mosin nagant m91/30 problem/question

[longdude17]

ok fellas, i just bought two surplus mosin nagant m91/30 rifles. One is a tula 1939 and the other is a "regular" 1939 nagant, Both are round recievers and in quite nice shape.

The Tula 1939 functions perfectly no problems what so ever. The other has some sort of bolt problem. I notice when i was cleaning the gun that the bolt woulnt go on safety (you kow pull the knob and rotate couterclockwise). I took the bolt out and apart, cleaned it and removed all cosmoline, and it still will not go on safety, and when snapped it is extremely hard to lift the handle and action the bolt.

However, if i take the front half the bolt off (firing pin shroud/bullet extractor) it will easily go on safety. ***?

Im somewhat new to these guns, so is this a common problem? Im not wanting to shoot a gun with a bolt that will not act right.

Does anyone have a good period correct bolt laying around they arent using?

[carguychris]

Mosin-Nagant safeties commonly malfunction because they depend on a little bitty notch on the receiver to resist the full force of the firing pin spring, and if that little notch gets rounded off, the safety won't stay put. When the bolt head is removed, the bolt sits a little further back in the receiver, reducing the force on the firing pin spring; this is why your safety works with the bolt head removed.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: the Mosin-Nagant safety is possibly the worst military design ever.

My advice? Don't use the safety. It's obnoxious. When you're not shooting, it's safer to carry the gun with the chamber empty anyway. Load 4 in the magazine, push the top cartridge down with your thumb so the bolt doesn't engage the rim, and close the bolt; when you're ready to shoot, simply work the bolt and you're good to go. FWIW if the gun meets Soviet military specs, it's just about impossible for it to discharge if it's dropped or jostled; reputable sources have reported that a loaded, cocked, off-safe M-N can be thrown down hard enough to split the stock without discharging. (However, PLEASE do NOT try this at home!)

[longdude17]

thanks!!! yeah im starting to wonder if the bolt is even worth messing with.....

But i have it apart in my hands right now....i can take the head off it and if i have the long slide portion on it, the bolt will not go on safety, if i take the slide thing off it goes on safety easy.

with the silde on it, it acts like its hanging up, granted im doing it in my hand (which is hard on the hands by the way)....ive got another mosin that ive interchanged and checked parts with and ive narrowed it down to the bolt....somethings astray....im kinda at a loss, nothing changes when you put the slide on it, i cant see where its hanging up, but it surely wont go on safety with the slide on it.....

[m&p45acp10+1]

Clean the chamber with some J&B Bore Brite. Use a 12 ga barrel mop on a cleaning rod attatched to drill tnen use some regular solovent to clean then lightly oil it. Also slother the bolt cam with bore brite then put in and work it a lot of times, then clean it, and oil it. This will smooth out the bolt problems in most Mosin Nagant rifles. I can work mine with one finger when it is hot.

[essohbe]

My advice? Don't use the safety

Lol. Yeah, that.

Just to add, my M44 safety works fine but my brother's got a hex 91/30 and the safety won't really stay on his at all.

[SigP6Carry]

My advice? Don't bother with the safety on a Mosin. Just carry empty chamber. But, that's just my advice.

[James K]

The safety on an M-N was pretty much an afterthought. Russian (and French) policy was to not load the rifle until facing the enemy, then to unload it by firing at the enemy. So, there was no need for a safety. If it were for some reason necessary to cease fire with the chamber loaded, the loaded round was extracted in the normal manner.

Jim

[Don P]

Does anyone have a good period correct bolt laying around they arent using?

Switch the bolts out on your rifles. The only difference the Armory of production. This web site is outstanding for info.
www.7.62x54r.net
This site has a manual for free download and you can print it.
www.jgsales.com

Do some research on the 7.62 site. I found that most were made in Tula and Izhevsk which is most probably where your other rifle was made. The stamp should look like a wreath with the hammer and sickle inside the wreath.

You can use this link also,http://www.7.62x54r.net/MosinID/MosinM9130S.htm

ok fellas, i just bought two surplus mosin nagant m91/30 rifles. One is a tula 1939 and the other is a "regular" 1939 nagant, Both are round recievers and in quite nice shape.

Basicaly they both are regular rifles just 2 different arsenals,
read here, http://www.7.62x54r.net/MosinID/MosinM9130S.htm
Arsenals and Dates Only two arsenals built M91/30s in the Soviet Union, Tula and Izhevsk. While Tula is preferred by some collectors over Izhevsk there is no concrete reason for this. Although the degree of finishing suffered slightly more at Izhevsk during WWII the strength of the rifles was not compromised and there is no evidence, anecdotal or otherwise, that rifles from one arsenal are any more accurate than the other. Although full production began in 1930 and ended in 1944 at both arsenals there are many M91/30s on the market with earlier dates.

[Tamara]

What Jim Keenan said.

(Heck, as a matter of fact, French bolt-action military rifles don't even have safeties.)

[TX Hunter]

I use the safety on mine often, I would find what its hanging on, and file it off. Its probably a burr on the side of the reciever where it rest.
Also if your disasembleing your bolt be sure to check your firing pin protrusion with your guage that came with the rifle.
A punctured primer can put your eye out. or worse.

[txstang84]

Another good source for MN info

www.mosinnagant.net

[the rifleer]

Yep, keep in mind that it really wasn't designed with having a safety. I think its possible that it wasn't even designed to have one, but doing that just happens to take the pressure off the sear. If you dropped it just right, you could knock it out of the "safe" position, but i guess thats true of most rifles.

[p99guy]

My Finn M39 has the same problem....you cannot rotate the safety to the "on" position at all....while my M44 carbine safety works/rotates just fine.

[simonkenton]

"I've said it before and I'll say it again: the Mosin-Nagant safety is possibly the worst military design ever."

Yes!

[Ignition Override]

Wasn't a Russian soldier quoted as saying about the MN safety: "Ees not safe, ees made to shoooot!".

What you guys recommend works well with my Lee-Enfields and Yugo Mauser:
keep the bolt open until ready to shoot.

The Mauser's safety is very stiff, awkward, and the Enfield's is not made for a lefty-nor is the tiny switch on the left side
of the FN FAL (Imbel), which allows the gun to suddenly "break open" .

[Fiv3]

I had the same problem with my MN 91/30. They're so hard to engage, that like others I simply carry it with 4 in the mag and a couple stripper clips of 5.

"What is safety? Safety is for when not killing enemy of Mother Russia...Should ALWAYS be killing enemy of Mother Russia!!!"