So I cleaned my Mosin the other day...

[dirtymike1]

So last weekend I picked up some copper solvent and gave the ol' Mosin a nice thorough cleaning. I can't remember the brand that I got, picked it up from Wal-mart, but followed the directions and it came out looking great. The bore was shinier than it's been in the year that I've owned it, so I was happy. Took it to the range yesterday and was less than impressed. While this Mosin has never been a tack driver by any means, 3-4in at 75 yards is "good", the damned thing shoots shotgun patterns now :banghead:

This is the first time that it is key holing rounds and now they are all over the place as well. 10 rounds and I only counted 7 hits on the target at 50 yeards and they were everywhere. So I guess cleaning out all that junk and build up was the last thing letting it shoot well. I put about 25 rounds thru it, of both milsurp and brown bear. I knew it shot the brown bear well but not any more.

SO I guess now this will become my project gun to learn how to do things on. I'm going to refinsh the stock, maybe chop the barrel down to 16in and let it be my flame thrower.

I lost a gun but gained a project

 

[jerkface11]

You didn't lose a gun just shoot it dirty again.

 

[dirtymike1]

After the rounds I put through it yesterday it didn't get any better as the day went on. I needed an excuse to make it into a tinker toy anyway, so I figure this is it.

 

[nathan]

If the bore looks worn and not as tight , then that could be the reason. Mosin rifles now are dime a dozen. Its easy to get an unssued condition and pay a little extra dollars. Classicarms.us has them a plenty .

 

[dirtymike1]

Oh I know, I'm not to worried about picking up another one. I only spent $100 on this one anyway. I'll take a closer look at it tonight, I don't think I scrubbed out the rifling on it since it still looked fairly crisp after cleaning it. As crisp as a 76 year old rifle can look.

 

[Zombiphobia]

I've heard this nasty little rumor that some of the old milsurp rifles like mosin's and mausers often shoot better dirty, and at least with no oil in the bore at all... go figure.

 

[mcdonl]

I stopped using surplus ammo and started loading my own. It is accurate, and does not get fouled up.

Sellier Bellot makes good ammo, although it is expensive. I use S&B as my source of brass.

Like jerkface said... shoot it dirty again!

 

[M-Cameron]

i know with some guns, that after you give them a thorough cleaning.....they need a few shots to "season" the barrel....


try shooting another 25 rounds and see if your groupings dont improve.....


also, did you adjust the stock or anything at all while you were cleaning it....or did you just remove the bolt and scrub the barrel?

 

[kaferhaus]

check the barrel crown for nicks or scratches.... even if worn out it should shoot better than that.

 

[dirtymike1]

I didn't pull it from the stock this time, just cleaned it as is. I usually do pull it though, but was just being a little lazy that do and didn't feel like it.

I know the crown as a nick in it, it had it when I got it but I thikn it's outside of the area that would/could affect bullet flight. I don't recall hitting the crown during this cleaning, but I won't rule it out. I'll double check that tonight as well.

I'll take it back out, maybe tomorrow, and put more rounds through it and see if that helps. But do you all thikn that it will go from key holeing rounds back to shooting some what where it was before? I figured that I I may have scrubbed some of the rifleing out and that I killed it to make it key hole rounds like that..

 

[jerkface11]

What did you clean it with????

 

[dirtymike1]

I just searched wal-marts site, can't find the product. It's a copper solvent, came in a white bottle with a yellow label and green writting if I remember correctly. I used the brush that came with the cleaning kit for the Mosin as well, if that matters. I know that brush its not brass, so that may be the problem now that I think about it.

 

[M-Cameron]

well if you just did a simple cleaning....it is unlkely that you did any real damage to the gun...

i wouldnt be surprised if your grouping started to improve after a few more rounds.

 

[dirtymike1]

Well, I've give it a shot, all puns intended. I have been toying with the idea of chopping off some of the barrel and doing a other little things (polish the trigger) to learn a little about gun smithing in a practical sense. I'll take it out to the next range trip and see if it gets any better.

 

[leadcounsel]

Any other variables? Wind? Ammo? Supported vs. unsupported? Distance? Patience?

 

[dirtymike1]

Yesterday was pretty calm, slight wind from right to left, I would call it a breeze not even wind. Supported on my back pack like usual, though it's not consistent it works for my purpose when the range doesn't have blocks or sand bags to use. Distance was ~50 yards +/-1 and it was at a rate of 10 rounds in 20minutes, 25 total for the day before my shoulder started to bother me.

Ammo was about half and half, milsurp and brown bear. Don't know where the milsurp is from but I can check that on 7.62x54r.net tonight if you are still interested. I know the brown bear shoots well, 3-4in at 75 yards being a good day for me and rifle. But it keyholed with both types of ammo which it's never done before.

 

[jdowney]

I think I'd start reloading for it. Slug the bore, then cast and size bullets to match. Maybe a lot of trouble for a tired old Mosin, but another fun project before you hack and slash on it.

 

[Spec ops Grunt]

Check your bore diameter.

Are you firing with the bayonet attached? Some Mosins like it that way.

If your bore diameter is larger than it should, you can reload.

 

[nathan]

Most advise using the heavy ball 54 R ammo. They tend to be more accurate as bullet has more contact with the riflings.

 

[sxcamaro05]

We sell 91/30's on sale for about $80 and they are a mixed bag for sure. The Laminate stocks always have nicer bores although must people won't spend the extra $30 to get them. I have one that I hand picked after looking through the shipments for over a year. Other than that some harsh cleaners will make the bore "too clean" and throw off the ammo. I noticed that plain old Hoppe's, Blue Wonder, and Tetra seem to work the best (I like blue wonder since its a gel and no smell). Breakfree, brake cleaner, KG12 etc seem to do something that makes these guns need more "seasoning" than their weaker counterparts IMHO.

 

[caribou]

Have a good look at your crown, as suggested above.

A bad crown can give you keyholing with perfect rifleing

Often, Keyholeing can be corrected with a good crowning if theres still any rifleing at all.

During refurb, to bring back accuray to well used rifles, up to 1-1/2" inches were counterbored, untill the crown was perfect again.

 

[tatonka]

Check the action screws, they may have loosened with use. Also check the sights for looseness. These thing will definitely affect accuracy but should not cause keyholed shots. Same ammo I assume? May just have a marginal crown. Search the web for do-it-yourself recrowning methods. It may be time. The crown is always endangered during cleaning.

 

[mesinge2]

This happened with my Mosin. I hadn't cleaned it in forever and I was getting sticky-bolt-syndrome. So I broke it down and cleaned it. Afterward the accuracy was off. It took about 70 rounds to dial itself in again. It will be a while before I clean it again.

 

[dirtymike1]

Well I looked the Mosin over yesterday and yes, the crown is nicked up pretty good. I'll look into DIY recorwning a bit this week and see if it's something I want to try out myself. Everything else seemed to check out pretty well, a little pitting in teh bore, but that's been there, and the action screws were nice and tight still. I'm guessing it's the crown that's throwing this thing off now.

 

[M-Cameron]

if its just some minor nicks...its pretty easy to do a simple crown re-newing....all you need to do is chuck a round head bolt into a drill, apply a little polishing compound and have at at..... a lot simpler and harder to mess up than cutting the barrel and cutting a new crown