Help Please...New Mosin 91/30 bolt close issue

V

Vortexyz

New member
Hey all,
I recently picked up a Mosin Nagant M91/30 at a gunshow. I was extremely please as I have wanted one of these for ages and this one appears to be in very good shape.

Everything seemed to function fine as well, but I just got some A-Zoom snap caps for it because I wanted them for dry fire (I have no live ammo for it yet) and the bolt is very difficult to close with a round in the chamber.

Without a round everything is smooth sailing, but after it gets in the chamber and I try to close it down it gets to 45 degrees before I really have to put my weight behind it. It closes eventually but not without a great effort.

I looked around the net and everyone said to make sure there is no cosmoline in the chamber/locking lug recess which I have done.

I also noticed that the extractor is really grabbing the rim tight, so much that it is ripping off the anodized finish of the snap caps.

I really am hoping its not a headspace issue because the cheapness and durability is part of the appeal with Mosins.

So C&R masters please grace me with your wisdom! Will this loosen up after a session or two of firing, or have I bought a lemon that needs work by a gunsmith?
 
TK

Yes I am loading them into the magazine first then chambering them. I know that most guns have an issue with the extractor getting over the rim when a round is hand chambered but that shouldnt be the issue here.
 
I would try giving the chamber a good cleaning first. Here is my reply on another tread about a stuck bolt.You would not believe how much gunk is in that chamber, shot over the years with lacquered cases and dirty ammunition. It might look clean but it still might have a thin layer of cosmoline.

I also cleaned the bore with foaming bore cleaner. Spray it, let it sit and run out then swab and brush the bore. Did this around 8 times. The towel it was sitting on was blue after I was done from all the old copper fowling.

My M44 did this. I had to beat opened the bolt with a block of wood set on the bolt and hitting it with a hammer. I could not believe how stuck it was. It made me appreciate the Mosin even more, that extractor dug into the case and pulled it out.

I tried to alleviate the problem, what I did was I took a 20 gauge brush. Put it on the end of a section of cleaning rod. Stuck that in a drill. Wrapped a patch round it soaked in Hoppes and ran it in the chamber moving back and forth. Then I Let is soak for a few minutes then put a clean patch in. Did that about 6 time to get all the crude out. Then I took a patch and put some J-B Bore Cleaning Compound on and polished the chamber with it. Then went back to Hoppes until the patches came out clean. Then a little oil. I have not shot it yet to see if it was still sticking but the chamber looks a lot better.
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Make sure the chamber is clean as referenced above. Always good advice with these rifles. If the rifle has tight head space, the rims on the snap caps may be slightly too big. Purchase a box of Wolf Gold 7.62x54R and see if you have a problem. Make sure not to force the bolt closed on a live round!

Good Luck

TK
 
I see this is an older thread, but I am hoping someone can help with my dilemma. I recently purchased a 91/30 and I am having bolt closing problems. The magazine seems to load correctly and all rounds strip from the magazine appropriately. However, the extractor does not engage the rounds as they are chambering. This results in the bolt refusing to close. If I reopen the bolt at this time, the cartridge does not extract (it will easily drop out if the muzzle is raised). This is where my situation differs from the previous posts... If I manually snap a round into the extractor/bolt face, the action cycles normally (the bolt closes easily and ejection is positive). This would seem to rule out inadequate headspace and/or a dirty chamber. I would greatly appreciate any thoughts or ideas.
 
sounds like the extractor has a problem like you suspect the only thing I would know to try is maybe taking it apart and cleaning well, it may need the extractor replaced, you can find instructions on bolt dissasembly on the web if you do a search under mosin bolt dissasembly there is atleast a couple sites maybe more that will show you how to dissassemble the bolt and reassemble it correctly and parts shouldnt be to hard to find either.
 
yep, clean the chamber really really well.

google sticky bolt syndrome. its caused by the use of lacquered ammo and causes the bolt to be hard to open and close.
 
I used a 45 cal brass brush inserted from the chamber end run it with a hand drill and really gave it a cleaning after that my bolt worked just fine.
 
Thanks for all the responses. The fact that I can get a round to chamber very smoothly if I first manually place the round under the extractor and seat it in the bolt face tells me the extractor is simply not sliding over and catching the cartridge rim. The distance required for the extractor to catch the rim is just enough to keep the bolt from closing. It will close occasionally, but not very often. On the rare occasion that it does, I can feel it snap over the rim just before the bolt closes. This does not feel right to me. I still suspect the extractor, but I will try the chamber cleaning. If my theory has any holes, please let me know.
 
yeah, with mine, you still have to drive it home once the extractor starts to push over the rim. It's not unbearable, but it takes a bit of downward force to lock the bolt in. I think that's just the way they are. They're not going to cycle smooth like a Mauser or K-31. They're Mosins, they're some of the roughest guns ever mades.
 
Thomme, you state that "it takes a bit of downward force to lock the bolt in". Since I am new to this weapon, that is the kind of feedback that I am really interested in. For clarification, I would have difficulty closing the bolt with the weapon at my hip. I seriously doubt I could do it at all with it shouldered. Are we even in the same ballpark? If not, I will continue to search for answers.
 
Oh, I can operate my weapon just fine at the shoulder. When I first got mine, though, I could barely work the bolt in any position. A bit of sanding, oiling and an extremely thorough cleaning later, it works a lot better. You gotta remember 2 things when dealing with Mosins: they were built in extremely high quantities in very little time and are very crude and most of them have spent the last 50-60 years in storage covered with cosmoline, which has worked it way into everything single bit and piece of the weapon.

They take some work to make easily functional.
 
I understand the cosmoline problem, and knowing my luck I will have extraction problems the first time I fire it. However, I need to cross this bridge before I attempt to fire it. The the fact that it easily cycles with a round locked to the bolt face tells me I have a mechanical problem. I may be (and usually am) wrong, but for the life of me I can't see how cosmoline buildup wouldn't stop the bolt closing in both scenarios.
 
Ok, here's the deal. The extractor doesn't go over the rim of the rifle until the bolt gets about halfway down. At that point, the bolt is forced forward it's last few MM and the extractor is forced over the rim. In no way can the bolt lock forward without the extractor locking onto the round.

I'm not sure why that would cause your bolt to become so difficult when closing it. But, I know with my own Mosin, when I first got it I had ALOT of trouble closing the bolt on a round, like you. And I cleaned it up, now it's perfectly fine.
 
I had a K98k with the exact same symptoms (so it's not a Mosin-only issue). I disassembled, cleaned, and re-assembled the bolt and it's fine now.
 
Well, I tried it the cleaning suggestion today. Imagine my surprise when the bolt still refused to close. I said a few choice words, smashed my cordless drill against the wall and sat in the corner to cry it off. Then I ate a bag of cookies to console myself. So, today's grand total: 4 hours of my time, a cordless drill, half of my sanity and 4 bucks for a bag of cookies. All that and still no joy. Wait, I can already imagine the next post... "You obviously didn't clean it the RIGHT way. Did you chant COS-MO-LINE, COS-MO-LINE while you were cleaning?" Seriously, if anybody has any suggestions that don't include cleaning, I would love to hear them. Otherwise, I think I'm gonna just order a new extractor.
 
Well, that leaves me thinking head space issue, actually. Though I still can't imagine why it would close easily with a round on the bolt face if that's the issue... odd. In anycase. The rate you're going at, when you work through this issue your Mosin will probably be one of the best working Mosins in the country.

I just took a close look at mine and what yours good be doing wrong. And I got no real suggestion. Best I can figure is headspacing... maybe. The extractor going bad doesn't seem like a super common issue with mosins. It's about a $15 piece from "Buy Milsurp" if you want to buy a new extractor.
 
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