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please school me on Mosin m44 sights

Terminator03

Terminator03

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So I finally got a chance to try out my m44 today. I mainly wanted to just run some rounds through it, to get the feel of it, but since I had my target stand for sighting in some other stuff anyway, I decided to see if I could get some groups with it. I set my target at around 50-75' just to see where it hit. To my disappointment though it was shooting really low on my target stand. I was hitting the bottom of the cardboard, but nowhere near the paper target (standard NRA pistol target), which was taped to the center of the cardboard. So my question is... what range is the minimum for the sights on this rifle? I had the rear sight slid all the way back. I assume if I had slid it forward it was just shoot lower. I found that I had to aim way high just to be on paper. Can the front sight post adjust down? I will have to try it at longer ranges next time I'm there but I only had access to shorter range today since I was mostly pistol shooting and dialing in some optics. Kind of bummed me out because I was easily grouping inside a 1" circle offhand with my AK without any effort at the same range. I only put about 10 rounds of non corrosive brass through the m44 and loved shooting it, just wish I could hit better than minute of man with it!
 
Was the bayonet extended out or was it folded . Most say there zeroed with bayonet deployed .
I forget how the sights are labeled.
I normally have it set on the second position which is the lowest. All the way to the rear is higher then that . I forget what they call that setting .

When I have my type 53 set to the lowest setting I'm able to hit soda cans at 50-100 yards .


I forget of the front sight is adjustable up and down. But I know some people file them or swap it out for a ak front site . When I get home in half hour I'll take a look .
 
warwickben said:
Was the bayonet extended out or was it folded . Most say there zeroed with bayonet deployed .
I forget how the sights are labeled.
I normally have it set on the second position which is the lowest. All the way to the rear is higher then that . I forget what they call that setting .

When I have my type 53 set to the lowest setting I'm able to hit soda cans at 50-100 yards .


I forget of the front sight is adjustable up and down. But I know some people file them or swap it out for a ak front site . When I get home in half hour I'll take a look .
Click to expand...

M44s tend to hit high at 100 yards even on the 100 setting. In that case, your option would be to get something that slips over the front sight post to make it taller.
 
aneregus.jpg

That's the under side of a mosin front sight .the front post is pressed in.

You got 4 options .

Put heat shrink on it and cut it to length.

Drill the old post out out a long one in and then file to length .

drill it out .
Then mount it in a mill . Drill the hole on the top big enough for a front sight tool to fit in to and use a ak sks etc style.

Or drill out the post
Tap it for a allen head set screw and use a nut to lock it or some type of thread glue.
 
warwickben said:
Was the bayonet extended out or was it folded . Most say there zeroed with bayonet deployed .
I forget how the sights are labeled.
I normally have it set on the second position which is the lowest. All the way to the rear is higher then that . I forget what they call that setting .

When I have my type 53 set to the lowest setting I'm able to hit soda cans at 50-100 yards .


I forget of the front sight is adjustable up and down. But I know some people file them or swap it out for a ak front site . When I get home in half hour I'll take a look .
Click to expand...

Thanks. I didn't mess with the sight so I didn't realize the it could drop lower in the second position , I will have to play around with that when I get home. I also didn't have the bayonet deployed, which I had heard before could affect accuracy, but in this case, I'm not sure that was the issue since I could get a grouping, just nowhere near point of aim. It was at least a foot low.
 
No need to use the sights...just point in the general direction and pull the trigger ...if the bullet doesn't take them the blast and shockwave will.
 
Yeah definitely try shooting it with the bayonet extended. I think mine was shooting high and right at 100 yards until I extended the bayonet. Now it shoots pretty close to POA.
 
Yeah, I will definitely try it with the bayonet next time out. I do hope I can work with the ranging on the sights a little bit because the max range I can shoot at my club is 100 yards, and for most plinking I end up at around 50 yards, so it would be cool to get it to be point of aim for that shorter range. Right now I would have to aim completely above my target stand just to get on paper at all.
 
Last edited:
I've put heat shrink tubing on mosin sights to make them taller. It works pretty well, and gives you a sharper tip at the top.

I put a Smith Gold Standard front sight on a project gun. They are wicked nice. They happened to be on sale for $25 the day I found mine. Otherwise, they are half the cost of the gun.

http://www.smith-sights.com/
 
That heat shrink idea sounds like it might be the easiest thing to try. This particular gun is way too nice to hack up, which is why I decided not to use it for an Archangel conversion. Thanks for the tips so far!
 
Terminator03 said:
Thanks. I didn't mess with the sight so I didn't realize the it could drop lower in the second position , I will have to play around with that when I get home. I also didn't have the bayonet deployed, which I had heard before could affect accuracy, but in this case, I'm not sure that was the issue since I could get a grouping, just nowhere near point of aim. It was at least a foot low.
Click to expand...
With the bayonet deployed you will still get a good group.....just a different point of Impact. Soviet tactics were to have the bayonet on at all times in combat and therefore zeroed them with the bayonet on.
 
warwickben said:
aneregus.jpg

That's the under side of a mosin front sight .the front post is pressed in.

You got 4 options .

Put heat shrink on it and cut it to length.

Drill the old post out out a long one in and then file to length .

drill it out .
Then mount it in a mill . Drill the hole on the top big enough for a front sight tool to fit in to and use a ak sks etc style.

Or drill out the post
Tap it for a allen head set screw and use a nut to lock it or some type of thread glue.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that picture. Like they say "a picture is worth a thousand words". It's nice to see the construction of it without having to press my own out, and now I can see what you mean. Machining a new pin would probably be the easiest for me (other than doing the shrink tubing, which I plan to try) since I spent many years as a machinist, and have a lathe and a Bridgeport in my home shop for just these type of tasks.[wink]
 
whacko said:
With the bayonet deployed you will still get a good group.....just a different point of Impact. Soviet tactics were to have the bayonet on at all times in combat and therefore zeroed them with the bayonet on.
Click to expand...

That's interesting that it would change the point of impact, but make sense with the added weight hanging on the muzzle and altering the harmonics. I only put 10 rounds through it, so I didn't have a chance to experiment with the bayo. Even though I only ran a few rounds through the Mosin, my shoulder still took a pounding because I ran 50 rounds through my S12, and then 90 through my Ak. I can't even imagine how it would be if I put more rounds through the m44 too.[laugh] I also made the mistake of wearing a tank top to the range too.[rolleyes]
 
Last edited:
Terminator03 said:
Even though I only ran a few rounds through the Mosin, my shoulder still took a pounding because I ran 50 rounds through my S12, and then 90 through my Ak. I can't even imagine how it would be if I put more rounds through the m44 too.[laugh] I also made the mistake of wearing a tank top to the range too.[rolleyes]
Click to expand...

Yeah I had a bruised shoulder when I first shot mine with a T shirt on. I quickly invested in one of these: http://www.amazon.com/Shooterpads-Recoil-Gel-Filled-Pads/dp/B00081Q7E4

Call me a wimp, I don't care lol. It definitely allows me to shoot 80-100 rounds without any pain haha. I'm a fairly skinny dude, about 6' 160 lbs so I don't have a lot of meat to absorb the recoil haha.
 
andrew1220 said:
Yeah I had a bruised shoulder when I first shot mine with a T shirt on. I quickly invested in one of these: http://www.amazon.com/Shooterpads-Recoil-Gel-Filled-Pads/dp/B00081Q7E4

Call me a wimp, I don't care lol. It definitely allows me to shoot 80-100 rounds without any pain haha. I'm a fairly skinny dude, about 6' 160 lbs so I don't have a lot of meat to absorb the recoil haha.
Click to expand...

I may look into that. There is nothing wimpy about it when you are dealing with a metal buttpad!
 
warwickben said:
Don't sit on a bench . Stand and the mosin doesn't beat you up as bad .
Click to expand...

I was standing actually. I don't think it was the Mosin that did too much, but rather the cumulative effect of many 7.62 and of course the 12 gauge.[laugh] The metal buttstock on bare skin definitely didn't help though...
 
Mine shoots high to the left with the surplus. Extending the bayonet didn't seem to make much of a difference.

Next time I'm going to try PPU brass cased and see if its any different. I think I need to knock the front sight with a brass hammer and add some shrink tubing. Can the sight be moved with am vice?

No pain in the shoulder blasting the thing but everyone that fires mine winds up with bruises the next day. Baptism by bruising lol.
 
Hello,

Did I read correctly that you're shooting low?

If that's the case, just file the front sight post if you want the graduations to be "on". Otherwise, raise the rear sight.

Did you actually mean 50-75 FEET? The bullet may still be rising at that point. You need to try 50 YARDS, where it should impact (IIRC) about 1.6" high for a zero at 100 yards.

I'll watch this post, and you may email me if you wish.

Regards,

Josh Smith
Smith-Sights LLC
 
Joshua M. Smith said:
Hello,

Did I read correctly that you're shooting low?

If that's the case, just file the front sight post if you want the graduations to be "on". Otherwise, raise the rear sight.

Did you actually mean 50-75 FEET? The bullet may still be rising at that point. You need to try 50 YARDS, where it should impact (IIRC) about 1.6" high for a zero at 100 yards.

I'll watch this post, and you may email me if you wish.

Regards,

Josh Smith
Smith-Sights LLC
Click to expand...

Thank you for chiming in Josh. I was actually just on your page looking at your sight options, and they look fantastic. Yes, you read that correctly with regard to the range I was shooting. The day I went, the rifle ranges were occupied, and I was mainly there to use the shorter pistol range, just brought the Mosin and some other rifles "just in case" I had time to shoot them, so I just ran a few rounds through at the shorter range for fun. Yes, it did hit low on my target at that distance, but I plan to try it at 50 yds. before I make any adjustments as I realize this was a way shorter distance than these are probably intended for.
 
I noticed mine shot about 4" left at 50 yards (I think it was left anyway it was a while ago) without the bayonet deployed. Once the bayo was deployed my windage was fine, dead on. I was pretty surprised at the change. I can't real having any elevation issues but I definitely will take note of the good advice in this thread for the next range trip.
 
bdb said:
I noticed mine shot about 4" left at 50 yards (I think it was left anyway it was a while ago) without the bayonet deployed. Once the bayo was deployed my windage was fine, dead on. I was pretty surprised at the change. I can't real having any elevation issues but I definitely will take note of the good advice in this thread for the next range trip.
Click to expand...

That's very interesting about the bayo, and seems to go along with what others have mentioned about it affecting accuracy. I plan to test mine both ways just for fun and curiosity factor.
 
Smash05 said:
Tighten the action screw first. Smith sights are also awesome.
Click to expand...

This is excellent advice. My groups were not great (high, left, 8"+ at 50 yards), and I thought this could be because there was a sloppy fit of the action to the stock. When I came home and cleaned my rifle, I took the action out of the stock and realized that the screws were loose - when I tightened them up, the fit became nice and tight. I'm guessing that my groups are going to be much better now, I'm glad I did that before I started messing with my sights. I feel pretty stupid for not tightening the screws first.
 
Hello,

After you start hitting dead nuts on, the single best thing you can do for your Mosin is to shim the action.

You see, the action should bear on the recoil lug. An action which doesn't bear on the recoil lug will 1) have its screws come loose and 2) eventually crack the stock at the screw points and directly behind the tang.

You need a tight contact with that recoil lug.

The shim kits I sell do have a shim for that purpose included. I would go so far as to say that shimming the lug face is the single most important shim in the rifle.

Just some thoughts.

Regards,

Josh
 
mclina said:
I put a Smith Gold Standard front sight on a project gun. They are wicked nice. They happened to be on sale for $25 the day I found mine. Otherwise, they are half the cost of the gun.

http://www.smith-sights.com/
Click to expand...

Just a quick notation on this:

The complete sights do cost $27 - $45.

However, there's a sight service. You provide the sight.

The cost is $10 (one post) or $15 (two posts) shipped back to you.

There are a lot more logistics involved in doing a complete sight. That's the reason for the increased expense. Heck, I spend about $20 per sight when I buy them to build on!

For the sight service, you do not have to send the sight off your Mosin. Just send me a Mosin sight and I'll send it back to you in less than a week, modified to your specifications.

The services are located at http://www.smith-sights.com/#service . This is the way to go for economy and speed.

Regards,

Josh
 
Mack, I thought about one of those rail mounts, but man, I just can't get used to the idea of a Mosin without BUIS.

To me, a rifle that only has a 'scope needs to have a heavy barrel.

Of course, nobody ever accused me of being sane, either :D

Josh
 

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