TargetTalk

I´m about to buy an old Vostok MTs-12 .22lr rifle.
750mm long ca. 1" thick barrel, double set trigger, diopter sights etc.. If I remember right, rifle was made in 1961.

Do you guys have experience with these old soviet match rifles?

Scan of the manual (even in russian) would be really nice...

Have you been over to www.rimfirecentral.com? There's a strong following there, and the russian rifles have their own subforum. Im shooting a modern production CM-2 myself.

Some search hits I got were from rimfirecentral, but seems there is a lot more than what google finds.

Found the english MTs12 (MU12) manuals on page 11 of the russian rifle section. There are over 60 pages of topics so we´ll see what else is there.. Thanks for the link!

Superb rifle.
I had one from new in 1970 and sold it about 5 years ago. The rear-sight diopter has a replacement insert which goes up in 0.25mm increments, so it does not give you a very close option either 1.00 or 1.25mm. The foresight is fixed to the barrel so you are stuck with the interchangeable elements that come with the rifle. I recall that these also go up in 0.25mm increments. Possibly alternative makes of elements are available.
Be careful when you take the bolt to bits, if you adjust the pre-tension of the spring incorrectly, the bolt becomes quite difficult to close. Found that out the hard way after cleaning the rifle and bolt night before an open shoot.
When you get used to the set trigger, the straight bar trigger works great.
Limited adjustment for stock length by inserting packing pieces. No adjustment for cheek piece height, you have to learn to make you fit the rifle unlike on more modern ones with mutli-adjustment.
Do not get too rough with the bolt when ejecting cases as the bolt securing lever is not that strong and can break, done that as well.
The accessory rail is a non-standard size so you may have to have it milled out slightly to take alternative handstop/sling attachements.
Enjoy shooting with the rifle.

John, thanks for your detailed response.
No two rifle barrels are the same, but what kind of group sizes you got with your rifle? ie. was the barrel acurate?

Unfortunately the rifle I´m about to buy comes with only the sight inserts that are currently installed, no other parts.
I found a forum post at rimfirecentral saying that "MT-12 sight inserts measure 15.1 mm. Parkerhale inserts will fit."
Rear aperture.. I have only one size for my Anschutz 1613 too.

From memory, the rifle was certainly accurate. I did not carry out any ammo batch testing, but achieved good scores at all distances using Eley Match ammo.
In its original form, there were 5 rearsight inserts ranging from 0.75 up to 1.75mm. There were a selection of foresight elements which included the normal concentric aperture ranging from 2.75 up to 3.75mm along with flat blade types. These were never used.
When I got my MTS-12 it came with a wooden accessory box which contained the various tools, sight elements in another round wooden box, the butt hook and the standing handstop/support.
Great rifle once you made yourself fit the rifle.

Thanks for that info.

Just came home from trip buying the rifle.
Rifle weights approx. 6kg. Rear hook is jammed in place, does not move. Possibly some storage grease has dried over the years. Rifle has year 1961 marked on the receiver. Serial no NA-14x

What works well for removing the soviet storage grease?
Rifle has been used, it´s not new, but some grease seems to be here and there.

edit: Photos - https://www.dropbox.com/sh/vcbfmqe8zog9 ... 6Y-Ra?dl=0

I put the MTs-12 for sale as I have the Anschutz 1613 too.. But there seems to be no demand for this type of rifle here in Finland, so I´ll keep it then.

MTs-12 stock didn´t feel good, but I could still shoot 192/200 with it so I bought an old Anschutz stock from a clubmate. Going to test this new build tomorrow. I added adjustable comb and trigger guard to the stock yesterday, but didn´t take photos. We´ll see how it works now.

Lucky you wish I have one....but I am a lefty so it is pretty pointless..

These are pretty rare rifles here too. Doubt any spares are available if this one brakes.

I was shooting with MU-12 today. Some shots were normal, some sounded like barrel was ringing for a split second after shot. Like hitting long steel rod with a hammer. Is this good or bad? Hits were inside the 9 ring, but I haven´t shot much with rifle lately.

I remember my first outdoors match with the Anschutz 1613 discussed in this thread: http://www.targettalk.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=40581
First 2/3 of scoring shots were normal. Then suddenly the rifle started to ring after shot was released. I thought something was broken and removed bolt. All seemed fine so I continued shooting and made my personal record. Last two series were 98 or 99, well above my skills then. Rifle has not made that kind of sound after that and it is still working fine.