Hey Mosin experts......

[Gottahaveone]

I finally found a M38. And a beauty it is. Broke it down, cleaned it up, and headed to the range. Shoots as good as it looks. But the upper handguard walks about 1/8" forward every time you pull the trigger. Neither my 91/30 nor M44 do this, so I assume it to be related to the snappier recoil in the lighter M38. I tried all the things that made sense, like verifying the barrel bands were seated correctly and gently prying up on the catch of the rear band to make sure it was fully engaged. Then I remembered that this is a russian combat arm, so the correct fix involves hitting it somewhere with a mallet. Can anyone tell me exactly where to beat on it to fix this issue?

 

[Hoppy590]

hmmm while your theory on Russian small arms maintenance is correct, iv never experienced this before

doe it only go an 1/8 inch forward? or does it go 1/8 each shot?(meaning will it in theory walk itself off the rifle?)

 

[Gottahaveone]

It walks with each shot. Shoot long enough, it'll fall off.

 

[esmith]

Hmm, how are the barrel bands jumping over the clips that hold them in place? If they are snapped in there they shouldn't be moving. Maybe they are too loose.

 

[Hoppy590]

Maybe they are too loose.

thats what im thinking

the bands are too loose, but the OP seems to have checked that

 

[offthepaper]

Do the springs holding the handguard rings have enough tension to keep the rings from walking?

 

[Gottahaveone]

Hmm, how are the barrel bands jumping over the clips that hold them in place?

There's the $64 question. It's only the rear band thats jumping out of the clip. I tried lifting up on the clip to assure it was fully engaged. And I looked at the band itself to see it it was sprung open or weak feeling. It's nice and tight to go on, and it fits snugly into the clip. In fact, it's a pain to remove manually. I'll admit to being a little confused.

 

[esmith]

Maybe the bands don't have enough tension to remain tight, but that doesn't sound normal. Or really make sense for that matter.

All the barrel bands i have on my mosins are tight and a downright pain to get off and on.

 

[Hoppy590]

All the barrel bands i have on my mosins are tight and a downright pain to get off and on.

well they can become loose. i have a beat down battlefield pick up T53 (chinese M44) where the bands have lots of slack

 

[rangerruck]

get some new bands, yours are loose, or take a pair of pliers, and squeeze where necessary...

 

[grimjaw]

get some new bands, yours are loose, or take a pair of pliers, and squeeze where necessary...

+1, I had a Finn 91/30 that would do the same thing. Under recoil, the top handguard would eventually work itself off, because the bands didn't have enough tension.

jm

 

[offthepaper]

get some new bands, yours are loose, or take a pair of pliers, and squeeze where necessary...

Sounds about right.
What would Ivan do?

 

[expvideo]

The replacement part costs about $70.

 

[Gottahaveone]

What would Ivan do?

I swear, I'm going to get a bumper sticker that says "WWID".
(If you aren't in the Bible Belt, you probably haven't seen all the WWJD stickers on cars). I was thinking of gluing all the parts together with shellac like the rework arsenal originally did. Maybe that's the problem, I cleaned it

 

[WardenWolf]

My M91/30 does that.

Here's your fix: http://www.tnguns.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=14_16&products_id=99

 

[Funderb]

if you can push the clip down and remove the band with only your fingers, and you are not russian, then the clips or bands are too loose.

fix = take them off and bend them in the direction that makes them tighter.

no kidding.