Very hard to work the bolt on Mosin Nagant?

[TheOtherOne]

I have a 91/30 and two M44's and with all 3 of them it takes a whole lot of effort to work the bolt after firing. It's no problem at all when just cycling without shooting.

Is this a common issue with Mosin's or did I forget to clean something or possibly put the bolt back together wrong? All of them came fairly caked in cosmoline and I completely disassemble the bolts for cleaning. I'm almost positive I put everything back together right though. I followed the guide on surplusrifle.com.

 

[Jim K]

When you say "cycling without shooting" do you mean without pulling the trigger, or just without ammunition.

The M-N normally has a pretty stiff bolt due to a combination of less cocking leverage than normal (short bolt handle) and a stiff spring. This stiffness is apparent anytime the firing pin is cocked, whether there is ammunition in the gun or not.

If the bolt is very stiff only when a round is actually fired, other factors may enter like headspace causing the case to back up or an overlarge chamber causing it to swell. You might find that changing ammo will help, as will lubrication on the cocking cam on the bolt.

Jim

 

[TheOtherOne]

When you say "cycling without shooting" do you mean without pulling the trigger, or just without ammunition.

I've tried with and without ammunition (but not pulling the trigger either way) and it's always no problem at all.

I'll have to try dry firing them and see how they work.

 

[spartacus2002]

I have the same issue on my unissued M39. I flitzed the metal-to-metal contact surfaces and used Militech grease on those surfaces afterwards. It made a big difference, but it is still tough to work.

 

[jefnvk]

Same here on the two 91/30's I've shot, and the M38. I don't worry about it.

 

[SilentScream]

as stated above, might wanna try switching ammo, my 91/30 is stiff as hell with the czech silver tip, but pretty smooth (as smooth as a M/N can be i suppose) with that old albanian ammo, just one of the quirks ya have to deal with when handling a M/N.
If it's still the same though might want to check headspace, ect. just to be safe.
However my 91/59 is smooth as can be with any ammo i feed it, belive it or not, it almost rivals my mauser K98k.
-Jesse

 

[armoredman]

The sticky bolt situation is common - belive it or not, it's probably cosmo in the chamber. That old stuff gets into tiny crevaces, and flows under heat, gluing to sticky steel cases. The easiest solution is to use a drill chucked rod with an oversize brush, and clean the chamber HARD. Do it as well, with it right after firing a round or two after you did it the first time, and it should get better. Russian Mosin Nagant Page and Forum has an excellent article n the sticky bolt thing, and how to correct it.

 

[TheOtherOne]

Thanks! Found it here:

http://www.russian-mosin-nagant.com/Sticky_bolt.htm