My first Mosin-Nagant!

[Mossberg Kid]

Just got my first Mosin-Nagant this weekend, and I must say, after buying one, I can understand why people get more of them.

To be able to buy such a historical weapon for such good prices -- $150 (probably overpaid) -- is fantastic! And it's a bad-ass firearm too. It looks epecially bad-ass with the bayonet!

Unfortunately, my pic-taking technology is on the fritz; my apologies. Hope to remedy that soon.

I haven't shot it yet; been fairly tied up this weekend.

Hope to get to the range early next week, then I'll provide an update to all.

 

[CasualObserver]

Just got my first Mosin-Nagant this weekend, and I must say, after buying one, I can understand why people get more of them.

To be able to buy such a historical weapon for such good prices -- $150 (probably overpaid) -- is fantastic! And it's a bad-ass firearm too. It looks epecially bad-ass with the bayonet!

Unfortunately, my pic-taking technology is on the fritz; my apologies. Hope to remedy that soon.

I haven't shot it yet; been fairly tied up this weekend.

Hope to get to the range early next week, then I'll provide an update to all.

Congrats! I'm sure you'll enjoy it. I just ordered my 3rd one this morning... which is nothing compared to some of the guys on this forum.

 

[Minuteman]

Cool. Good on you, congrats!

 

[Mossberg Kid]

Ha ha!

I knew I should expect the SWAT team or maybe some SEALs to show up and discipline me for my failure to post pics.

:-)

My camera's broken and all of my money is going to guns and ammo right now; I'll see if I can borrow a camera.

I'm so looking forward to shooting this bad boy; maybe tomorrow or Tuesday evening after work. Psyche!

 

[AC MkIII]

You don't have a camera on your phone or computer?
Is it a round receiver or hex?
What year is stamped on it?
Does it have a star, triangle or hammer and sickle?
What kind of stock?
These things we got to know!
Congratulations on a purchasing a piece of history.

 

[falconguy]

Buying Mosin Nagant rifles is like eating peanuts. Once you start, it's damn hard to stop! Enjoy your new toy.

 

[Mossberg Kid]

Shooting update

Well, I'm overdue on giving you all an update on the performance of my Mosin-Nagant, so here it is.

I've had my MN 91/30 1933 Tula/hex for two weeks now, and have taken it out shooting twice so far.

My first shoot was indoors at Gilberts in Rockville, and I was shooting what I figured was the standard military surplus 7.62 ammo, and it seemed to handle just fine. The rifle seemed to shoot well, with a healthy kick, and I didn't have any problems with the bolt or ejecting spent cartridges.

I proceeded to clean the rifle that night and then another time before I took it shooting again a week later -- this time, it was outdoors, at the Myrtle Grove range outside La Plata in Charles County in southern Maryland (for any of you new to the area).

I had mixed results this time; shooting was fine, but I had one heck of a time with the bolt and with ejecting the spent ammo. This time I was using 7.62x54R 148 gr. FMJ non-corrosive berdan-primed ammo, Russian made.

Now, I don't know if it was the ammo that did it, or if I failed to properly clean the rifle out on the first two cleans, but the bolt was stubbornly sticky, and I found myself frequently having to work the bolt back and forth to get it all the way back to the left, then pulling and twisting the gun's safety so I could remove the bolt entirely from the receiver before re-inserting it.

That got old pretty quick.

Plus it seemed like what must have been old cosmoline residue was bubbling up in various points around the rifles, even before I finished firing one box of cartridges. Bummer.

Well, I was running out of time due to some self-inflicted scheduling problems, so I had to bail after shooting one box of ammo.

So when I got home, I gave the rifle another good cleaning.

Then this weekend, I had another cleaning session and took it a step further. I completely dis-assembled the entire bolt and soaked the individual pieces for 10-15 minutes in boiling water, then scrubbed them good with a brush. After I got the bolt re-assembled, I treated a number of contact spots with some Gunslick graphite firearm lubrication, as well as a number of spots on the receiver.

I got rid of the boiling water by pouring it down the barrel of the rifle, from the receiver outward, then I gave the barrel another thorough cleaning. I started with Windex (because a number of people had recommended using it because one of the ingredients apparently does a good job of breaking down the cosmo residue), then I used some J-B bore cleaning compound, then Hoppe's 9 solvent, and finished up with some CLP.

Upon further review, after boiling the individual parts of my bolt, scrubbing them clean and then lubricating every internal part of the rifle, I'm coming to the conclusion that my bolt has some mechanical issue. Two observations: A) It seems like there's some level of mechanical resistance when I move the bolt 90 degrees to the right, perpendicular, and then when I move it back. The bolt seems to be "catching" mechanically in each direction, as if I have to move it through an initial position before it can complete the move into the final position, and it does so when I move it in both directions.

B) when I look closely, I see the bolt does not move in an uninterrupted, direct, straight, 90-degree line when I go to close it, or when I fully open it. When I go to close the bolt, it moves forward and right just a tad, and catches, then it moves even further forward into the second position before moving fully right. So the bolt really goes in a 45-degree direction first and then ends up in a 90-degree position. The phenomenon works in reverse when I go to re-open the bolt.

I didn't really notice this or pay close attention to this when I was shopping for the rifle because every Mosin in the store seemed to work this way. But now that I'm trying to perfect the bolt action, it's become obvious to me.

Any suggestions for smoothing this out at all or do I just have to get used to slapping and man-handling the bolt? I saw a youtube-er who had fixed his bolt's action to the point of being able to work it in both directions with just his pinky. Mine seems a far cry from that, at this point.

 

[tssherman]

Nice, the are great and ammo is nice and cheap. If you are using surplus ammo, make sure you clean it well after every use. That stuff can be corrosive. I have two of them 1906, and a 1943. love um both.

 

[tsmith1499]

You should check out some of the videos on youtube. There are a ton of good ones. Search for Chromefreak, or Iraqiveteran they have some very good vids.

 

[KMK1862]

Kid, next time you clean your Mosin, check the front of the receiver where the bolt locking lugs will be when the bolt is closed. Cosmolene can "hide" in there give you some trouble.

 

[psoyring]

This is called sticky bolt syndrome, you will need a brass bore brush and an electric drill to fully de cosmo the chamber.

 

[Joshua M. Smith]

Well, I'm overdue on giving you all an update on the performance of my Mosin-Nagant, so here it is.

I've had my MN 91/30 1933 Tula/hex for two weeks now, and have taken it out shooting twice so far.

My first shoot was indoors at Gilberts in Rockville, and I was shooting what I figured was the standard military surplus 7.62 ammo, and it seemed to handle just fine. The rifle seemed to shoot well, with a healthy kick, and I didn't have any problems with the bolt or ejecting spent cartridges.

I proceeded to clean the rifle that night and then another time before I took it shooting again a week later -- this time, it was outdoors, at the Myrtle Grove range outside La Plata in Charles County in southern Maryland (for any of you new to the area).

I had mixed results this time; shooting was fine, but I had one heck of a time with the bolt and with ejecting the spent ammo. This time I was using 7.62x54R 148 gr. FMJ non-corrosive berdan-primed ammo, Russian made.

Now, I don't know if it was the ammo that did it, or if I failed to properly clean the rifle out on the first two cleans, but the bolt was stubbornly sticky, and I found myself frequently having to work the bolt back and forth to get it all the way back to the left, then pulling and twisting the gun's safety so I could remove the bolt entirely from the receiver before re-inserting it.

That got old pretty quick.

Plus it seemed like what must have been old cosmoline residue was bubbling up in various points around the rifles, even before I finished firing one box of cartridges. Bummer.

Well, I was running out of time due to some self-inflicted scheduling problems, so I had to bail after shooting one box of ammo.

So when I got home, I gave the rifle another good cleaning.

Then this weekend, I had another cleaning session and took it a step further. I completely dis-assembled the entire bolt and soaked the individual pieces for 10-15 minutes in boiling water, then scrubbed them good with a brush. After I got the bolt re-assembled, I treated a number of contact spots with some Gunslick graphite firearm lubrication, as well as a number of spots on the receiver.

I got rid of the boiling water by pouring it down the barrel of the rifle, from the receiver outward, then I gave the barrel another thorough cleaning. I started with Windex (because a number of people had recommended using it because one of the ingredients apparently does a good job of breaking down the cosmo residue), then I used some J-B bore cleaning compound, then Hoppe's 9 solvent, and finished up with some CLP.

Upon further review, after boiling the individual parts of my bolt, scrubbing them clean and then lubricating every internal part of the rifle, I'm coming to the conclusion that my bolt has some mechanical issue. Two observations: A) It seems like there's some level of mechanical resistance when I move the bolt 90 degrees to the right, perpendicular, and then when I move it back. The bolt seems to be "catching" mechanically in each direction, as if I have to move it through an initial position before it can complete the move into the final position, and it does so when I move it in both directions.

B) when I look closely, I see the bolt does not move in an uninterrupted, direct, straight, 90-degree line when I go to close it, or when I fully open it. When I go to close the bolt, it moves forward and right just a tad, and catches, then it moves even further forward into the second position before moving fully right. So the bolt really goes in a 45-degree direction first and then ends up in a 90-degree position. The phenomenon works in reverse when I go to re-open the bolt.

I didn't really notice this or pay close attention to this when I was shopping for the rifle because every Mosin in the store seemed to work this way. But now that I'm trying to perfect the bolt action, it's become obvious to me.

Any suggestions for smoothing this out at all or do I just have to get used to slapping and man-handling the bolt? I saw a youtube-er who had fixed his bolt's action to the point of being able to work it in both directions with just his pinky. Mine seems a far cry from that, at this point.

Chances are this feller may know what he's talking about...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZ4qDrAiQJo&feature=plcp



I actually cover one possible problem in that vid.

Regards,

Josh