Hello,
Properly set up, the Mosin has some serious range and power, falling in between the 7.62x51 and the .30-06. It's becoming increasingly popular for deer.
Accordingly, I'm hoping this might help some folks in this thread.
I apologize in advance for the screw heads; they were taken apart literally hundreds of times. I've since replaced them and found a proper bit for my torque wrench that will not cause damage to the new ones, even over the long-term!
Front view of the prototype that started my business...
... and the rear.
The action is shimmed and the barrel corked:
I also made some cool things like a two-stage Finn M39-style trigger. Instead of pins, it has bearings :D
You can barely see a couple bearings under the sear.
I'm not going to risk selling it though. Liability. Dangit. I will, however, share the design:
Here is one I did while taking time to record the manufacture. Please bear in mind that this is during manufacture and it does not yet have grease or bluing on it.
I may manufacture these one day if I can find an insurance provider that doesn't ask crack-smoking prices to insure the product; meantime I have no problems with folks making them for themselves. I'd advise against making them for others just because of liability.
These cannot be patented as a very similar product, the Finnish M39's trigger, has been around since at least 1939!
One company makes an arguably inferior trigger utilizing a ball bearing. It is single-stage and feels much like a S&W revolver's trigger pull. I believe but cannot prove that their use of the ball bearing is their way of modifying the design enough to patent it.
Anyway, even if this were patentable – a doubtful prospect as I said – I'm throwing the design into the public domain so that it cannot be patented due to a preexisting specimen.
This is the same reason the Ruger LCP is so similar (the same, even!) to the Kel-Tec design: Kel-Tec never patented those lil' pistols and Ruger picked it up.
I want the best manufacturers to make products I buy, not folks who think up the idea then farm it out to China to be made cheaply. There are too many awesome designs out there that are poorly executed, but nobody else can pick these up for fear of patent infringement.
If I get the time and the insurance to make these, I will. If not, somebody with a drill press and a few other tools along with a bit of skill is more than welcome to make them. My feelings won't be hurt.
As I said, this is a Finnish idea that I just improved on a bit.
This rifle is capable of this (or rather, I'm capable of doing this, with my 20/55 sight; I'm sure the rifle's much better):
I had to work for that group, but as long as I have a target I can see, I can do about that.
I know what these rifles can do and I love to see folks wring them out. Heck, a Finnish M39 had to have at least a 1.3MOA capability to be accepted into service!
Josh
