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Old November 26, 2012, 12:35 PM   #1
SC4006
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Mosin Nagant bolt problem

Recently I bought a mosin at my local gunshop, I couldn't resist getting one seeing as they had an entire box of them all for $135. I picked the one that I thought had the smoothest bolt and decent wood. The employee who sold it to me also informed me that it had never been issued, which is a bonus. Anyways, after thoroughly cleaning off the massive amounts of cosmoline, I decided to go test it out in my back yard range. I noticed that ONLY when I feed a round into the chamber, I have a hard time closing the bolt on the round. If there is no round in the chamber, the bolt is as smooth as butter... That's the only problem really, I have no problems with opening the bolt and extracting the round. I know when you close the bolt on a round though, the extractor claw grabs onto the rim of the round, so maybe it's a problem with that? Im not sure. Any ideas on what might be causing this and how I can fix it?
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Old November 26, 2012, 12:50 PM   #2
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More than likely, you have some dried cosmoline in the chamber .... make sure it is shiny clean.....
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Old November 26, 2012, 01:17 PM   #3
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Agree on the cosmoline, disagree on it never being issued.
Your gunshop employee was mistaken.

Really go to town on cleaning that chamber & try again.
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Old November 26, 2012, 03:20 PM   #4
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3rd on the dried up cosmoline. What type of Nagant was it? If they were selling M91/30s for $135 that's a bit overpriced, but if it was a M44 then you got a good price.
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Old November 26, 2012, 03:45 PM   #5
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what type of ammo are you using? some rifles have tight chambers and the bulgarian surplus ammo does not do well in some of them. as stated you may also still have some dried cosmoline in your chamber. when I bought my mosins I threw them both in the bath tub with the hottest water that my heater could muster, after about 5 minutes in there I ran dry patches down the barrel and used a 45 cal brush on the chamber, I don't have that problem with either of mine.

also I hate to break it to you but there is no paper trail for mosin nagants so there is no way of knowing which rifles were issued and which ones weren't. many of these rifles were crude at best but they are robust enough that it doesn't really matter if they were issued or not. they pretty much all age the same.

Quote:
What type of Nagant was it? If they were selling M91/30s for $135 that's a bit overpriced, but if it was a M44 then you got a good price.
actually $135-150 is about average. there were 3 91/30s at the last gun show I went to, they were all priced at $190+ the age of $80 mosins is well and truly over, I'm sorry to say.
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Old November 26, 2012, 03:56 PM   #6
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Really? Aimsurplus sells them for $100, and ones with hex receivers for I $120. Most people are still able to get them for under $130 from what I hear.
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Old November 26, 2012, 04:19 PM   #7
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add $25 for shipping and handling and an additional $25 for FFL Transfer fees for the 99% of us that do not have a C&R license.
now it's a $150 dollar rifle.

you can try to rationalize it anyway you want but at the end of the day your wallet has still barfed up the same amount of cash whether it's $150 out the door at the LGS or $100+25+25 from an online dealer.
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Old November 26, 2012, 04:29 PM   #8
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From the forums I've browsed most of the people got Mosin-Nagants recently for under $150. Most of the people say that if you purchase it for more than $130 and it's not a Hex-receiver M91/30 then you're getting ripped off.
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Old November 26, 2012, 04:54 PM   #9
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Thanks for the replies. I should have mentioned that it is indeed a 91/30, from 1939 (Don't know if the year affects anything). The ammo I am currently using is definitely surplus, not sure where it is from exactly though... I think it is russian milsurp ammo. As for the cosmoline, i disassembled the entire thing, and soaked all the small parts in mineral spirits for a day, and sprayed brake degreaser all over the inside and outside and wiped everything down pretty good. Maybe I should do it again?
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Old November 26, 2012, 04:57 PM   #10
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See if you can cycle the bolt, if not then repeat what you did.
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Old November 26, 2012, 05:06 PM   #11
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May I suggest...that you buy a 30-06/308 stainless steel chamber brush and a chamber brush rod. Pour on the Kroil, or degreaser, on the chamber brush --- stick the brush in the chamber --- and twist rotate it at least 12 times. Patch clean it out.
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Old November 26, 2012, 08:17 PM   #12
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Quote:
Thanks for the replies. I should have mentioned that it is indeed a 91/30, from 1939 (Don't know if the year affects anything). The ammo I am currently using is definitely surplus, not sure where it is from exactly though... I think it is russian milsurp ammo. As for the cosmoline, i disassembled the entire thing, and soaked all the small parts in mineral spirits for a day, and sprayed brake degreaser all over the inside and outside and wiped everything down pretty good. Maybe I should do it again?
the year really does not matter all that much with 91/30s. the main differentiation are hexagonal receivers and round receivers, HEX are more sought after but there is nothing wrong with the round receivers, just more of them around I guess. if you bathed it in mineral spirits then a second time will probably yield very little. I would recommend buying a box of modern production ammo, wolf isn't too much more expensive than surplus anymore so it would be a nice control group. if it works fine then the ammo is just oversized, if it is still a tight fit then you either have poor head spacing or still gunk in the chamber, either way you know it's a problem with the gun or ammo.
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Old November 26, 2012, 08:38 PM   #13
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Thanks tahunua, and everyone else, i'll try out all of your suggestions.
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Old November 26, 2012, 09:04 PM   #14
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I have 4 mosins in total and all 4 respond in a similar fashion to a loaded chamber. I beleive this to be normal. All 4 of mine have the correct head spacing but are still a bit hard to close.
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Old November 26, 2012, 10:10 PM   #15
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I feel that MNs have their own personalities. My Dads bolt is really easy to open but mine is hard. I have spend a lot of time cleaning that chamber and still no difference. I'm gonna have to do some buffing to get it to smooth out.

Regarding the price you paid. Don't let anyone bother you, they are going up in cost. I think it mainly has to do with everyone wanting one because they are so cheap. Price goes up with demand. I did see though that Big 5 had them for $110 on Black Friday. May still be at that price..??

Anyway when I bought mine bout 2.5 years ago I think it was around $90 at Big 5.

May try sticking the receiver in a pot of boiling water to get all the cosmoline out.
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Old November 26, 2012, 10:18 PM   #16
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I like to believe that Mosin-Nagants are powered by tiny Soviets who still don't know that the motherland is fallen and that the rifle is being used against the "fascist pigs".
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Old November 27, 2012, 01:07 AM   #17
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Pre-war production will generally have better "fit and finish" than WWII era .... mine is a '43 Izzy.... amd looks as if the the reciever was chiseled out of a block of Stalin with a spoon .... It shoots OK......

I paid 99dollars for mine..... If you paid 300, you got a steal, as they are not making any more Mosins.... and they are burning up the presses printing more dollars...... hell, they don't even bother printing them up anymore, mostly: they add them to the money supply electronicly, millions and billions at a time, and call it "Quantatative Easing III", yet deny that they are monetizing the ntional debt. You won't even be able to paper your walls or wipe your behind with those electronic fictions in ten years. You'll still have that Mosin, and it will still go bang, if you can feed it.
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Old November 27, 2012, 02:10 PM   #18
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Quote:
I have 4 mosins in total and all 4 respond in a similar fashion to a loaded chamber. I beleive this to be normal. All 4 of mine have the correct head spacing but are still a bit hard to close.
I agree, I only have one 1936 hex, but it's in spec and acts the same way. Remember it's russian, so don't be gentle!
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Old November 27, 2012, 02:40 PM   #19
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My three "rounds" & one loaner hex I had here all closed perfectly, one had to be malleted open with a couple different loads.
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Old November 27, 2012, 03:20 PM   #20
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Yeah I guess I shouldn't expect my mosin to function as smoothly as a modern day bolt action.. I did try cleaning the chamber out again though and it did seem to help a little with closing the bolt, it's not like it took a mallet to close the bolt in the first place though lol, it was just fairly stiff.
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Old November 27, 2012, 03:36 PM   #21
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Wait till you warm that puppy up witha bit a rapid fire..... don't leave a spent case in there and allow it to cool ..... the lacquer on the steel cased stuff will melt and leave the chamber stickier than it is now....
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Old November 28, 2012, 03:43 PM   #22
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my mosin was 109 at big five and she is odd ball, very accurate, great trigger, beautiful bolt with smooth action. only issue was rust damage on the barrel under the heat guard which i treated and repaired .

to the topic at hand, a mosin bolt is your main firing and loading so you want it as clean as possible, use simple green or another good cleaner, TAKE BOLT apart, this can be frustrating when putting together and you should try gaping the pin, but clean all the pieces individually and apply oil/grease were it touches other metal and slides (will quicken the bolts movement) . this will improve speed of loading and may help with firing. also note that the when the bolt is at a 90 degree angle for firing. at the time look at the point that is behinf the bolt it usualy is the point that i find my bolt slides on , add grease here(after removing the bolt) and speed will increase
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Old November 28, 2012, 07:52 PM   #23
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Try doing this I have done it with all of mine. It works well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLL20...feature=colike
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Old November 29, 2012, 09:34 PM   #24
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+1 Clean chamber well; I use an over sized thick, heavy brass wire brush on an extended shaft with an electric drill. Hoppes seems to do the trick well.
Make sure the extractor grove is clean, too. Take the bolt apart and soak it in gas; I use just enough in a heavy ziplok, to shake it up. The guide is a tool for unscrewing the firing pin; note the position of the alignment notch on the safety knob face before disassembly.
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Old November 30, 2012, 04:16 PM   #25
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10-4 on the drill and brush for cleaning chamber. A little steel wool around the brush and some Hoppes helps too.
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