Smith Sights Pillar bedding kit

[billybob123]

Anyone have any experience with this and did it help create a more accurate Mosin. I have an M38 that I would like to use for hunting and would like to get it as accurate as possible without changing the historical nature and value of the rifle. I think reloading will probably do the trick but just looking at all options.

[SA1911a1]

Is the rifle too inaccurate now to hunt with? I don't have any that shoot worse than I do.....The test is this; is it a permanent alteration to the rifle? Another possible option, at the price of unaltered Mosins now days, you could sell the Mosin and buy a good used commercial hunting rifle set up for a scope and ready to go.

[Robertroadking]

Just shim it with Smith’s accurizing kit.
Unless you plan on groundhog hunting at 500 yards

[Junk Yard Dog]

Use it like the soldiers it was issued to used it, it gives one a great appreciation for what they had to deal with. Most of the sight issues on the Mosin are distance related. As in they are being shot on ranges that are 100 yards or less without the bayonet attached. These rifles were sighted in to shoot on target with bayonet attached and at ranges were the target looks like a pin head to the coke bottle thick glasses set. There are exception, when you collect a lot of these rifles as I did you start to notice that the armorers were sloppy. Some rifles will not shoot straight no matter what you do to the sight, some barrels badly needed a counterbore and didn't get one, missing or lose small parts, poor headspace, and so on. These are all issues that they expected the unit armorers to fix at the field level if the rifles were issued. They weren't issued and now we, the new owners of the Soviet Unions toys, are expected to fix the problems ourselves. Reloading is probably your best option now that ammo selection is far less than it was 15 years ago. Back then we would tell you to try different ammo to see what your rifle liked shooting best, Yugo, Soviet, Chinese, Albanian, Czech, Bulgarian, Hungarian, East German, Roma, and so on. These days you might find one type available if you are lucky so it's reload time.

[steelbuttplate]

If you do it, it might be hell getting your barrel bands back on. If your bands and hand guard are tight I'd leave it alone.

[Darryl]

Lipstick on a PIG.

It's a collectable, not a match rifle. It never will be. Anything made presently will probably out shoot it. In some cases, it will be cheaper to buy a newer rifle then "fix" an old rifles engineered in problems. It was designed to kill the enemy up close. It did that well.

Sort of like trying to make a Revolutionary War musket accurate. Don't make sense to me.

Dolk

[Longcolt44]

We kicked Smith and his products off this forum as an advertiser as his $hit will take your money with little results and was making the changes non reversible. You will have better results cutting shims from a soda or beer can.

[zeebill]

Yeah I had long ago thrown anything from Mr Smith away as useless and far too permanent for me. I have an ABS stock that contains a homeless 91/59 action I bought many years ago for $30. I came upon the ABS stock in a trade for a misplaced M91 living in it. I restocked the M91 and lacking any other place the 91/59 action moved into the ABS stock. It has a nasty habit (no matter how I shimmed it) of shooting down to the left in each succeeding shot after the first. I came upon a real nice 91/59 stock and set my orphan action down in there and found a great fit and it shot great in there. I still needed the ABS for a hunter and wood bang around so she lives in there yet. I don't hunt anymore but I do like the idea of a woods gun so I have failed to set that rifle back in that its true wood stock but I ought to do that. I figured the way I shoot if I missed the first shot I didn't deserve to eat venison that particular year.

That just shows you these shimming and stock changes are really not all they are cracked up to be sometimes. Learn the rifle real well and what it likes in ammo and 9 times out of 10 you have the same results or better than the miracle cures offered these days. Most times all you are doing is spending money for something you really don't need and that is destroying the value of your collectible rifle. Want a target rifle go buy one instead of destroying a collectible Milsurp in the name of your ego popping comment of look what I shot with something that wasn't meant to shoot that good. Bill

[billybob123]

"in the name of your ego popping comment of look what I shot with something that wasn't meant to shoot that good" I can assure you and you would agree if you knew me that this statement is so far from being true that it's laughable. I never had an ego and at my age if I did have one I would forget where I put it. Lot's of people in lots of countries across this great planet have used and continue to use a variety of Mosin's to hunt with. Doesn't mean their ego's are the reason. I have plenty of hunting rifles that I can use in a variety of half a dozen calibers but if I get my cow elk tag this fall the place where we would hunt usually provides many opportunities for shots at 100 yards or less and if I can get good enough with reloads and accuracy I would be very excited to get a cow elk with my Mosin. If I can't get the accuracy good enough to make sure I have an ethical kill then I'll use one of my many hunting rifles for the job, several of which I would be comfortable with shots out to 600 yards on an elk since they have the power for a very ethical kill out to that range and beyond.

[bunkysdad]

A hunt where I bagged a cow elk with a Mosin Nagant would skyrocket to the top of my best hunting stories. I hope you get the opportunity and are successful.

[zeebill]

Sounds like you have a logical and sound plan to shoot and hunt with this rifle and I wish you luck! I wasn't meaning to personally attack you but just making a general statement about what some people try and do with their Mosins and for no reason other than to prop up their egos and abilities to shoot well. You can do the same thing with time and patience and not these sometimes well touted miracle cures that cost bucks better spent elsewhere.

Believe it or not WV is trying to build an Elk herd in several spots through out the state. I have personally seen one in the wild within 20 miles of my home much to my shock. This state has more deer kills by car than I believe any of the states in the union. We have so many urban small gravel roads I shiver to think what an elk could do to a car or truck so I really wonder if this conservation move would be altogether smart or not. Pennsylvania has an elk herd, although I don't believe it is hunted yet, and I have heard that there has been an increase in car kills up there from local trucker buddy's working in the oil fields up there. Sometimes these well founded and often appreciated conservation moves have side effects that aren't thought about in the first thoughts and moves. I drove up my drive at dusk last night in the snow to be greeted by 6 yearling deer that have been hiding around the house for a couple of months and almost collected one. Thank God I had the AWD vehicle which allowed me to stop in the drive to miss them and get restarted safely to the house. If I had the front wheel drive van I am not sure I wouldn't have been in the ditch by the side of the drive trying to miss them and keep moving. I am not a tree hugger but I like my critters and kind of wonder what some of these well meaning people are thinking when they reintroduce these poor animals into an environment without out enough food or habitat for them to live successfully and safely. I guess time will tell eh? Bill

[steelbuttplate]

Sounds like you have a logical and sound plan to shoot and hunt with this rifle and I wish you luck! I wasn't meaning to personally attack you but just making a general statement about what some people try and do with their Mosins and for no reason other than to prop up their egos and abilities to shoot well. You can do the same thing with time and patience and not these sometimes well touted miracle cures that cost bucks better spent elsewhere.

Believe it or not WV is trying to build an Elk herd in several spots through out the state. I have personally seen one in the wild within 20 miles of my home much to my shock. This state has more deer kills by car than I believe any of the states in the union. We have so many urban small gravel roads I shiver to think what an elk could do to a car or truck so I really wonder if this conservation move would be altogether smart or not. Pennsylvania has an elk herd, although I don't believe it is hunted yet, and I have heard that there has been an increase in car kills up there from local trucker buddy's working in the oil fields up there. Sometimes these well founded and often appreciated conservation moves have side effects that aren't thought about in the first thoughts and moves. I drove up my drive at dusk last night in the snow to be greeted by 6 yearling deer that have been hiding around the house for a couple of months and almost collected one. Thank God I had the AWD vehicle which allowed me to stop in the drive to miss them and get restarted safely to the house. If I had the front wheel drive van I am not sure I wouldn't have been in the ditch by the side of the drive trying to miss them and keep moving. I am not a tree hugger but I like my critters and kind of wonder what some of these well meaning people are thinking when they reintroduce these poor animals into an environment without out enough food or habitat for them to live successfully and safely. I guess time will tell eh? Bill

The Smoky Mt. herd is flourishing, started with around 60 and they now number over 500 I believe. They are seen often in downtown Cherokee, a few stay 2 miles from my house. They have spread into a 40 mile radius, the original released herd's area has a dozen 6x6 or larger bulls and are wearing out gully all over those mountains.

[zeebill]

The Smoky Mt. herd is flourishing, started with around 60 and they now number over 500 I believe. They are seen often in downtown Cherokee, a few stay 2 miles from my house. They have spread into a 40 mile radius, the original released herd's area has a dozen 6x6 or larger bulls and are wearing out gully all over those mountains.

That part about they are often seen in downtown Cherokee is what scares me and makes me wonder how wise it is to try and establish in non-wilderness areas. We see ample deer and car accidents in my area now and It flat scares me what a full size elk could do to a car and the people in it. My neighbor has already had a deer go through the windshield into her lap down the street from our houses. It totaled the car and scared her to the point that a country girl should not have to experience. Plus think about the fairness to the animals and how far from their normal way of life a town situation would be. Add in the damage they might do to local farming too. I just wonder the overall wiseness of these moves to rebuild things that are not natural to the area or what that area has grown into these days? Bill

[billybob123]

Sounds like you have a logical and sound plan to shoot and hunt with this rifle and I wish you luck! I wasn't meaning to personally attack you but just making a general statement about what some people try and do with their Mosins and for no reason other than to prop up their egos and abilities to shoot well. You can do the same thing with time and patience and not these sometimes well touted miracle cures that cost bucks better spent elsewhere.

Believe it or not WV is trying to build an Elk herd in several spots through out the state. I have personally seen one in the wild within 20 miles of my home much to my shock. This state has more deer kills by car than I believe any of the states in the union. We have so many urban small gravel roads I shiver to think what an elk could do to a car or truck so I really wonder if this conservation move would be altogether smart or not. Pennsylvania has an elk herd, although I don't believe it is hunted yet, and I have heard that there has been an increase in car kills up there from local trucker buddy's working in the oil fields up there. Sometimes these well founded and often appreciated conservation moves have side effects that aren't thought about in the first thoughts and moves. I drove up my drive at dusk last night in the snow to be greeted by 6 yearling deer that have been hiding around the house for a couple of months and almost collected one. Thank God I had the AWD vehicle which allowed me to stop in the drive to miss them and get restarted safely to the house. If I had the front wheel drive van I am not sure I wouldn't have been in the ditch by the side of the drive trying to miss them and keep moving. I am not a tree hugger but I like my critters and kind of wonder what some of these well meaning people are thinking when they reintroduce these poor animals into an environment without out enough food or habitat for them to live successfully and safely. I guess time will tell eh? Bill

I've not seen too many elk hit by vehicles and our state is in the Rockies and loaded with Elk. I suspect there's significant damage when it happens as a typical cow elk will average over 350 pounds and bulls can easily go 600 pounds. I applaud the conservation effort to restore elk to the smokies and eastern US as they were native there many decades ago. There is magic in hearing a bull bugle during the rut! The meat is highly desirable and better tasting than deer! A good size cow will yield 150-200 pounds of usable meat while a bull can often provide up to 300 pounds of meat. I put in for the draw on our bull tags and as soon as the antlerless draw starts I will put in for that as well. With 3 of us registered I am hopeful this year we'll at least get a cow tag. It's probably going to take at least 5 more years to get enough points to have a decent shot at a bull tag on the area we want to hunt. The grandson shoots a 7MM-08 which is pretty good elk medicine to 400 yards and the son shoots a .30-06 which will put them down at 500 yards and beyond. However I absolutely will not allow either of them to take a shot in excess of 300 yards as I am in no condition to go traipsing through the mountains chasing a wounded animal.