Mosin Nagant failure to fire

gods_chozen · February 28, 2014, 12:51 AM

Ok, I need some help here. I bought a mosin nagant 91/30, I also bought a spam can of ammo. I have put 15 rounds into the rifle and only one round managed to fire. I checked the primer of each one, at first there seemed to be no to little primer strike. I adjusted the firing pin protrusion and tried again, still no joy. Finally I watched a video on youtube explaining how to use the protrusion tool that came with my rifle. I adjusted it according to the information I obtained and tried again, and still nothing. I always assumed that as long as the primer was struck hard enough the round would fire, but from some of the rounds I tried to fire the primers look as if they were almost pushed in and still would not fire. I understand that surplus ammo is fickle at best but seriously? One out of 15? There has to be some other explanation, I am going to try some different ammo and see if it works. In the mean time, if you have any ideas on what the problem may be I would really appreciate the help. Thanks.

WardenWolf · February 28, 2014, 01:50 AM

Possibly something as simple as a bad firing pin spring. But barring that, yeah, likely the ammo. Just remember that surplus stuff is corrosive, so be sure to clean your rifle really well after shooting it.

ckpj99 · February 28, 2014, 09:44 AM

Some of that surplus ammo can be 40 or 50 years old. Of course it was stored well in sealed cans, but that doesn't mean some of the can didn't get rusted through. Buy 20 rounds of premium ammo, or buy your own spam can so you can be sure it wasn't compromised.

If that doesn't work, then I don't know what to tell you.

gods_chozen · February 28, 2014, 08:39 PM

Thank you guys, but I found out the problem. My brother went with me and when we were trying to shoot the new ammo it still wouldn't fire. He noticed that the bolt was not turning all the way down. I sportorized my MN and the mounted an ATI scope mount. Well the stock I put the action into does not have a notched carved out for the bolt handle. Once I grooved the stock the bolt fully engaged and fired every round. Going to take out the surplus ammo tomorrow and try it again. I am sure it will work now. Thanks for all your input.

tahunua001 · February 28, 2014, 08:43 PM

it is very likely that there is still cosmoline in the bolt body which is locking up your firing pin. take it apart, boil it in water for a good 5-10 minutes... oil the crap out of it and reassemble... should work fine after that.

doofus47 · February 28, 2014, 11:31 PM

If you got the issued cleaning kit with the MN, there should be a tool that measures firing pin protrusion.
I don't remember the exact methodology as I sold my MN a few years ago, but... if you have the tool and youtube, you should be able to check this yourself.

mehavey · February 28, 2014, 11:56 PM

Quote:

"...noticed that the bolt was not turning all the way down....

You are one lucky guy in that when it did fire, the partially engaged lugs held and the case did not separate.

whew....

tobnpr · March 1, 2014, 09:13 AM

^^ X 1,000,000

You beat me to it, exactly my thought when I read his post #4.

It reminded of when I had purchased our first K-31, and made up some handloads for testing based on the Sierra manual with 175 SMK's.

The OAL in the manual is WAYYYY off- as in by nearly a full quarter inch!

My son told me the bolt would not fully close, AFTER he had already sent about a half dozen rounds downrange. Shame on me for not having anticipated such an issue and discussed it with my sons in advance- but we were lucky that day. Literally shoving the bullet into the lands, bolt not closing fully. Don't even ask me how the thing drove those bullets like a tack driver...

Turned out the 7.5 x 55 throats vary greatly- and the K-31 is very short compared to other earlier models; but that's another subject...

Not shortly after that exercise when we were just beginning to handload, I threw out OAL info from the manuals and started using the OAL gauge and comparator for every rifle/bullet combination.

February 28, 2014, 12:51 AM	#1
gods_chozen Junior Member Join Date: February 27, 2014 Posts: 2	Mosin Nagant failure to fire Ok, I need some help here. I bought a mosin nagant 91/30, I also bought a spam can of ammo. I have put 15 rounds into the rifle and only one round managed to fire. I checked the primer of each one, at first there seemed to be no to little primer strike. I adjusted the firing pin protrusion and tried again, still no joy. Finally I watched a video on youtube explaining how to use the protrusion tool that came with my rifle. I adjusted it according to the information I obtained and tried again, and still nothing. I always assumed that as long as the primer was struck hard enough the round would fire, but from some of the rounds I tried to fire the primers look as if they were almost pushed in and still would not fire. I understand that surplus ammo is fickle at best but seriously? One out of 15? There has to be some other explanation, I am going to try some different ammo and see if it works. In the mean time, if you have any ideas on what the problem may be I would really appreciate the help. Thanks.

February 28, 2014, 08:43 PM	#5
tahunua001 Senior Member Join Date: July 21, 2011 Location: Idaho Posts: 7,839	it is very likely that there is still cosmoline in the bolt body which is locking up your firing pin. take it apart, boil it in water for a good 5-10 minutes... oil the crap out of it and reassemble... should work fine after that. __________________ ignore my complete lack of capitalization. I still have no problem correcting your grammar. I never said half the stuff people said I did-Albert Einstein You can't believe everything you read on the internet-Benjamin Franklin

February 28, 2014, 11:31 PM	#6
doofus47 Senior Member Join Date: June 9, 2010 Location: live in a in a house when i'm not in a tent Posts: 2,483	If you got the issued cleaning kit with the MN, there should be a tool that measures firing pin protrusion. I don't remember the exact methodology as I sold my MN a few years ago, but... if you have the tool and youtube, you should be able to check this yourself. __________________ I'm right about the metric system 3/4 of the time.

March 1, 2014, 09:13 AM	#8
tobnpr Senior Member Join Date: August 1, 2010 Location: Tampa Bay Posts: 4,556	^^ X 1,000,000 You beat me to it, exactly my thought when I read his post #4. It reminded of when I had purchased our first K-31, and made up some handloads for testing based on the Sierra manual with 175 SMK's. The OAL in the manual is WAYYYY off- as in by nearly a full quarter inch! My son told me the bolt would not fully close, AFTER he had already sent about a half dozen rounds downrange. Shame on me for not having anticipated such an issue and discussed it with my sons in advance- but we were lucky that day. Literally shoving the bullet into the lands, bolt not closing fully. Don't even ask me how the thing drove those bullets like a tack driver... Turned out the 7.5 x 55 throats vary greatly- and the K-31 is very short compared to other earlier models; but that's another subject... Not shortly after that exercise when we were just beginning to handload, I threw out OAL info from the manuals and started using the OAL gauge and comparator for every rifle/bullet combination. __________________ Remington 700/Savage Rebarreling /Action Blueprinting 07 FFL /Mosin-Nagant Custom Shop/Bent Bolts Genuine Cerakote Applicator www.biggorillagunworks.com

February 28, 2014, 01:50 AM	#2
WardenWolf Junior member Join Date: December 12, 2013 Location: Northern Virginia Posts: 135	Possibly something as simple as a bad firing pin spring. But barring that, yeah, likely the ammo. Just remember that surplus stuff is corrosive, so be sure to clean your rifle really well after shooting it.

February 28, 2014, 09:44 AM	#3
ckpj99 Senior Member Join Date: January 24, 2011 Posts: 386	Some of that surplus ammo can be 40 or 50 years old. Of course it was stored well in sealed cans, but that doesn't mean some of the can didn't get rusted through. Buy 20 rounds of premium ammo, or buy your own spam can so you can be sure it wasn't compromised. If that doesn't work, then I don't know what to tell you.

February 28, 2014, 08:39 PM	#4
gods_chozen Junior Member Join Date: February 27, 2014 Posts: 2	Thank you guys, but I found out the problem. My brother went with me and when we were trying to shoot the new ammo it still wouldn't fire. He noticed that the bolt was not turning all the way down. I sportorized my MN and the mounted an ATI scope mount. Well the stock I put the action into does not have a notched carved out for the bolt handle. Once I grooved the stock the bolt fully engaged and fired every round. Going to take out the surplus ammo tomorrow and try it again. I am sure it will work now. Thanks for all your input.