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First shots with a Mosin today - bolt stuck after 53 rounds

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CattleDog

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So, I'm new to Mosins. Bought a 1942 Izzy 91/30 still covered in cosmoline a few weeks back. Imported by Century. I spent a few weeks cleaning all the cosmoline off, scrubbing the bore, and thoroughly cleaning/lubing the bolt.

As I've only been shooting handguns I've been going to an indoor range, and they were more than welcoming of the Mosin, as long as I had non-magnetic rounds. Found some Herter's 180gr soft points and some ultra expensive Hornady hunting ammo at Cabela's. More than I wanted to pay, but I was dying to shoot the damn thing.

First 50 rounds went without hitch, and was amazingly fun. Then the bolt started getting a little tough to operate. I noticed the empty cases were also a little sticky. Finally at 53 it wouldn't budge. I let it cool a while and was able to pop the bolt open, but I had to use a brass cleaning rod to pop the spent case out. As far as I can tell, I had no expansion in the cases so I don't think it's a headspace issue. Could it be years of built up lacquer and cosmoline that just got too heated and stuck?

I tried chambering a few empty cases after removing the stuck one and they worked fine, but the bolt wouldn't close on the one that was stuck which still looked the same as unfired rounds (the stuck case was a steel case from the Hornady 150gr SST hunting rounds, the Herters were brass cased and seemed to be much smoother in operation overall).

Any thoughts?
 
I think the Hornady cases are oversized. I have a 91/30, M44, and two M39 Finns. Hornady rounds tight in all. Accurate, but tight. No problems with any spam can surplus, nor with Prvi, nor with Herters...

That said, residual cosmoline can cause headaches.
 
I can echo what the others have stated.

I did everything in this vid on my first 91/30 (I did cut the spring also, polished the piss outta everything.)

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Mountain said:
I think the Hornady cases are oversized. I have a 91/30, M44, and two M39 Finns. Hornady rounds tight in all. Accurate, but tight. No problems with any spam can surplus, nor with Prvi, nor with Herters...

That said, residual cosmoline can cause headaches.
Click to expand...

This is a relief to hear, all the Hornady I shot did seem a little stiff. I'll scrub up the chamber some more and probably review the video Lowbird posted as well. Even at only 75 feet the thing was tremendous fun, and the noise indoors was intoxicating. Motivation to finally join a proper range I guess...and buy more Mosins. It's like a disease.
 
I would assume he's asking as there could be headspace issues if the bolt and gun do not match. Mine is an arsenal refurb, so I'm not sure if it is in fact the original bolt/receiver or if they were re-stamped but they're married now.
 
53 is a good amount of rounds for the mosin and i imagine that chamber was starting to get pretty gunked up. With that many shots i bet that it got pretty hot and all the cosmoline that has been sitting in that rifle for decades started to seep out. I feel like most of my new mosin purchases did this actually if they come covered in cosmoline. Enjoy the rifle and buy a spam can of ammo or 2 while you can still get it.
 
One place that is tough to get really clean is the locking lug recess on the receiver. I have pulled tons of gunk out of mine.... looked like horse hair and a primer or chunk of a rim....this was after owning it for a year or so....I thought I got it cleaner.
 
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Indoor range where you can shoot centerfire rifle is a nice find. Which range is it?

CattleDog said:
So, I'm new to Mosins. Bought a 1942 Izzy 91/30 still covered in cosmoline a few weeks back. Imported by Century. I spent a few weeks cleaning all the cosmoline off, scrubbing the bore, and thoroughly cleaning/lubing the bolt.

As I've only been shooting handguns I've been going to an indoor range, and they were more than welcoming of the Mosin, as long as I had non-magnetic rounds. Found some Herter's 180gr soft points and some ultra expensive Hornady hunting ammo at Cabela's. More than I wanted to pay, but I was dying to shoot the damn thing.

First 50 rounds went without hitch, and was amazingly fun. Then the bolt started getting a little tough to operate. I noticed the empty cases were also a little sticky. Finally at 53 it wouldn't budge. I let it cool a while and was able to pop the bolt open, but I had to use a brass cleaning rod to pop the spent case out. As far as I can tell, I had no expansion in the cases so I don't think it's a headspace issue. Could it be years of built up lacquer and cosmoline that just got too heated and stuck?

I tried chambering a few empty cases after removing the stuck one and they worked fine, but the bolt wouldn't close on the one that was stuck which still looked the same as unfired rounds (the stuck case was a steel case from the Hornady 150gr SST hunting rounds, the Herters were brass cased and seemed to be much smoother in operation overall).

Any thoughts?
Click to expand...
 
I have shot my mosin a few times at cmp matches consist of 60 rounds.
30 rounds in 30 min slow fire
10 rounds rapid prone
10 rounds rapid sitting
10 rounds slow standing

That barrel is hot by then. I have shot combinations of steel case surplus, PPU and Lapua brass
It has never seemed to get harder to extract mixing brass/steel or with temp.

I will state: My mosin was the most stubborn, frustrating and most pita rifle to get shooting well.
In the beginning it was minute of back stop and slowly learning more about stock fit , action screw tightness, shimming hand guards, trigger work all eventually led to a rifle that could put them in the black.

Fun guns for sure. I didn't get the bug to buy more than the 91/30 and carbine.
I will pick up a,Finnish model if one presents itself at the right time and place for the right price.
 
84ta406 said:
Granite state indoor range allows up to .308 as long as theres no metal core. Brought my .308 Mossberg there once.
Click to expand...

That's the place. It's not just metal core, they also don't allow bi-metal jackets. Something about their rubber backstop and sparks resulting in a flame filled disaster. I respect it. It's a cool place, very modern, well ventilated and the staff have always been friendly to me. Great for handguns, though I see myself getting bored with the Mosin at 75ft pretty quickly. You can even set the targets to randomly move forward and back and rotate if you want to practice some self defense shooting.

I was in the small 5 lane bay with the Mosin, and someone a few stalls down was shooting slugs out of a 12 gauge. It was a very loud environment for a while.

Edit - today is actually their one year anniversary, they're giving away memberships and Bruins tickets and other stuff.
 
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First off I don't own a Mosin Nagant...
Regarding surplus ammo, the Albanian surplus is brass-cased and utilizes the .217" berdan primer, making it reloadable (just not as convenient nor as cheap as boxer-primed brass). Anecdotal reports say it will extract easier...can't say with any authority.


As for indoor centerfire rifle ranges, another consideration is frangible ammo. Easily made and you may find more ranges that will allow you to shoot your Mosin or other centerfire rifle.
Get together with anyone that reloads this caliber and you can brew up your own.

Perhaps the plastic bullets and sabot/with frangible bullets would be readily accepted, too.
 
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CattleDog said:
... Even at only 75 feet the thing was tremendous fun, and the noise indoors was intoxicating. Motivation to finally join a proper range I guess...and buy more Mosins. It's like a disease.
Click to expand...

Try shooting it at dusk. When it's getting dark but the sky is still light. The fireball produced by these is tons of fun. Especially the somewhat shorter M44.
 
expecting perfection with a 70+ year old battle rifle are we? there's a reason they're cheap. not throwing gas on the flames, but just saying.
 

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