Mosin Bolt prob (NOT sticky)

[kis2]

so today im cycling rounds through my 91/30, the rifle having not been fired all that day, and it seemed like 1 out of the 5 rounds would be closed really hard on.

the last stage of closing the bolt and the first of opening it were REALLY tight, had to give it a pretty good tap to open. and the weird part (to me at least) is that i cycled the same exact rounds through and a different one would be stubborn each time.

steel casing, 203 grain. the rifle has been cleaned up pretty good. again, i wasnt shooting it, so ive ruled out sticky bolt.

do you think it just doesnt like the ammo maybe (even though the same rounds worked spurradically)? or is this a headspace problem?

thanks all

 

[chrisslamar]

First question is what brand ammo is it? I personally haven't seen too much 7.62 x 54r ammo with a 203 grain bullet ( so do let me know cause we're looking for some for a Dragunov a friend of mine as but back to the point) also let us know if you have tried it with any other ammo. My last suggestion is to make sure you have thoroughly cleaned out the chamber mouth to make sure that there isn't any cosmoline still lingering around in there.

 

[Cosmoline]

Sometimes a rifle will be sensitive to slight variations within an ammo batch. Rim thickness and shape, for example. Next time at the range, cycle through some ammo without firing and see if it's doing it with the same exact cartridges each time. I had one 91/30 that refused to shoot certain rounds of Wolf, and as far as I could tell there was nothing special about them but a little extra laquer around the rim.

As a general rule, to test for true RIFLE problems (as opposed to bad 54R problems), I use nice clean brass cased boxer primed Winchester 180's. These should cycle through any working Mosin. YOu can also examine spent cases to see for potential headspace problems.

 

[Hoppy590]

sounds like tight headspace

 

[Niner]

Like Cosmoline said. Seems like surplus ammo problem to me. The spam can ammo of recent import has a lot or rim thickness problems from one round to the next although sealed in the same can. Try and cycle some rounds without firing. Just load, close the bolt and then extract the round without firing. Then keep all the rounds that would cycle in one pile and try firing them at your range. Bet all of them cycle again and fire.