series 9 Type 99
SMLE No.1 Mk.III 1918 "peddled scheme"
- Junk Yard Dog
- Owner/Founder

- Posts: 48861
- Joined: Sat Aug 27, 2011 12:54 pm
- Location: New York
Re: Mosin M91/30 Front sight problems
The best way is the Elby sight tool, just click the banner at the top of any board page. This is the easiest and safest way to remove the sight, they can be broken by banging them with a hammer.
Leave it as it is. The ages have been at work on it and man can only mar it.
Don't hit at all if it is honorably possible to avoid hitting; but never hit soft.
Theodore Roosevelt
Don't hit at all if it is honorably possible to avoid hitting; but never hit soft.
Theodore Roosevelt
- King Johhny
- Posts: 240
- Joined: Wed Feb 18, 2015 4:07 pm
- Location: North/Central FL
Re: Mosin M91/30 Front sight problems
I will look into that. thanksJunk Yard Dog wrote:The best way is the Elby sight tool, just click the banner at the top of any board page. This is the easiest and safest way to remove the sight, they can be broken by banging them with a hammer.
M91/30 1940 Izhevsk
Oct 1944 Springfield Armory M1 Garand
Czech post war K98k
Izawa Jyuko Series 9 Type 99
SMLE No.1 Mk.III 1918 "peddled scheme"
Oct 1944 Springfield Armory M1 Garand
Czech post war K98k
Izawa Jyuko Series 9 Type 99
SMLE No.1 Mk.III 1918 "peddled scheme"
- steelbuttplate
- Posts: 3938
- Joined: Sat Nov 02, 2013 2:24 pm
- Location: Foxhole in the Smoky Mtns. N.C.
Re: Mosin M91/30 Front sight problems
If it's that loose a brass punch and small hammer should do it. SBP
" There are two kinds of people, the good people and the ones that aggravate the hell out of the good people"
- Titanium Hammer
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Re: Mosin M91/30 Front sight problems
Junk Yard Dog wrote:The best way is the Elby sight tool, just click the banner at the top of any board page. This is the easiest and safest way to remove the sight, they can be broken by banging them with a hammer.
Re: Mosin M91/30 Front sight problems
I had the same problem with my sight when I went to the range with my mosin. In fact, about 3/4 of the way into the day the front sight actually popped off my rifle and landed in the dirt nearby!! I have been at a crossroads on what to do about it; it must be fixed but I hate to altar these historical rifles. By the way the mosin was incredibly accurate when the day began(two consecutive hits on 2-liter jugs placed 148 paces away)(paces. yes, I know...), and after the sight problems I was having trouble. Seeing as I actually had my front sight fly off my weapon after a shot, I can declare with 100% confidence, the problem in both cases is not user error. Hope you find a fix to your issue.
Re: Mosin M91/30 Front sight problems
Erratic hits can be caused by a million different things are you sure it is the sight? Check the action to make sure the screws holding it in the stock are both tight. I use a brass or steel punch while backing the sight base with some strong object to move or remove sights from the side. It is not made to push around with your hands and if it will move that way it needs to be staked with a prick punch to hold it in place. I have never used the Elby sight tools but it will probably work just fine if you want to buy one. Either way staking the sight blade with a prick punch is the way the Mosin armorers used to hold a sight blade in place after zeroing the sight. It worked fine for them and is what I have always used to hold a sight in place. Good Luck setting it where you want it! Bill
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FineRedMist
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Re: Mosin M91/30 Front sight problems
I don't know the details of this guy's mental health as well as people closer to him, perhaps, but just wanted to interject a thought. There's some chance, I would think, that if the poor guy was being treated by a psychiatrist he may have already had some issues; it might not have been the fault of the mess, at least not alone. And I can tell you with 100% certainty that some those pills can make the difference between a normal person and a pretty seriously impaired one.Junk Yard Dog wrote:He was a mess from all the pills these head shrinkers proscribe like candy these days.
If anybody out there is struggling, get help. Problems with serotonin, epinephrine, norepinephrine, and so on in your brain don't fix themselves. And if you're lucky, you don't have a chemistry problem and can get help some other way.
Sorry for the soapbox.
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- WeldonHunter
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Re: Mosin M91/30 Front sight problems
That's exactly what I was thinking. You need to mark the sight and it's base with either a line going between the two or maybe two dots , shoot the rifle and see if it's moved. Is the line still together on both or dots depending on what you use? Don't assume the sight is moving unless you see that it's moved. Like Bill said there's a lot of other things that could be the problem. Some rifles can even start shooting different simply because the barrel heats up.zeebill wrote:Erratic hits can be caused by a million different things are you sure it is the sight? Check the action to make sure the screws holding it in the stock are both tight. I use a brass or steel punch while backing the sight base with some strong object to move or remove sights from the side. It is not made to push around with your hands and if it will move that way it needs to be staked with a prick punch to hold it in place. I have never used the Elby sight tools but it will probably work just fine if you want to buy one. Either way staking the sight blade with a prick punch is the way the Mosin armorers used to hold a sight blade in place after zeroing the sight. It worked fine for them and is what I have always used to hold a sight in place. Good Luck setting it where you want it! Bill
- WeldonHunter
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Re: Mosin M91/30 Front sight problems
See my comment above. I just saw this. Do you mean you tried to remove the sight from this rifle and couldn't? This may confirm what Bill and I were talking about. If it's that hard to remove it probably isn't moving. Do what I suggested above before you do anything else. Well besides checking the two action screws to see if they're tight like Bill said.King Johhny wrote:I know this may sound stupid but do you remove the sight just by knocking it off? I tried that once with no luck.Junk Yard Dog wrote:cut a small shim from beer can metal, remove the front sight blade, slip the shim down in the dovetail, tap the sight blade back in place. Most of the time this will hold it, if not then aquire some extra sight blades and try them until one fits, there is some variation in the size of the sight dovetails.
- Junk Yard Dog
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Re: Mosin M91/30 Front sight problems
From what I hear he ended up addicted to something he was prescribed, and someone was feeding him more and more pills. I suspect some sort of midlife issue as he was not a vet, or 9-11 survivor. I don't think the pills caused his action directly, but they couldn't have been helping either. This close to NYC we have many psychiatrist's and other mental health professionals in residence, some of them are my customers, or people I know for other reasons, and I deal with them outside of the room with the comfortable couch. There are some serious morons in that bunch, people who can't follow simple directions , I wouldn't trust them to pour piss out of a boot even with the instructions written under the heel never mind mix around in someone's head. I remember after Newtown one Doc who shall remain nameless asks me what kind of gun he should by, I tell him since he never held a weapon before that a nice .22 rifle would do the trick to start. He runs to the gun shop and drops $3000 for an AR and another G for some sort of 9mm pistol, so far as I have heard both remain unfired. I ask him two months later why the AR ( I know the shop owner, we all heard about it)FineRedMist wrote:I don't know the details of this guy's mental health as well as people closer to him, perhaps, but just wanted to interject a thought. There's some chance, I would think, that if the poor guy was being treated by a psychiatrist he may have already had some issues; it might not have been the fault of the mess, at least not alone. And I can tell you with 100% certainty that some those pills can make the difference between a normal person and a pretty seriously impaired one.Junk Yard Dog wrote:He was a mess from all the pills these head shrinkers proscribe like candy these days.
If anybody out there is struggling, get help. Problems with serotonin, epinephrine, norepinephrine, and so on in your brain don't fix themselves. And if you're lucky, you don't have a chemistry problem and can get help some other way.
Sorry for the soapbox.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
" Well, after that incident with the boy in Newtown I worry about potentially violent patients" Really? Something you want to share with us about your clientele? Well shit, I have to wonder who is the Doc's Doc and what pills he is proscribing. That guy scares me worse than the regular nutters. There are a lot of Doctor feelgood's around here raking in the cash keeping neurotic city people medicated, you find this going on in any area were you have a lot of money around. Not every Shrink is a Doctor feelgood, most are professional's trying to help, it's just city's like New York that seem to generate the negative variety, and most seem to end up in the suburbs with their well heeled clients.
Leave it as it is. The ages have been at work on it and man can only mar it.
Don't hit at all if it is honorably possible to avoid hitting; but never hit soft.
Theodore Roosevelt
Don't hit at all if it is honorably possible to avoid hitting; but never hit soft.
Theodore Roosevelt



