Re: brass stacker mosin scope mount
I think the point that some are trying to make (myself included), is that you won't likely increase the chance to reach your goal of "supper on the table" with the stuff you've listed, over getting familiar with the gun and iron sights, first. No disrespect intended, but you don't have enough time/work into this gun yet to be able to say "I don't see it shooting any worse". Taking a gun that's not shooting well, because you haven't put the time and techniques into it, and just adding some cheap trinkets to it, is probably a step in the wrong direction.
Yes, I'm biased from the "purist" side of things. However,I'm not saying this because of that, at all. I'm speaking purely from a "performance" point of view, having worked with nearly fifty of these rifles and many thousands of rounds through them. I've seen a lot of these sporter project guns come and go and none of them have shot any better than an original sniper (in most cases, worse) and I've seen many that I could best with iron sights on a standard refurb rifle. Now, if you're talking about putting an expensive, modern, precision optic on one of these rifles, the optic would start to show an advantage at extended ranges, I'll give you that. But, you're not going to get into that arena for the money you're talking about, nor with the options considered, so far. Also, for the intended uses that you've outlined, that's not even needed.
The point being; if you want to get this rifle shooting it's best, you've got some work to do, but it's not as difficult or expensive as you may think. You've only just begun, but you can get big improvements by doing small additions/fixes that don't require a gunsmith, nor do they require permanent mods to the gun. If you go cutting and drilling, you've not only bypassed some of the fixes that have been available for nearly a hundred years but, in some cases, you completely remove them as a possibility and your results may not be satisfactory and could even be worse than if you had left well enough alone.
Hear me out on this. If you're willing to give this a shot and post your progress, I'll post a thread outlining some of the things that I do (just like the Russians did it) and I can guarantee you'll see an improvement in the performance of this rifle. This likely won't cost you anything, or only a small amount of money, depending on the tools/materials you have around the house, or in your garage. If, after that, you're not satisfied, or you don't think you can put down a hog/deer out to 200 yards, then, by all means, try whatever you think will get you there. But, I would like to see a comparison from that project, as well.
If any of this sounds harsh, I apologize. That's not my intention, at all. I would just like to see more people realize the potential of these rifles in what is basically stock form, as most people do not. Not even close.
John