[pennvet]

My friend and I spent a bit of this afternoon trying to zero two 91/30 snipers, without much success. It just seemed that no matter how we adjusted the scopes, we could not get any kind of reasonable hits on target. Any suggestions on how to begin? Are there any books or manuals available that would help? I'm not much of a scoped rifle shooter, I tend to shoot older M91's over iron sights, with reasonable success. I've never shot any scoped Russian military rifles, so any advice or guidance would be appreciated.

 

[gremlin1945]

Strictly from an amateur.Take the scope off and see how the rifle groups first.If it doesn't, work on the rifle.

 

[Montana Bearbait]

Are your reciever screws tight?

 

[combat32]

Start close in, I start at 25 yards with a big sheet of paper.You can lay it on a sandbag at 25 with the bolt out, look through the bore and line it up center of the target, then refer the scope to same aimpoint, this will get you a rough zero, you can refine it at a furter distance.

 

[Stalin's Ghost]

Are you starting at 50 yards or less with all screws on base and mount Loctited in place?
Are you using decent ammo? - I like Russian silvertip light ball, but others prefer other loads or handload their own stuff.
Are the action to stock screws tight? Is the action rocking or not fitting in the stock properly? Sometimes replica snipers don't inlet the stock for the base correctly to fit quite right.
Have you boresighted the scope to get on target at 50 yards?
Lastly, most PU scopes simply move the reticle to the bullet point of impact, so if everything is tight you should hold pretty good groups starting at 50 yards.
Also, Mosins don't take to heating up too well in many cases, so shoot slowly and leave your bolt open between shots to cool things off.

 

[Alexei]

All pretty good pieces of advice. I have however, seen some of the "repro snipers", put together so abysmally, that the scopes were pointing only vaguely in the right direction, and no amount of adjustment would ever be able to take up the slack. Heck, I've seen domestic PSL's just as bad too.

 

[pennvet]

Zeroing 91/30 Sniper

Thank you all for your advice. We were using Russian silvertip, and I checked and tightened the rifle screws, and the screw for the scope mount. Should I try to tighten the brackets holding the scope to the mount? Stalin's Ghost, how would you go about loctiting the screws? I think I have some around here somewhere. I hate to take the scopes off and shoot over iron sights unless I have to. Bores are near mint on both rifles, and the crowns look to be undamaged.

Are you starting at 50 yards or less with all screws on base and mount Loctited in place?
Are you using decent ammo? - I like Russian silvertip light ball, but others prefer other loads or handload their own stuff.
Are the action to stock screws tight? Is the action rocking or not fitting in the stock properly? Sometimes replica snipers don't inlet the stock for the base correctly to fit quite right.
Have you boresighted the scope to get on target at 50 yards?
Lastly, most PU scopes simply move the reticle to the bullet point of impact, so if everything is tight you should hold pretty good groups starting at 50 yards.
Also, Mosins don't take to heating up too well in many cases, so shoot slowly and leave your bolt open between shots to cool things off.

 

[mike radford]

Thank you all for your advice. We were using Russian silvertip, and I checked and tightened the rifle screws, and the screw for the scope mount. Should I try to tighten the brackets holding the scope to the mount? Stalin's Ghost, how would you go about loctiting the screws? I think I have some around here somewhere. I hate to take the scopes off and shoot over iron sights unless I have to. Bores are near mint on both rifles, and the crowns look to be undamaged.

You can use the iron sights with the PU scope in place. As mentioned before, tighten the front action screw tight then the rear/top. Make sure that the scope mount small screws are tight(the ones to adjust elevation) while the big screw holding the mount on is just loosely tightened. Then tighten the big screw holding the mount on. Take out the bolt and center the bore on a circle at 100 yds or even 25 or 50 should work. Keeping the rifle centered and frequently rechecking, adjust the scope to hit center of the circle. Shoot at least three shots at a very big piece of paper. With the scope aimed at the center where you had aimed previously, move the pointer to the center of the three shots. Try again and you should be there. There is a more correct way posted on Mosinnagant.net, but this will work. It is best to get the elevation screws set so the elevation screws are at 100 at 100 yds, but that takes a bit more time.

 

[Stalin's Ghost]

All exactly right from Mike. Boresighting or scope adjustment over your iron sights is surprisingly accurate.
Also, I put blue Loctite on any screws in base and mount that loosen up, particularly those on base to rifle if loose. The adjustment screws are not Loctited until you are right on target -just back screws out a bit and then drip Loctite on threads and retighten. Use only blue Loctite.
As Mike says, a PU is built to allow close range sighting in and shooting over iron sights, a valuable asset for a sniper.l

You can use the iron sights with the PU scope in place. As mentioned before, tighten the front action screw tight then the rear/top. Make sure that the scope mount small screws are tight(the ones to adjust elevation) while the big screw holding the mount on is just loosely tightened. Then tighten the big screw holding the mount on. Take out the bolt and center the bore on a circle at 100 yds or even 25 or 50 should work. Keeping the rifle centered and frequently rechecking, adjust the scope to hit center of the circle. Shoot at least three shots at a very big piece of paper. With the scope aimed at the center where you had aimed previously, move the pointer to the center of the three shots. Try again and you should be there. There is a more correct way posted on Mosinnagant.net, but this will work. It is best to get the elevation screws set so the elevation screws are at 100 at 100 yds, but that takes a bit more time.

 

[zeebill]

I hate to even suggest this to a younger member but at my age 67 I can't shoot worth a dam on a post and reticle scope anymore. Something has happened to my eyes in the last 5 years that has caused this and what it is I don't know and the Doctor sees nothing either. I do fine on a scope with cross hairs but not on the post and reticle type. Perish the thought but I could not help but mention what has happened to me. Bill

 

[Duncan Wood]

As for references, I highly HIGHLY recommend "The Official Soviet Mosin-Nagant Rifle Manual" translated by Maj. James F. Gebhardt. This book covers zeroing the 91/90 rifle and has a specific section on the sniper version.

I read it cover to cover and now shoot better with all my Mosins. There are ballistic tables, troubleshooting sections, etc.

There's also a sniper-specific version, but I would recommend reading the other one first. Good luck!

 

[pennvet]

Zeebill,

I know what you mean about aged eyes. I am 51 and it's starting to get tougher to place those shots they way I used to!

I took my RGuns sniper out again today, and I think one of the problems I was having was I was overadjusting the turret knobs. I found that very small changes had a big effect on bullet impact! Bottom line is, I got one of the two zeroed, and it shoots like a tack driver. If I were I young Russian sniper, I would feel very confident in this weapon.

I hate to even suggest this to a younger member but at my age 67 I can't shoot worth a dam on a post and reticle scope anymore. Something has happened to my eyes in the last 5 years that has caused this and what it is I don't know and the Doctor sees nothing either. I do fine on a scope with cross hairs but not on the post and reticle type. Perish the thought but I could not help but mention what has happened to me. Bill

 

[VonRundsted]

http://www.mosinnagant.net/sniper%20section/mosin-nagant-sighting.asp

With the repo snipers out there, try the above method. Tedious but it will work.

 

[mike radford]

http://www.mosinnagant.net/sniper%20section/mosin-nagant-sighting.asp

With the repo snipers out there, try the above method. Tedious but it will work.

That is the one I mentioned. Thanks for the link. Duncan's suggestion is a good one too. I guess I should do so as well.

My eyes are 58 Y.O.. I know what you mean. Shooting open sights is a real challenge. And yes, a small adjustment on a PU is a lot at 100 yds. I also, would feel good about using a PU even today. They can kick some butt.

 

[Vic]

Easiest way is to have the rifle immobile on the bench. Do you have a bench rest? Sand bags etc...?

Remove the bolt. Sight through the bore at a target 25-50 yds away. With the bull in the bore then move to viewing through the scope.

Is the mount showing left or right deviation with the windage set at 0?
If its to the left- you will need to "shim" the mount to the base- too much has been removed from the mounts "pads"
If its to the right then you need to grind or file those "pads" slightly then check, slightly then check etc... till your centered.
Is the scopes view showing low or high POI?
If its high loosen the top base screw and tighten the lower base screw to raise the rear of the mount in the base.
Reverse if its POI is low. These should not be super tight. Just snug enough to allow the mount to be removed from the gun if need be.

Now you have "rough" sighted the rifle and scope to a common POI.

Fire shots and make any corrections with your elevation and windage knobs. Note those on a paper to know what they are later in case your POI changes for some reason. You can remove the elevation cap and screws and reset the cam to "1" at 100m if you'd like. The same for the windage if you have a non wind day- rest to "0"

 

[Fuhrer]

I would do as Vic says.When i re scoped my Samco with original base,mount and scope I set it up like that before fireing it.Within a very short time i had very good results at 100 yards.It was a lot closer to being on the money than you would think to.

 

[mike radford]

I would do as Vic says.When i re scoped my Samco with original base,mount and scope I set it up like that before fireing it.Within a very short time i had very good results at 100 yards.It was a lot closer to being on the money than you would think to.

Good shooting. To me, that is on the money as I would be aiming at the bottom of that diamond. When I bore sight, I am typically within and avergae of 5 inches of center, and your group is much better and is about as good as it gets with a bore sight. Another good example of how capable these rifles are.

I think Vic said what we had already said and linked, just using different words. One thing I learned early on in my job, lots of ways to do an anesthetic, not just one. Do it the way that works for you. Kinda like skinning a cat.