picking up a 91/30 on friday.. Advice?

[Erik Jensen]

so, I've decided to pick up a Mosin-Nagant 91/30 on friday. they've got them at Dunhams for 80 bucks with all the accesories. I just know it's going to be coated in cosmoline/grease. what's the best/easiest way to clean 'er up? also, is there anything I should look at in particular to make sure I'm getting a good one? I know the pre- to early WWII ones are the better ones, right? round reciever? if I were to refinish the stock, how were they finished originally? Tung oil? Linseed oil? varnish? any advice appreciated.



Erik

(I blame Oleg's picture of Danielle with the 91/38 for this. )

 

[444]

I will give you the benefit of my vast 91/30 experience: I have two of them which I have not really fired very much.
The first one I bought, I paid $39. It was grungy, but with a little cleaning and a few fresh coats of oil on the stock, it looked pretty good. Problem was that it didn't shoot for crap. It didn't take me long to find out why. The bore is grossly oversized.
The second one I bought was arsenal refinished, or so they said. It looked great, but the finish on the metal was probably paint. I made the mistake of installing the bayonet and the finish came right off. This rifle however shoots fine. The bore is the correct size for standard ammo.
I am not sure if this is a normal situation or not. Based on this very limited test I wonder if they had good quality control, or stanardized dimensions between the various factories.
You will almost certainly not be able to slug the bore of a gun you are buying in a chain store unfortunately, but it would be nice.

My method of cleaning up these cosmoline and grime covered treasures is to put disassemble the rifle. I then stick everything in the shower and spray it all down with a product called Purple Power. It is something I bought at the auto parts store and it probably very similar if not the same as Simple Green. I let it sit for awhile, maybe 15-20 minutes. Then I turn on the shower and wash away the soap. I then spray it all down again and go to work with a toothbrush. After rinsing, the rifle is usually clean at this point. I then clean everything with Hoppes just like any other firearm. Oil it, rub a few coats of boiled linseed oil on the stock and the rifle looks like new. This is how I do it. I have read stuff to the contrary, but it has worked well for me.

 

[Dave Markowitz]

I've used mineral spirits to clean grease off old milsurps. Others have suggested heat to melt it. VERY hot water through the bore will work well.

If you get one that was arsenal refurbished, odds are it's a good one. The Soviets didn't lavish a lot of effort on fit and finish but they made rifles that were rugged and worked well under adverse conditions. The main thing to check is the muzzle crown. Also the stock -- make sure it isn't cracked.

The earliest M91/30s will have octagonal (usually called "hexagonal") receivers. The Sovs went to the round receivers in the 1930s to simplify manufacture.

The stocks are finished with oil, either boiled linseed oil or tung oil. During and after WW2 the Sovs applied a varnish on top of the oil as additional protection. The stocks are made of birch, and less commonly, laminated wood. If the stock is marked with a square with a diagonal line through it, it's been arsenal repaired.

A good book to learn about Mosin-Nagants is
The Mosin-Nagant Rifle by Terence W. Lapin, ISBN 1-882391-21-7.

 

[BowStreetRunner]

I can only tell you what i know, and that is precious little compared to what the Mosin gurus over at gunboards.com or http://pub113.ezboard.com/bparallaxscurioandrelicfirearmsforums
could tell you

hex recievers are condidered more collectible for mosins i believe
not any particular advantage to them just more rare i think
a pre-war manufacturing would probably be better...but then again one made in '45 might never have been issued....its a toss up

everyone will have their own tactics for cosmoline removal, when my dad and i worked on our mosin we wiped off as much cosmo as we could, then took the baby apart and wiped out as much as possible, then you can take gunscrubber or (now i use brake cleaner.....1/4 as expensive) to the small cracks and parts you couldnt wipe clean and it is a good degreaser
i like to give the mosin a nice little lubrication after a degreasing though

we also refinished the stock, and to get the cosmo off you could just spray it with the hose and then let it dry......but we put stripper (for furniture) on the stock and got all the old goop out of it, then neutralized the stock so the new stain we put on would hold
we put on a couple coats of stain and finished it with tung oil and it looks pretty original IMHO

a couple good sites to check out are www.mosin-nagant.net and www.russian-mosin-nagant.com
they are great for mosin info
again other folks may have more efficient ways of accomplishing what you want
im kinda new at it myself
BSR

 

[Sir Galahad]

Best thing to do is bring a small flashlight (or bore light if you have one) and check those bores. You should be able to see a good bore even without cleaning it. You may bring a cleaning rod and some patches and do a punch of the bore prior to using the light if the store will let you. Matching serial numbers (stamped) is a plus. Don't let the war years fool you. I have a 1942 M-38 that shows every tool mark known to man and it shoots VERY accurate. I have a 1944 91/30 that is finished a bit better and it shoots VERY accurate.

Here's a secret for clean up. Kroil, from Kano Laboratories cleans up milsurps GREAT. It doesn't screw up the stock and takes off grease off the wood real well, as well as the metal. Go down to Ace Hardware and get those blue heavy-weave paper shop towels on a roll. They're great for clean up because you can thrw them away and they absorb the oil and grease well. Take you a few when you shoot because the heat of shooting will melt more grease you cannot see. Just wipe it off as you go.

Most Mosins have a shellaced or varnished stock. My 1944 91/30 has a very unusual oil-rubbed stock that is thicker and beefier than any other Mosin stock I have seen. It's also the only oil-rubbed one I've seen that came that way from the arsenal.

 

[Sir Galahad]

As long as the bore and crown is in good condition, the rifle will be accurate nearly all of the time. So, the bore is what you really want to look at.

 

[MagKnightX]

Get a slip-on rubber buttpad. It has saved my shoulder, especially with the hot target loads.

www.surplusrifle.com

Try and get a higher front sight for shorter ranges. Or at least get some sort of muzzle-weight that weighs the same as the bayonet.

 

[swingset]

GET A FIRING PIN TOOL AND CHECK PROTRUSION!!!!!

I've seen some excessive firing pins pierce primers and give a new Mosin buyer a very unpleasant blast in the face.

Tools can be had from Tapco or a gun show cheap, and will save you much headache. If you don't have one, the protrusion should be between .075 and .095.

 

[Sylvilagus Aquaticus]

1). Clean extensively and thoroughly.

2). Check headspace and firing pin protrusion.

3). After confirming the above, take to range and fire, repeatedly.

4). Clean thoroughly after firing is completed.

5). Repeat steps 3). and 4). liberally.

6). Report findings to THR and enjoy your M-N.

Regards,
Rabbit.