A while back, Tman and I ordered a few Mosin rifles that we refinished.

Here’s a picture of my two.

They both shot “Okay”, but nothing very impressive.

I shot the top one today and here’s a sample of the groups we got at 50 yards shooting Russian 1949 Light Ball.

As you can see, nothing to write home about.

In fact, most groups were even bigger than this one.

But we decided we would try a trick we’ve had some success with in the past.

We decided to place a small piece of cork between the stock and the front of the barrel to put some upwards pressure on the barrel.

Sometimes this helps the barrel “settle down” and shoot better.

I removed the barrel bands and the upper hand guard.

I then loosened the two action screws to allow us to place the cork under the barrel.

Tman then placed the cork under the front of the barrel.

There was so much room that we had to use two pieces of cork and double-up on the thickness.

We had to trim it a little to keep it from sticking out too much.

We put it all back together and you can still see a little of the cork, but I can fix that by coloring the cork with a Sharpie Pen when I get home.

Our friend Boyd had come to the range to visit with us and I asked him to give it a try.

He said that he wasn’t shooting because he broke his ankle and was recovering.

I told him he didn’t need an ankle to shoot and to get on the rifle.

Boyd is a Double Distinguished Marksman, in both Pistol and Rifle, and he can shoot.

Then I got on the rifle and shot this one.

Not bad for 59 year old military surplus ammunition.

Conclusions:

If you have an old C&R rifle that is not shooting like you think it ought to, try a piece of cork.

It might shrink those groups to a nice size.