After many years of bangin' my head against the 91/30, I have a deep respect for letting sleeping dogs lie. The first rule of thumb about them is that they are most excellent when being asked to do what they were designed for. Even as a sniper weapon, it was never match-accurate.
The scope was really more of a means to refine the zero than to deliver stellar accuracy.
The most lasting lesson is that it costs more than is wise to achieve anything more than conscripts mass musketry-level accuracy. You'll be putting a $300 barrel on a rifle that was never even worth as much as I paid for my first one, $119, and way overpriced at that, even back then.
If you want an accurate X54R, put the $300 toward a Finn M-39.
Greg
PS, OK, I'll still bite.
When you put on the new barrel, it's probably going to end up deleting the rear sight mount. I found that by removing the rear sight, and mounting Airgun Rings directly to the dovetail, a low and rugged sight mounting was possible, but you would be limited to using a Long Eye Relief scope. Not terrible, I have a Bushnell pistol scope on mine and it's quite usable as well as being the most solid mount I've yet to see for the 91/30. I insist on the Scout mounting position because I am fiercely committed to preserving the stripper clip feeding function. An over-the-action scope mounting would eliminate that. But I also have an Archangel Stock on mine. It's very well inletted, and employs a ten round DM that works, period. I like it more for the capacity than for the detachability. I can still use the Stripper clip feeding feature, but I now have a capacity for two clips worth of ready ammunition. I think that the better approach with the barrel is to crop about 4" and recrown. Once you get rid of that excess length and high potential for a ruined crown from cleaning rod wear, I think that more decent accuracy will be enabled.
As a handloading solution I'd try the HDY "303 caliber" 150gr Interlock, and around 50gr of Varget. The 91/30 action is pretty rugged, and max loads may (or may not be) more about preserving brass life than about finding an overpressure limit. 50.5gr of Varget is the 150gr limit according to the Hodgdon site, and I'd be working up to that and being supremely cautious with reading pressure signs above 49.0gr. All that cheap military 150gr surplus ammo has a special additional pricetag in the form of corrosive priming; one MUST clean it with a reliable corrosive priming remover ASAP after firing.
