Ok, so some of you may not know my typical stance on taking old battle rifles and slapping after-market stocks on them. I’m not a fan. I’m not a fan to the extent that I bought an Ishipore Enfield off of Wizard in large part because he was planning on doing terrible and horrible things to it and completely bubba’fying it. Granted, I told him that if he wasn’t going to buy it when we spotted it at the gun show, I would, but I also told him I’d buy it off of him when he realized that it wasn’t what he wanted (I think there might have been some violence threatened if he cut into the stock).
And yes, I typically have to grit my teeth and remind myself “it’s her rifle, she can do what she wants to with it,” and that there’s a zillion of them out there when I’m reminded what Erin has done to her Mosin-Nagant. Yes, she’s made her rifle more comfortable, more accurate, and, to her, more fun to shoot, but… damnit… It actually helps me that she’s written “Avada Kadavra!” one the side. It’s kind of like saying “yes, I know this is ridiculous, but I’m doing it anyways. Shut up!”
Of course, there are exceptions. Apparently specifically for the Mosin. There’s the bullpup stock that Linoge picked up a while back and then sold off. Then there’s apparently a new stock coming from the Archangel folks. I have to agree with Erin on this one. It’s dead sexy. I almost want to go buy a bargin bin 90/31 and get this stock.
But no… I’m not changing my M39 anytime soon.
I have an M44; the stock on it looks like someone throw it in a wood chipper.
I’m a big fan of leaving well enough alone but in this case, nothing can hurt that rifle worse then it already is.
I have several others to keep in their original condition so I’ll have that to show as a comparison. If nothing else, it drives the antis nuts when you point out that ‘evil black rifle’ is actually the same as that 70 year old wooden stock rifle.
I want one. A little worried about the mags though. I’d hate to spend that kind of money to turn a reliable Mosin into an jam-o-rama.