Mosin Nagant 7.62 ????

I'll be honest. I've not taken the best care of my mosin. in fact i found that it shoots better when a bit dirty. despite the corrosive rounds, I've found no rust, barrel/firing pin is in good shape too. the 180 grain rounds from czech republic (Wolf is good too) are most accurate rounds to use, the surplus 147 grain tend to get a bit...eccentric. I've have several rounds hit the 100yd target perpendicular to the angel i shot it from...

pretty sure you bought your gun already anyway, but im drunk and needed to post...

 

Unless relative humidity is below 30-40% your bore will rust/pit and ultimately erode. You may not see rust, but the frosting or pitting will be there.

If the rifle is keyholing with surplus ball like you say, the bore is shot out. Take a cartridge and drop it bullet first into the muzzle. If it is swallowed up to the case neck, your rifle needs to be counterbored or rebarreled.

 

I bought it at the beginning of this winter and have been shooting it in 15-20% humidity, so that would make sense, i thought the same thing about the barrel, but when i put some decent rds into it, the thing shoots at a 3 inch spread at 50 yards... I'll try your test with the bullets next time im out shooting, thanks.

 

i have a couple of mosins

maybe i'm getting old, but i don't find them too fun to shoot

i'd rather rattle around all day with one of my 7.62 x 39's or my .223's

the 7.62 x 54 rattles my old bones something fierce

i suppose if i'm ever surrounded by germans in the dead of winter, the mosin may come in handy

but for plinking and having fun, heck, i'll leave the 7.62 x 54's to the masochists

imo, it's even overkill for zombie huntin' ... i prefer my 30/30 lever gun