Bolt really stiff when hot

"Collectors Forum" - All Mosin Nagant are discussed here. Also the Russian and "Finnish capture" SVT38 and SVT40. This is an excellent place for new Mosin owners to ask questions. We have some of the best experts here looking forward to your questions. If you post a Mosin sniper rifle here, we may or may not move it to the sniper forum.

Preservation forum, please no altered military surplus rifles or discussions on altering in this forum. No sportsters. Please read the rules at the top of each forum
Post Reply
ps2cho
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2015 12:32 pm

Bolt really stiff when hot

Post by ps2cho »

Hi guys,

I own a M91/30 and I am having trouble with cycling the bolt...
I have taken it out a few times, and each time the bolt becomes so hard to unlock that I cannot use my hand and have to stand up and put my bodyweight into it...I don't feel comfortable firing it anymore because of this.

What could be the problem?

The rifle has been fully cleaned many times over and I have disassembled the bolt completely and cleaned it as well.
User avatar
steelbuttplate
Posts: 3938
Joined: Sat Nov 02, 2013 2:24 pm
Location: Foxhole in the Smoky Mtns. N.C.

Re: Bolt really stiff when hot

Post by steelbuttplate »

Sounds like you have cosmoline cooked in the locking lugs inside the chamber... take your tip section of cleaning rod, two .30 patches, and Hoppe''s #9. Saturate the patches and stick 'em in from the rear. twirl it around where the lugs lock and let it set 5 minutes....twirl and scrub, If it comes out cosmo colered you will know.. Keep doing til you get it all out..
You can also dissemble the rifle and stick the receiver end in a pot of boiling water.....it'll come out
You guys that buy new packed in cosmo rifles , this is much easier done before the gun is ever fired.......youv've been warned.......SBP......62 Mosins
" There are two kinds of people, the good people and the ones that aggravate the hell out of the good people"
User avatar
SA1911a1
Posts: 5996
Joined: Thu Aug 25, 2011 5:19 pm
Location: North Florida

Re: Bolt really stiff when hot

Post by SA1911a1 »

I was so tempted to go there, with the title, but I will leave it alone, because this is a family forum......
Aut Pax Aut Bellum
User avatar
Lotema
Posts: 1565
Joined: Tue Jun 11, 2013 7:15 pm
Location: Western Washington

Re: Bolt really stiff when hot

Post by Lotema »

SA1911a1 wrote:I was so tempted to go there, with the title, but I will leave it alone, because this is a family forum......
:chuckles: :chuckles: Glad I'm not the only one!!

To the OP: You might even consider running some nice hot soapy water down through the chamber and bore as well. The hot water will help loosen up the little bits of old commie grease that are holding tight to the inside of the chamber. Follow that up with some dry patches to get any extra water out and then oil per your usual process.
Lotema
Argue for your limitations, and sure enough they're yours. -- Richard Bach
User avatar
Junk Yard Dog
Owner/Founder
Owner/Founder
Posts: 48861
Joined: Sat Aug 27, 2011 12:54 pm
Location: New York

Re: Bolt really stiff when hot

Post by Junk Yard Dog »

Welcome to the board, search " sticky bolt" on the board, that should cause some cleaning solutions to turn up. This is the most common of Mosin problems, baked on crud in the chamber.
Leave it as it is. The ages have been at work on it and man can only mar it.
Don't hit at all if it is honorably possible to avoid hitting; but never hit soft.
Theodore Roosevelt
ps2cho
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2015 12:32 pm

Re: Bolt really stiff when hot

Post by ps2cho »

Thanks for the info. I did plenty of research prior to purchase with the Cosmoline and that is why I disassembled the entire bolt assembly, cleaned it to remove any cosmoline, and ran the cleaner through the barrel and everywhere all over the gun, so I "feel" like thats not the issue.

I did not mention also there is zero issue when the gun is cold. After about 10 rounds it starts getting really hard, after 15 I have to hit it with the palm of my hand to lock it, and use my bodyweight to unlock it.
User avatar
Junk Yard Dog
Owner/Founder
Owner/Founder
Posts: 48861
Joined: Sat Aug 27, 2011 12:54 pm
Location: New York

Re: Bolt really stiff when hot

Post by Junk Yard Dog »

Did you take a 20 gauge shotgun bore brush, wrap it with oooo size steel wool, coat that with JB bore paste, mount it on a section of shotgun cleaning rod, chuck the rod in a power drill and then drill it into the chamber for about a minute? If not then you haven't cleaned the chamber as is required to remove the invisible baked on layer of old grease and lacquer ( from steel case commie cartridges) that is stuck to the chamber walls. When the chamber heats up the layer starts to become sticky and it will glue fired rounds in place making it very difficult to extract. It's the number one cause of your rifles problem, and the most common Mosin complaint. Regular chamber cleaning with solvent will not solve the problem, and cleaning the bolt until you can eat off it will change nothing. If it was a bolt or extractor problem it would appear after the first round fired, not the tenth, you have sticky bolt, clean the chamber as I described above. Take the rifle to the range and test it, if it still sticks then clean it again, take the tools to the range with you and clean it right there with the chamber hot. You can get the chamber hot at home by pouring boiling water down the pipe before starting the cleaning.
Leave it as it is. The ages have been at work on it and man can only mar it.
Don't hit at all if it is honorably possible to avoid hitting; but never hit soft.
Theodore Roosevelt
User avatar
Junk Yard Dog
Owner/Founder
Owner/Founder
Posts: 48861
Joined: Sat Aug 27, 2011 12:54 pm
Location: New York

Re: Bolt really stiff when hot

Post by Junk Yard Dog »

Also, it's not cosmoline on that rifle, it's cheap axle grease. Cosmoline is our stuff, the product of a first world economy, the commies went for cheap. Axle grease works as a preservative, it's just more of a mess to deal with, and will slime off on anything the rifle touches. Cosmoline dries to a semi tacky wax like coating, and is applied while hot with a brush.
Leave it as it is. The ages have been at work on it and man can only mar it.
Don't hit at all if it is honorably possible to avoid hitting; but never hit soft.
Theodore Roosevelt
docbob
Posts: 99
Joined: Mon Jan 16, 2012 10:10 am
Location: Central Nebraska

Re: Bolt really stiff when hot

Post by docbob »

Good advice from Junk Yard Dog.
User avatar
steelbuttplate
Posts: 3938
Joined: Sat Nov 02, 2013 2:24 pm
Location: Foxhole in the Smoky Mtns. N.C.

Re: Bolt really stiff when hot

Post by steelbuttplate »

I have some 1/8 thick wool felt, hold it next to the bolt lugs, cut to length, you have a patch that fits the locking lugs(inside the chamber). If the tips come out brown using solvent, you have a varnished chamber. Get that stuff out and no stick no more....SBP.....62 Mosins and catchin hell for buying another one...
" There are two kinds of people, the good people and the ones that aggravate the hell out of the good people"
User avatar
Junk Yard Dog
Owner/Founder
Owner/Founder
Posts: 48861
Joined: Sat Aug 27, 2011 12:54 pm
Location: New York

Re: Bolt really stiff when hot

Post by Junk Yard Dog »

steelbuttplate wrote:I have some 1/8 thick wool felt, hold it next to the bolt lugs, cut to length, you have a patch that fits the locking lugs(inside the chamber). If the tips come out brown using solvent, you have a varnished chamber. Get that stuff out and no stick no more....SBP.....62 Mosins and catchin hell for buying another one...
Who's givin you hell for buyin a Mosin? I can understand givin you hell for pushing an old lady down the stairs, or shaving the neighbors dog, but buyin a Mosin? Why? After 65 Mosins everybody should be used to it by now. Somebody starts tellin me what I can buy, or not buy then out the window they go. If I'm sufficiently pissed we dispense with opening the window first.
Leave it as it is. The ages have been at work on it and man can only mar it.
Don't hit at all if it is honorably possible to avoid hitting; but never hit soft.
Theodore Roosevelt
one finger john
Posts: 124
Joined: Sat Apr 26, 2014 11:16 pm

Re: Bolt really stiff when hot

Post by one finger john »

And what is wrong with shaving a dog, if it's yours?

Edit - Didn't see that it was the neighbor's dog! Thats a different story.
User avatar
bunkysdad
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 10778
Joined: Fri Aug 26, 2011 8:22 pm
Location: Mesquite Texas near Dallas

Re: Bolt really stiff when hot

Post by bunkysdad »

Trust me, these guys are right. I have no doubt that you got everything you could see clean. Now you have to clean what you can't see. Think of the inside of your bore on a molecular level. That grease has been in there a long time. It takes a awhile to get it out.
husker51
Posts: 1268
Joined: Sun May 20, 2012 8:24 pm
Location: Western Nebraska

Re: Bolt really stiff when hot

Post by husker51 »

I found that crap dried in A THIN LAYER all through the chamber end. It was not apparent during initial cleaning. Firing the rifle heats everything up and that adds to the problem. :2cents:
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both."
- Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969), Inaugural Address, January 20, 1953
Post Reply