My Mosin Wont Cock : (

[chrisslamar]

I'm sure you're all wondering when I will stop posting Mosin questions everyday, but that day is not today. I went to the gun store today and picked up my Mosin then took it to the range. When i got there i found the cocking piece wouldnt stay locked back ready to fire. After tinkering around for a few minutes i found that if i manually pulled the cocking piece back it would eventually lock in place, and i would be able to fire the gun. Another thing that i noticed was that trigger freely wiggles. when you slide the bolt forward and turn the bolt arm down to lock it in place, the trigger just jitters as the bolt moves over it. Finally i discovered that if i tilt the rifle up and pull back the bolt the bolt just slides out as if i were pressing the trigger to release the bolt. My personal guess is that its a trigger problem, possibly with a spring or something, but i've never worked on a nagant before, and am not too sure. Im going to go back to the place i bought it from tomarrow afternoon and see if they will take it back, but i have a funny feeling that they won't. So if any of you have any suggestions on what you think may be wrong, and how to fix it, your help would be wonderful. I know i'll proably end up having to take it to a gunsmith (grrrr) but i'd at least like to have a general idea of whats wrong with my rifle before i go.

Thanks in advance for all the help : )
Thanks also for all the past help you guys have given me

-- Chris

 

[Firehand]

Sounds like something is either holding the trigger back some, or is blocking the sear/spring and not letting it rise up as it should. Check surplusrifle.com for their takedown instructions, take it apart and clean it; could be a bit of wood or old hard grease blocking it.

 

[Kor]

The Mosin-Nagant sear is also its bolt stop, i.e. to remove the bolt(normally, as opposed to your rifle's present situation) you hold the trigger back while pulling the bolt backwards out of the receiver. It sounds to me as if your sear is sitting too low to engage the cocking lug on the bolt.

Try tightening both action screws hand-tight(no need to use a torque wrench or anything) first - this is the easiest thing to do for troubleshooting.

If the problem still occurs with tight action screws, next remove the stock and look at the sear on the bottom of the receiver. A previous owner may have inserted shims between the sear and receiver to lessen the sear engagement and thus lighten the trigger pull. If so, unscrew the sear screw and remove the shims, re-assemble and check again.

If the problem still manifests without any shims, the previous owner may have actually ground the sear down to lessen sear engagement. Check for any signs of filing or stoning on the sear and also on the cocking lug on the bottom of the bolt's cocking-piece. If these parts have been ground down too far for reliable cocking or bolt-retention, either or both must be replaced. You should be able to order inexpensive replacements from www.tngunparts.com or www.e-gunparts.com. See if the store you bought it from will stand behind the gun and order the parts/get it serviced for you free of charge.

BTW, "trigger wiggle" is normal on Mosins, I have 4 and they all do that.

See also www.surplusrifle.com, www.gunboards.com and www.mosin-nagant.net for a bunch more info.

 

[Ditchtiger]

take it apart

don't be afraid to take your mosin apart. There are just a couple parts. If you can strip the bolt down the rest of the rifle is easy in compairison.

 

[Kymasabe]

So far, all the advice you've gotten is accurate.
Go to www.surplusrifle.com and look down the left side of the page, look for the M44 page, there is a streaming video on bolt disassembly and reassembly. Also there is teardown information about the gun. Don't panic, there are only 2 barrel bands and two screws holding that gun together. The rest is easy.

one last question/advice...does your bolt match the rest of the gun or is it mis-matched/non-matching number? The reason I ask...if I clean my Mosins at once and accidently swap bolts from one gun to another, I can re-create the condition your describing. Your problem may be as simple as needing a new cocking piece which is cheap and easy, and you won't need a gunsmith.

What I'd do:
First of all, make sure the stock screws holding the action together are tight.
IF they are and there's no difference, I'd take the gun apart, get the action out of the stock, make sure the action and trigger and all is sparkly clean. Make sure no-one had shimmed the trigger componants.
make sure there are no wooded splinters, shavings, crap-in-general in the stock. Your problem may only be a big glob of old, nasty, hard, cosmoline.
Clean, clean, clean...then look for filing or stoning marks on the trigger or sear. My experience is most people won't file the sear, they'll usually file the piece that sticks out of the bottom of the cocking piece that engages the sear. So...follow the video/instruction and disassemble the bolt and try again. If you still have the problem, see if the local shop you bought it from will let you try another bolt or cocking piece to test with.

My money is on a glob of goo in the trigger or the needing a new cocking piece.

 

[Cosmoline]

Check the sear/bolt stop screw and spring. My bet is it's either loose or busted. Do not load it or attempt to use it until this is fixed.

 

[rangerruck]

usually , the trigger falls straight down vertical, by force of weight, gravity, and the lever, or sear piece that makes it fall that way. if your trigger swings loose, either the tirgger arm is bent , the sear or lever arm is bent, or someone has put a shim or two between the trigger and the sear arm or lever. so remove the shim, and dont be afraid to do bendy things with the arms, to get it to fire right. It was designed to be use and abused by the peasants of russia, so don't be afraid to do the same.

 

[Jackal]

Tried rubbing it?

 

[chrisslamar]

It's fixed!!!!

First of all, thank you all for all of your help. Second of all it turned out that the screw that held the bolt stop was real loose, i could unscrew it with my fingers that's how loose it was. So I stripped the whole thing down, cleaned ever metal part, and put her back together. I havent had a chance to take it to the range yet but the action is working perfectly, and the bolt no longer comes out by itself when i pull it back. Thanks again for the help.

 

[rangerruck]

yep, that is a common thing that will pop up from time to time, especially if you shoot it a bunch! so check it now and again.