Collecting and Shooting the Surplus Rifle

Click on any of the small "Figure" images below to see a larger version of the image.

Review is opinion of Surplusrifle.com

When I was around 30 years old, I was attending night school and discovered I was having a difficult time reading the board. After visiting the optometrist, I left wearing glasses for the first time in my life. I had to deal with the inevitable truth that I was getting older. Ever since, it has been down hill from there. I am sure most of you have the same problem, your eyes are just not what they used to be and using open metal sights on a rifle at a 100 yds or greater is beginning to be downright difficult. I could use a scope, but I don't want a scope on every rifle I shoot, what's the point?

So, I decided to try out an aperture sight set from Mojo Sighting Systems. Mojo manufactures aftermarket, aperture sight sets for almost all of the military surplus rifles listed on Surplusrifle.com. The Mojo sights come in either just a single rear sight or a double aperture front and rear set. I ordered the set. I recommend purchasing the set because you may have to change the front sight, because of height issues, anyway.

I decided to start with something simple, a Romanian M44 Carbine that someone had cut off the bayonet lug and filed it down. I had reblued the barrel and now it is difficult to see the modification without looking closely. It looks just like a M38 with some extra metal near the end of the barrel. Everything else on the rifle was in excellent condition and well worth the $39 I paid for it. I read the instructions that came with the Mojo sight kit thoroughly before starting the project. My daughter told me she would not shoot the photos if I didn't. The last time I worked on a rifle project I did not read the instructions and it took considerably longer to finish than my daughter had agreed to devote to the project. Although I enjoy the projects for surplusrifle.com, I think she may be less than enthusiastic. I almost had to take a test to prove I knew what I was going to be doing.

The sights on a Mosin-Nagant are really easy to remove, even easier than a typical Mauser. All you have to do to remove the rear sight is punch out the retaining pin (as shown in figure 1).

To install the Mojo rear sight I took the recommended route and used my punch to pre-align the holes of the sight and the sight mount on the rifle (as shown in figure 2). Following this, I was able to easily reinsert the retaining pin.

The Mojo rear sight is a huge improvement over the original sight. You can easily adjust both windage and elevation. This is all accomplished by tightening or loosening of two hex screws (as shown in figure 4).

I had a little problem punching out the front sight, but was finally able to remove it. After something has been assembled for over 50 years it is bound to stick a little.

I matched the dovetails of the original post sight and the new Mojo sight. As the instructions stated, the new Mojo sight was a little larger than the original sight and would need to be filed down to achieve a proper fit.

I removed a little at a time from the sides of the dovetail, making sure to keep the same angle. I really like the following statement taken directly from the installation instructions - "We believe that most milsurpers can handle the work, involved, but if there's doubt, the job should be entrusted to a competent friend or gunsmith".

Very well put indeed. The only problem is - how many of us will admit to a MORE competent friend, that we messed up or cannot accomplish something? Most female comedians state that most males can't even stop and ask for directions when we are lost.

I was able to get a very tight and secure fit. If the original sight was mounted in the same fashion, I now understand why it was so hard to remove.

Note: Since the rear sight is fully adjustable, you only need to get an approximate center on the position of the front sight. Any required adjustments can be handled by the rear sight.

As hoped, the sight picture is excellent! It is very easy to sight in on a target and quickly. Figures 9 and 10 show the proper sight picture when looking through the sights.

My rifle was finished and ready to go to the range. I had loaded up 60 rounds of 7.62x54r the night before and packed up everything to head to the range.

The range results were excellent. At 100 yds, I was able to consistently tightly group. I do believe with time and practice, I could do much better. Figure 11 shows a typical grouping pattern for me at 100 yds. The loads I was using were light loads and normally do not group this well. For open sights I consider this pretty good from such a short rifle. To adjust for distance and elevation you need to turn the hex screw at the top of the rear sight. This adjustment of one complete rotation of the screw equals approximately 4 inches at 100 yds.

I look forward to trying a set of these on my German Mauser, Swedish Mauser, SKS, and Swiss K-31 rifles (of which Mojo offers sight sets for each of these rifles). I would even like to try a set on one of my Mosin-Nagant 1891/30 rifles. They are already tack drivers and with the longer distance between the front and rear sights, the results should be excellent. This is a simple project and does not require any modification to your rifle, so it is safe for even the milsurp purist to try. Most people won't even notice the Mojo sights without closer inspection. I save my original sights and can quickly return them to the rifle with no evidence that they were ever removed.

Mojo included a short description on dealing with the new style sight picture. "For most shooters, shooting with a tandem aperture sight set is an entirely new experience". They also go on to say that you will adjust and excel at using the new sights. After practice I am able to acquire a sight picture much quicker than a normal blade style, sighted rifle. Very good for a combat style rifle. Over all I am very pleased with this project.

Mojo Phase III Tandem Aperture Sight Sets can be purchased at - http://www.mojosights.com

jlm ;)