The Russian Mosin Nagant Forum

Thought someone here might be able to help. I have a yugo reworked 98 Mauser. I like old 98s but every one I come across has a shot out berral. The one I have is the same way. Great looking gun but it key holes at 100 yards. No pitting just rounded worn out rifling.

I'd like to be able to shoot it. I could slug the bore and use a sized bullet but I was wondering if anyone has tried paper patching bullets for worn out bores? That seems like it might work.

I paper patch .45-70 black powder rounds so it wouldn't be hard. Just wanted to see if anyone has ever given it a shot.

Worn rifling, or worn crown ? Years of improper use of the steel cleaning rods scraping in and out of the muzzle tend to ruin the crown fairly quickly. This is the reason the Russians and Finn's couterbored many rifles. In the case of your rifle you might try cast lead bullets, but if the crown is worn enough nothing will help it and it's now a wallhanger.

Millsurp rifles should never by bought with the idea that they will shoot at all never mind well. Buy them for the history and if they do OK on the range then that's just an extra benefit. I never expect any milsurp rifle I acquire to shoot anything but keyholes and I expect them all to fail headspace. If that happened with a new commercial sporter I would raise all kinds of hell because I buy such things with only one expectation, that they will shoot well, new rifles have no history so who cares about that. Milsurp on the other hand I buy for the storys they can tell, the history they were a part of, if they fail to shoot who cares, if I must shoot accurately my sporters have that covered. I would only get upset if the seller specifically told me the rifle shot extra special well and had perfect bore and headspace, then charged me more because of it, and I later found it shot like a shotgun.

I have a few guns i keep around just because i like them but for the most part i don't keep guns that I'm not going to shoot. I'm a collector but not to that extent. Half the fun for me is getting old guns to shoot and reloading for them.

The issue with this gun is that i know that no one is going to take it off my hands in the condition that it's in. I've been kicking around the idea of getting it re barreled. Not something I would normally do but it's just going to collect dust otherwise.

The moment I find someone who will sell me a .32-20 barrel it's getting a new life as a groundhog gun.

Turner Kirkland from Dixie Gun Works had a solution, cast some small round balls, fill the case with black powder and thumb press the ball down into the case neck compressing the powder. Simple, impossible to overload with real BP, and the round ball is much more forgiving of crap bores than FMC bullets. Dixie will custom make you a mold to the exact specifications you need and it's not expensive. .323 round ball, or whatever the bore slugs out to.

JYD that is a good idea. I do this for a short range gallery load in 45 Colt. I use a .454" ball over Trail Boss and at 7 yards they will shoot one ragged hole. At 15 the group is starting to open up. I will have to try this in a rifle. Double 00 Buck shot is, 330" on Graf and Sons.
Burrhead