Sticky Bolt on Mosin Nagant

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Yugo5966

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I recently purchased a Mosin Nagant 91/30. I am having trouble with the bolt sticking, I have cleaned the hell out of it but it is still sticking. The weird thing is that it sticks even when I don't fire a round. I will dry fire it and then try to cycle the bolt but it will be very difficult to cycle.

Any info would be appreciated...
 
Couple of things...

As Bogie mentioned, make sure the bolt and all bolt internals are cleaned & lubed.

Also, remember that the M-N cocks on opening the bolt...and that is one heck-for-stiff firing pin spring in there. I have heard of folks taking a couple of coils off that spring, but I have not tried it.

Was gonna say something about making sure the chamber is clean and un-pitted, but you mentioned 'dry fire'...no ammo, so that is not the issue here.

When I first got my M-44, there was so much cosmo in the barrel, I thought it had been 'shot out to smooth', plus it wouldn't even chamber a round. I soaked the bolt in mineral spirits for 2 days, plus used a 'hot-air' gun {heat-shrink tubing blower} to melt out the last of the cosmo. I would heat up the bolt with the hot-air gun till I could barely hold it, then drop it in the pan of mineral spirits....repeat
 
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It might just be the cocking effort. It's one of the reasons that I don't care for the MN's, just have a hard time getting used to that motion.

Besides the grease, I don't have any other advice except buy a mauser:evil:
 
My M-44 was brand new when it came into my possesion. The bolt was so tight I was convinced something was wrong. After lubricant in every possible area where the bolt meets any other surface, and 500 rounds of 7.62x54, the bolt mechanism seems to flow more freely making for a quicker second shot.
 
Mod. 98 and newer Mauser designs share this "cock on open" feature, and shares it with the Mod. 70 Winchester, Mod. 700 Remington, Savage bolt action rifles... and MANY others... it really IS a preferred feature... BUT...

As stated, clean and lube for the bolt internals are ALL IMPORTANT, and so is cleaning and lubrication of the locking lugs on the bolt, AND the internal recesses of the action where they lock...

Crapola in those recesses can make a bolt hard to release, especially since you are fighting the spring...

that and the fact that bolt guns (especially the stoutly built ones!) are meant to be "bolted" rather quickly and with some "gusto"... NOT slowly and gently handled with kid gloves... rack the darn thing like you mean it, (AFTER you have cleaned and lubed the thing well!)
 
Take the bolt apart and clean it thoroughly, and see if that helps. If not, check Surplusrifle.com and you can find a step-by-step walkthrough of taking a few coils off the firing pin spring that foghornl alluded to. Apparently the spring, like the rest of it, is overengineered, and removing a few coils makes it much easier to cock, while maintaining the reliability.

There are also a few other Mosin tips over there that might be worth your while.
RT
 
Cosmoline... I too would have asked about the ammo, but the original poster says that it is happening with NO round in the chamber when DRY FIRING, so I am kinda doubting that it is the ammo...

(I doubt the wisdom of dry-firing a bolt gun, as the tip of the firing pin is in danger of breaking off, as I learned things, but THAT is an answer for another post...)
 
My m-44 was "brand new" in the arsenal wrapping paper. Opening that up was better than Christmas:D Really, no cosmoline, just really old gun oil on all the parts (it was tacky:uhoh: ) A quick clean up and a bore inspection and I had a new rifle with only stacking marks. Anyway a mosin made in 1947 would not have had much oportunity for service or combat action. There are millions left over from the great war that they used. They kept alot of the post war rifles tucked away for future use. BTW it shoots like new as well, and it's accurate.
 
change ammo. some ammo sticks like crazy while others are cool. get some without laquer coating.
 
start hitting the gym instead of the keyboard and that bolt will be a lot easier to work. Grease, oil, and trimmed springs are for girly men:neener:

<If you can't tell I'm kidding>

go to surplusrifle.com and see about sticky bolt syndrome, you may have a burr in the reciever/chamber, or left over cosmoline, do the drill/20 ga. brush trick and it will improve a whole lot.
 
Mine too

I will dry fire it and then try to cycle the bolt but it will be very difficult to cycle.
Click to expand...

Mine does the same. Just got it a week ago - 1948 model. Haven't shot it yet, but after dry firing the bolt is definitely harder to open than if I re-open it with out dry firing. I was thinking it was just the way it was with that old thing and the stout spring inside the bolt.

But I'll try to grease/lube idea and see if that helps.
 
I have three Mosins and have cut the firing pin spring on each of them as mentioned above. They are still completley reliable and not only are easier to work the bolt but it also improved the triggers. Jim.
 
Good post. Mine is pretty bad too, and I've used Wolf, S&B and 2 other different surplus ammo types and it sticks with all of them. Cutting somes coils sounds worth a try.
 
The cause of the bolt sticking in my Mosin Nagant was cosmoline. I had to use a spray can of carburetor cleaner to wash the stuff out of every recess in the receiver. As was mentioned, disassemble and clean the bolt, too.

L
 
carbureator cleaner and brake cleaner remove finish, destroy wood. use a gun cleaner, don't be cheap or lazy...
 
There's a block of steel that protrudes from the side of the bolt that locks into the reciever before the chamber. Try cleaning the surfaces in the receiver that this part locks up with. I had a similar issue with mine and ended up using a dental pick, steel wool, laqcuer thinner, and about a box of q-tips to get all those hard-to-reach nooks and crannys clean.

good luck
 
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