So if I were to add a scope sight, it'd have to be a PU scope, to keep it reasonably authentic in appearance. It is possible to buy a new PU scope, complete with the mount.
They are available from Red Soldier and Optics Best Buy for about $200. Carefully cut away the edge of the stock with a Dremel tool, then drill and tap the mounting screws and it's good to go, right.Not so fast.
The PU scope is an old design and like a lot of old designs, when you move the windage or elevation adjustment on the scope, the field of view stays constant and the crosshairs move. so you could wind up with the aiming point being at the edge of the field of view of the scope.
The Russians thought of that.
Take a careful look at the base of the mount and you will see that it is a two-piece affair, with a base that is mounted to the rifle and then the scope mount locks into that. What you don't see are wedges inside. Those wedges are ground down as part of the sighting-in process so that the crosshairs are centered within the field of view for that particular rifle. The rear of the scope mount has an elevation adjustment, which is also locked in as part of the sighting-in process.
You can read about that here.
Basically, a sniper-model Nagant is sighted in with its scope as part of the manufacturing process. The Soviet gunsmiths probably dropped them into benchrests, fired them with the scope on and then, based on where it hit on the target, had charts telling them how much metal to remove for windage and how many turns to apply on the elevation screws. The rifles came to the front already sighted in, requiring (hopefuly) only minor adjustments by the snipers.
What I am getting to is this: Mounting a PU scope requires some serious gunsmithing. It might be replicatable with a laser boresight, but getting it done the right way won't be cheap.
So, I think I'll pass.
You could always go with a "Scout" type setup. I installed one on my M44 with very little hassle.
ReplyDeleteYou just drift out the roll pin that holds in the rear sight and place the new mount in its place, push the roll pin back in, and use a few brass screws to secure it to the receiver.
No permanent mods required.
Justin, how does that hold up against the recoil of your rifle? I'd think a M44 would have a bit more than a M91/30.
ReplyDeleteIf I could handle the work involved, I'd go for the PU mount. I could have a few years ago, when I had both access to a machine shop and a place to shoot it in.
Holds fine after a little bit of Loc-Tite was placed into the brass set screws.
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