Mosin Nagant Question?

[tpaw]

I just picked up my first Mosin Nagant in excellent condition with all matching serial numbers. Matter of fact, I'm still trying to get the grease off it.

My question is this: The entire rifle seems to be very well made, but I was surprised to see that the upper part of the forearm ( the part that fits over the barrel) is not the strong beefy wood that I expected. It is light in weight, twists easily when you hold it by the ends and gently twist, and has what appears to be brass cover plates on each end that are machine stamped in place (you can see the stamp dents on the inside of the brass).
Is this normal or not?

For a rifle that is stamped 1943 on the receiver, I would think that the upper forearm piece would have been made better?
Feed back would be appreciated.
What ammo would you recommed I use?

 

[Armed 24/7]

The wood is completely normal, in my experience. It serves no structural purpose, it is to keep you from burning your hands on the barrel when it gets hot.

 

[firesky101]

Surplus light ball. $80 for 440 rounds if you know where to look ( gun shows in my exp.) . Just clean your bore the same day you shoot. Congrats on a great gun

 

[towboat_er]

That's normal. Make sure the chamber is well cleaned.

 

[spartand003]

Welcome to the family mate! I love mine. (Izhmash, 1943 here)

 

[morcey2]

I just picked up my first Mosin Nagant.....

I have yet to see anyone post 'I just picked up my last mosin...'

Welcome to the club. As others have stated, the handguard is strong enough as-is for its use. Some of the very early M91s have no handguard.

You can find lots of surplus Russian and Bulgarian (?) surplus now for between $70 and $100 per 440 round tin. I shoot lots of the Russian that I get locally and it's relatively accurate but not match grade by any stretch. I get minute-of-milk-jug out to 200 yards in any of my mosins.

I've shot one box of Prvi Partizan 150 grain SP and it is definitely more accurate than the surplus, but a little more expensive. It's also reloadable.

If you look at the metal finish on the rifles from late 1941 through 1945, the external finish quality of the metal is much lower than the inter-war and post war years. It doesn't affect the function of the gun and the internal precision surfaces were correct. There was little unnecessary machining done on the barrels and receivers in these years to get as many guns out as fast as possible.

Enjoy shooting it, and make sure that you clean the bore, chamber, and bolt after shooting any corrosive surplus ammo.

Matt

 

[Franco2shoot]

Here's some very important cleaning tips:
That cosmoline is extremely hard to eliminate, I resorted cleaning outside/outdoors with a rag dipped in gasoline.. I used this on the stock as well as inside the chamber and barrel.
Use a shotgun cleaning plug (fluffy 12 gage thing that screws on a pushrod) Here again I used gasoline to cut the cosmoline. If this is not done vigorously you will experience the notorious bolt lock up where it take a 2x4 to get the bolt to release and eject a spent round. This usually occurs on the 3rd or 4th shot.

Once you are conviced that no Cosmoline is left I used soapy water on the stock,(lots of soap) to cut the petroeum of the gasoline. I dried the wood and applied Pledge several times. For the Chamber and barrel, use your favorite gun oil liberally, finishing with a good wipe down.

It took me nearly a month to get the procedure right, and I re-did the gas treatment twice, but I can now shoot my 91/30 and M44 reliably with no Mosin bolt lockups.


KKKKFL

 

[Ship_engineer]

if you are not concerned about the stock or are planning on refinishing the stock. break clean works great!

Take a day or two and sand down the stock and re-stain....makes it look 100x better IMO.

 

[Sobel]

If shooting at an indoor range what would be good ear protection? They have the muffs but it was pretty loud shooting my cz with them on so i know for a fact ill need more for a m/n

 

[caribou]

If its a referb, theres no reason to sand the staock at all, its factory done allready, shellac'd to preserve the wood, cosmo'd to protect the metal in storage.

Cosmo in the chamber can be a problem, use the gas, break cleaner,solvent and really scrub it out, some use a 20 gauge brush and a power drill, dipping in solvent and doing so repeatedly untill its VERY clean, then a lightoil on the bare metal and youll be fine.
Cosmo looks like shiney steel , especially when its been "shot" and pressured. This can make for a "tight chamber" and "Sticky bolt" (hard toopen) and this is the Mosin telling you that thechamber is dirty/cosmo'd.
The shellac can be removed with mineral spirits/denatured alcohol and olied. No need to sand at all, that will just devalue the rifle and erase some of its history and well as its fit.

If your not worried about collector value or its history, then have at it. My son sparaypainted his black with rustolum, but he hunts in theIcepack and Open Ocean mostly, so protection from saltspray is his reason, and we all have ours for the various ways we do things, and it IS your rifle

The handguard is to protect the hands and such from a Hot barrel or a very Cold one on a Russian Winter, seeing how that are carried far more than shot.

Good rifle, good luck!

 

[leadchucker]

That rifle was refurbished in a Soviet arsenal. The Soviet Union did not care whether parts matched or not. They just wanted usable rifles in their stockpile. The only two parts that are likely original and matching on it are the barrel and the receiver. Every other part on it came out of bins of salvaged and reconditioned parts. Numbered parts were "force matched". The original SN's were sanded, ground off, or marked out, and the matching SN's were restamped or electro-penciled on.

 

[Caliper_Mi]

The fore-end of 91-30's is fairly frail compared to many other rifles. Just the way they are. You will find the same in all Russian model Mosins.

If you want a Mosin with a beefier stock, find a Finn. They are heavier, but have a much more robust stock (and better triggers).

 

[Onmilo]

Finnish rifles have better barrels on most as well.
Problem is they don't come cheap anymore!
The Russian handguards are thin but they seem to take quite a bit of abuse without cracking.
I'm not terribly gentle with with either of my 91/30s and the wood is standiing up to the abuse fairly well.

 

[Ditchtiger]

Ive traded and kept many Mosin's plus shot untold thousands of rounds through them and never broke an upper forearm cover.