crazy question.

[jonnyboy091373]

I realize the following question is kind of crazy, and maybe a bit far fetched, but I was wondering what everyone else thinks about it.
So, we all know mosin nagants have dark bores, but is it possible it is because they were blued inside and out? or is it just because of the ammunition used and poor cleaning habits? Just something I was wondering about.

[husker51]

Believe it or not I have asked myself a similar question about the bore appearance. I just thought it may be the quality of the steel or its preparation method when built. But I really dont know the answer. BTW Welcome to the forum!

[pgpipefitter]

I have a 1943 91/30 with a brite bore and it came that way from Liberty Arms box marked Superior Condition.

[desdem12]

It is just the condition. Dark bores will clean up usualy from repeated shooting and good cleaning. I would not turn down a bore because it is dark. If it was blued it would have been shot shiny fairly soon.

[dou44]

i have a few that have what looks like new bore ,

[websterz]

Since bluing is nothing more than a layer of controlled corrosion then it is not far fetched to think of a dark bore as one that has self-blued over time. Kind of like the patina a carbon steel blade develops over the years.

[desertgunner]

I do not think the question is crazy at all!
My son and I have had mostly dark bores besides 1, a 33/43 MO Refurb that came bright. Our first 91/30 '42 Tula was dark, she has been shot, I'd say , 150 times in the past ten years with an average of 40-60 rounds per session.....and her rifling is 99% in a bright bore. Younger 91/30s in our posession show the same improvement over the years and the latest 2 show improvement as they are shot and cleaned right. I agree with Desdem 100%.
The work-out we put our MN ladies through is set up to resemble battle use (for about 10min) to shoot them hot on 150m., after they had 5 round paper target shooting on 100, 150, 200 and 300m, sometimes up to 400m, if a goat is available to get the targets over there ....I am just too old for that running....

So you see, nobody really cares about a dark bore as long as there is sufficient rifling for good shooting

[Junk Yard Dog]

Dark is fine, it's just light pitting that you can't see any way except as surface darkening. Craters of the moon pitting that you can see with the naked eye, that can't be fixed. The biggest problem with dark bores is the increased difficulty in cleaning them, The millions of micro pits hold fouling and are just about impossible to fully clean, water flushes out the salts, but the metal fouling, and powder fouling remain.

[zeebill]

No not a crazy question at all! I am not into that many refurbs so in the few I have kept I have seen a couple that sure looked to me to have blued Bores. After a chemical cleaning they still were a dark blue and even color with little shine. I do collect Finnish Mosins and some of the ones that were refurbished by the Finn's after WW2 most assuredly had their bores coated or treated with something that sure looks like it is a blue type process. I have talked with many other collectors about this and they are not sure what it is either but it for sure looks like the bores were blued.

Welcome aboard and enjoy the ride! I think you will find many questions are still to be answered about Mosin rifles and indeed may never be answered. We are talking about history here and as many know there aren't always clearcut answers to satisfy us. Many forums and boards online have their clearcut answers but I have found with time they are often proven to be wrong, there fore it is a good idea to keep an open mind and listen to other thoughts on things. It also makes for a healthier exchange of information too. Bill

[Junk Yard Dog]

To blue a barreled receiver it must be immersed in the solution in the hot blue tank, there is no way to avoid that solution getting into the bore. A few rounds fired should remove most of it.

[zeebill]

How many blued receivers have you ever seen that had no small amounts of the receiver or barrel machined to a shiny surface? They did that to the Finned rifles that were reworked after WW2. Why didn't they finish burnish the barrels before they coated them with protectant? That was and is a common practice with all commercial applications. Bill

[racerguy00]

My one Finn M91 doesn't appear to have been fired after its last refurbishment. The last few inches of the bore is dark, the rest mirror bright. When you look closely, you can see that blueing extends down the bore a little.