azredhawk44
Moderator
I dusted off my old beater 91/30 for some range time this weekend.
Last time I took it out, it got to the point that I almost needed a sledgehammer to whack the bolt open.
Since then, I took a segment of cleaning rod and nylon brush, chucked it into my drill and brushed the chamber good with some flitz.
Went back to the range with Hungarian surplus heavy ball steel cased ammo, as well as some S&B and Winchester 180gr brass cased stuff.
I used to get about 5-10 rounds through the thing before the heat became such an issue that it took 2-3 whacks to open the bolt. Now I can get about 15 rounds of steel cased ammo downrange before that becomes a problem.
Brass ammo, though.... butter-smooth bolt operation. Even when it gets hot. I shot 20 rounds back to back and the last shot was just as easy to eject as the first shot.
My handguard is sliding around loose, though. The spring keepers aren't retaining it well enough. Thoughts? I am considering wrapping the fore-end in canvas or burlap to keep the handguard in place but still look period-correct. Then again, I'm also thinking about sticking the whole thing in an ATI synthetic stock and putting either mojo sights or a scope on it. Open playing field, here. Just gotta fix that loose handguard somehow.
Last time I took it out, it got to the point that I almost needed a sledgehammer to whack the bolt open.
Since then, I took a segment of cleaning rod and nylon brush, chucked it into my drill and brushed the chamber good with some flitz.
Went back to the range with Hungarian surplus heavy ball steel cased ammo, as well as some S&B and Winchester 180gr brass cased stuff.
I used to get about 5-10 rounds through the thing before the heat became such an issue that it took 2-3 whacks to open the bolt. Now I can get about 15 rounds of steel cased ammo downrange before that becomes a problem.
Brass ammo, though.... butter-smooth bolt operation. Even when it gets hot. I shot 20 rounds back to back and the last shot was just as easy to eject as the first shot.
My handguard is sliding around loose, though. The spring keepers aren't retaining it well enough. Thoughts? I am considering wrapping the fore-end in canvas or burlap to keep the handguard in place but still look period-correct. Then again, I'm also thinking about sticking the whole thing in an ATI synthetic stock and putting either mojo sights or a scope on it. Open playing field, here. Just gotta fix that loose handguard somehow.