Mosin Nagant Firing Pin Protrustion Problem

[stewie-Y]

Hey there everyone. I recently picked up a Mosin Nagant from Cabela's, I've got it totally cleaned and lubricated. Now, though, after reassembling the bolt I am measuring the firing pin and it protrudes way too much. I tried screwing it all the way out as far as it could go, and I also tried it while screwed in quite a way, and in both cases it's longer than .95mm(the max protrusion length). Could anyone tell me what I may be doing wrong?

Here are some pictures.

All the way out. Still protrudes slightly.


Far in. Protrudes way too far, obviously.


And yes, I am measuring it from the "fired" position. Here are a few pictures of the full bolt in the same state that I've been measuring it.



Thanks for any help rendered.

[Junk Yard Dog]

Try another pin, they are not expensive and Liberty tree has them. This isn't that unusual with the refurbs, the commies overlooked headspace problems, and missed small missing parts. Millions of weapons being done some things will slip through the cracks. If you are shooting surplus ammo I don't think there would be a problem, I have a few with slightly over pins like this among the refurbs and shot many rounds through them with no problems, but there is risk of a punctured primer. Just try another pin and see what happens.

[TulaTom]

I had this problem one time and a change of the bolt head fixed the problem. The bottom of the bolt head had been machined down too much. You could hardly tell with just looking at it. Needed calipers to notice the difference. Good luck.

[Junk Yard Dog]

Changing the bolthead will change the rifles headspace, headspace must then be checked with the gauge.

[zeebill]

Make sure when you check the pin protrusion that it is in the uncocked position and the little protuberance on the bolt head is in the corresponding notch on the bolt body all the way. If not it can allow the pin to stick way out farther than it should when in use. Firing pins vary from rifle to rifle so it may take more than one to solve your problems. I have had over the 25 to 35 years maybe one or two long or short firing pins so look real close to make sure you have things where they belong. Checking up on things through JYD's fine film clips online is a great help and reminder. Even us supposed to be experts need to remind ourselves. Bill

[qz2026]

I've had a few with long pins too. I have a few parts laying around so the fix was pretty easy. I think TulaTom sold me that rifle. He included a new bolt head and the old one which was part of the old rifle and should be retained. Headspace was fine. I've also got a few where the pin barely brushes the 95mm gauge although I don't shoot them. If I decide to shoot them, I'll just grab a bolt from another rifle, check the headspace and go shoot.

[stewie-Y]

So then it's probably either the firing pin was made to be too long or the bolt head may be too short then?

[matt167]

My M44 had a pin that was too far extended. Was thinking of touching the pin with piece of emory cloth till it cleared correctly, but instead got a complete bolt since I heard from one person that the bolt head could do it, and another to change the firing pin. So to order both, it was more than a complete bolt. I changed the bolt head and it was a no go, Changed the pin and it was a no go, swapped new pin to old bolt head and it was a no go, and back and forth. Eventually I changed the cocking lever and it specs out correctly, then checked headspace and it was good.. Just my experience

[WeldonHunter]

My M44 had a pin that was too far extended. Was thinking of touching the pin with piece of emory cloth till it cleared correctly, but instead got a complete bolt since I heard from one person that the bolt head could do it, and another to change the firing pin. So to order both, it was more than a complete bolt. I changed the bolt head and it was a no go, Changed the pin and it was a no go, swapped new pin to old bolt head and it was a no go, and back and forth. Eventually I changed the cocking lever and it specs out correctly, then checked headspace and it was good.. Just my experience

And that's proof that there's not always a specific fix for problems with these rifles. The most important thing to keep in mind is that though these are basically a rifle that is universal in the way the parts work from one to the next, these rifles have been the the arsenal at least once to be refurbed, maybe more and in that process these parts have been refitted sometimes to other worn parts making some not so universal any more. Keep in mind refurbed rifles are made from parts of many other rifles with varying degrees of wear.

[TulaTom]

JYD is correct. Check the headspace. I should have mentioned that. I had extra Mosin bolts laying around, so I knew the problem was the bolt head. Check the headspace on any Mosin you plan on firing. qz2026 was also correct, that was the one I sold to him. I explained the situation to him when I was selling it. At that point I was trying to eliminate duplicates and I already had a Balkan Izhevsk M91. As I've learned since from qz2026, as long as one stamp is different on a rifle it's not a duplicate.

[markophonic]

I just ran into the same problem on the M44 I picked up yesterday.

Fortunately I had another firing pin in the parts bin...swapped it out and its fine.

I found that it's good to keep various spare parts around for just such situations.

[stewie-Y]

Hey guys, I bought a new firing pin online and it's the same exact length as the first and thus protrudes the same length. Any other ideas other than buying a whole full bolt?

[redeuce]

Do you have a friend with another Mosin? It's an outside chance, but as Matt 167 said, it could be the cocking piece. If you had a friend with a Mosin, you could swap stuff in and out. As a side note, most collectors assemble a spare parts bin over time, to be prepared.

[Darryl]

Make sure when you check the pin protrusion that it is in the uncocked position and the little protuberance on the bolt head is in the corresponding notch on the bolt body all the way. If not it can allow the pin to stick way out farther than it should when in use. Firing pins vary from rifle to rifle so it may take more than one to solve your problems. I have had over the 25 to 35 years maybe one or two long or short firing pins so look real close to make sure you have things where they belong. Checking up on things through JYD's fine film clips online is a great help and reminder. Even us supposed to be experts need to remind ourselves. Bill

information/clean/index.html

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[MnMosin]

Hey there everyone. I recently picked up a Mosin Nagant from Cabela's, I've got it totally cleaned and lubricated. Now, though, after reassembling the bolt I am measuring the firing pin and it protrudes way too much. I tried screwing it all the way out as far as it could go, and I also tried it while screwed in quite a way, and in both cases it's longer than .95mm(the max protrusion length). Could anyone tell me what I may be doing wrong?

Here are some pictures.

All the way out. Still protrudes slightly.


Far in. Protrudes way too far, obviously.


Thanks for any help rendered.

In both pictures you have the pin in the notch where the bolt head rim should go. The pin should be should be lined up with either the 75 or 95 notch. The flat edge of the tool should ride against the bolt face and parallel to it. It appears the tool is not indexed incorrectly if that is how you are actually measuring the protrusion. The notch on the far right (in the pictures) can be used for adjusting the firing pin. It fits the flats of the firing pin when the connector bar is off.

[redeuce]

I just assumed it was stamped incorrectly, and he knew it because he is using the 95 slot. The one marked 95 is the 75 slot. The one marked 75 should be unstamped.

[WeldonHunter]

I just assumed it was stamped incorrectly, and he knew it because he is using the 95 slot. The one marked 95 is the 75 slot. The one marked 75 should be unstamped.

At first when I saw that I thought he was using the wrong slot too and because I haven't needed to use one of these tools for a while I went and pulled one out to double check. It is stamped in the wrong places. Funny because at first when I thought he was using the incorrect slot I looked back through the thread to see if anyone had caught it and mentioned it and no one had. That's when I went and looked at one of mine. Here's one that's stamped correctly.

[zeebill]

I just assumed it was stamped incorrectly, and he knew it because he is using the 95 slot. The one marked 95 is the 75 slot. The one marked 75 should be unstamped.

At first when I saw that I thought he was using the wrong slot too and because I haven't needed to use one of these tools for a while I went and pulled one out to double check. It is stamped in the wrong places. Funny because at first when I thought he was using the incorrect slot I looked back through the thread to see if anyone had caught it and mentioned it and no one had. That's when I went and looked at one of mine. Here's one that's stamped correctly.

Using just one of those tools that you know is right on at all times that you measure pin protrusion is very important because as almost all Mosin parts vary slightly so do those tools! They can be marked wrongly and the go or no-go pin holes can vary greatly too. I keep all of the extra gauges stored away from where I keep the one that I use in the shop and the one that is in the range bag is too. Old people do strange things and I am for sure old so I have to watch myself closely. Or as they say we are human! Bill

[stewie-Y]

Do you guys think that the bolt head might be too short?