Recently had a mosin given to me by a friend. His son died and they found it in his house. He said his son got it many years ago as a rifle but then made it into a lamp. He cut the buttock off flat and mounted it on a stand standing up. He drilled a hole from the butt to the back of the receiver to run a cord then ran the cord up the barrel under the stock. Then he took a piece of metal rod and drove it in the barrel to mount the lamp top. I got the cord out and then got the rod out by heating the barrel( that sucker was tight!). It was only in a quarter to a half inch. It messed up the rifling a bit but not bad. My question is the safety of this gun. What should I look for to make sure there wasn't a reason he made it into a lamp. My plan is, since I have nothing in the firearm, is make a cheap sporter out of it. Cut it down and recrown it, cut stock down and refinish it. Also put a new front sight on and shoot it. Maybe someday scope it. Will the stock be ok with the hole in it from the cord? I would like to shoot it and make sure it works before I put much work into it. Should I at least cut the barrel off where the rod was in it before I shoot it? I can put picks up later if that will help. Thanks SB