Is there any reason why an apparently correctly assembled bolt would get stuck in a Mosin?

[bos19]

I have an issue I have never heard of or come across before. I cleaned both of my Mosin Nagants earlier (M91/30 and M38) and found the re-assembly of the bolts to be challenging, but the M38 was a breeze in comparison. The issue I've been having is every time I think I re-assembled the M91/30's bolt properly and I slide the bolt into the gun, it gets completely stuck and doesn't function like a bolt should. I have to take the receiver out of the gun so I can free up the bolt, because there is literally no other way I can get it out, even with force. Even though it's entirely possible I didn't assemble the bolt properly, I'm wondering why the bolt would go into the gun in the first place if it was assembled incorrectly. I compared the M91/30's assembled bolt to the M38's bolt, and there was no visible difference between the two, yet the M38's bolt is currently functioning smoother than any other Mosin bolt I have ever seen. I had M91/30's disassembled bolt soaking outside in mineral spirits most of the day, so I'm wondering if that could have made a difference?

 

[wiscoaster]

If you visibly compare the two bolts and didn't see any difference, I don't think it's the bolt. And I don't think it would go into the rifle anyway if it was not assembled correctly. And the mineral spirits make no difference. Try the M91/30 bolt in your M38 and see if it works OK in there. And visa versa to see if you get the same problem. That should rule out any problem with the bolt and isolate it to the rifle. You could check the ejector and the trigger / sear. Maybe it's jamming up against one of those.

 

[Tortuga]

Maybe this is a dumb question, but at what point does the bolt get stuck? Is the firearm actually in battery or are you even able to cycle a round?

 

[Bfh_auto]

Try loosening the rear action screw. It is possible the wood compressed enough the screw is protruding when it's super tight.

 

[wiscoaster]

Actually, the rear action screw goes in top-down, so it's likely to portrude and rub on the bolt if it's too loose. Make sure it's screwed in far enough so it's at least flush. Though, if you can't screw it in that far, I think something's not seated properly. And maybe that's your whole problem in the first place?

 

[bos19]

It must have been something with the way that the screws were screwed in, because everything seems to be working fine now after I made some adjustments. The bolt was apparently assembled correctly. Thanks everyone.

 

[wiscoaster]

Thanks for the update.

 

[Mosin77]

Glad you got it sorted!

 

[CapnMac]

Well, the problem was that you correctly assembled the bolt. []

 

[Demi-human]

When is difficult to run Mosin, big portion of lubricating mud should be to put in breech.
With this you will have no more problem.

Unless frozen, that what Vodka is for.