Historical Mosin sticky bolt question

[offthepaper]

I was sitting wondering (almost always leads to something bad) about the infamous Mosin sticky bolt problem. I know there have been countless threads and posts on this subject, but a thought came over me and I thought I would seek out the Mosin Guru's for insight.
I have had to deal with the sticky bolt issue on every MN I have ever bought (I have 9, so far), and it has always been resolved in the tried and true method of a REALLY good cleaning of the chamber, where some tiny amount of cosmoline had hidden itself away. Sometimes I had to clean the chamber many times, but always was able to get the bolt to work fairly smooth afterwards. This seemed to me to make the problem to be caused by not the design of the rifle/chamber, but more to the lathering of cosmoline smeared over it to preserve it as it awaited the next conflict.
My question is.....did the common Russian foot soldier have a sticky bolt issue to deal with during his battles with the German forces (other than from not being cleaned)? Are there any recorded incidents where this was problematic in large numbers? I simply wonder, due to the fact these rifles likely never would have seen cosmoline until after the war. Is this simply a post war issue, or was Ivan banging his bolt on a hard surface like many of us?

 

[Cosmoline]

My question is.....did the common Russian foot soldier have a sticky bolt issue to deal with during his battles with the German forces (other than from not being cleaned)?

The problem arises from dried cosmoline from storage and poorly matched bolt heads in rearsenal jobs. It's something that happens a lot more on Soviet reworks that have been in storage for a long time than on rifles that were never dunked in the yellow goo. On a fresh and properly headspaced Mosin there is no sticking. I very rarely encounter it in a Finn or a Pole for that matter. It seems to be most common in bargain bin specials that have been rode hard and put away in some dusty old eastblock warehouse.

So the short answer is no I would not have expected them to have a sticky bolt problem with original Mosins. And I've never heard of such a problem. Indeed the old rifles have a legendary reputation for reliability in the USSR and former empire.

 

[Quickill]

I have never read any historical reports that have noted sticky bolts on Mosins. I fact I have read the opposite, that they functioned flawlessly especialy in the cold which all Russian gear seems to be designed for, I have read that the Germans had terrible trouble with the bolts on thier rifles during the winter. They would freeze soild if left attended overnight. I belive this was probably a combo of the lube they used and very tight tolerences on the rifles.

 

[Quickill]

Sorry, double post.

 

[Threejs]

+1 what Quickill said. I have read/heard that as well. You have to remember that most of these rifles only went into storage after the war. So they would not have gotten the prefunctory cosmo bath before going to the line.

 

[transformerguru]

The rifles I have, '43 dated 91/30 and a '44 dated M44, the bolts are actually "sloppy". What I mean by that is, when there is no shell in the breach the bolt is easy to maneuver. BUT when there is a cartrage in the breach it tightens up where there is no bolt slop. Both function superbly when firing quickly. So to sum it up I would say it comes down to how clean of cosmolene the breach is and some poor rearsinal jobs. Thats my opinion and experence.