The Russian Mosin Nagant Forum

Everything I get a hold of gets taken apart, cleaned, and inspected. There are many opposing thoughts on this and I just took a M91 apart that totally supports my cleaning process. I got 3 M91's this weekend at a show and externally they looked OK I guess. I was really curious about one, the 1915 Izhevsk and I took it apart the other night. It had copious amounts of foul smelling grease and something that was actually living in there and apparently eating at the wood. It was a green mold that was so well established and ugly looking I resorted to throwaway gloves when I saw it. I used paper towels which left the room quite fast and went directly into the plastic bag that went into the big trashcan in the garage. I don't dare leave a trash can outside filled for very long as critters will be into it. This green mold had attached itself to the wood and was merrily eating away at it taking the usual sharp edges away from the mag well and other places and really attaching itself in those areas. There was no warning or marking outside of the barrel channel to tell me I would find it and it also stunk a bit too. Have no idea what it was and I have never found it before either. I looked for worm holes or some such evidence but the lack of sharp edges was the only sign after I got it out of there. I wiped the area down with Balistoll and now there are no signs of it anywhere. There were also signs of active rust starting on the barrel toward the muzzle and I hit them with 4 O steel wool and more Balistoll There are some remaining scars where the rust had eaten into the barrel metal but nothing major is left and the Balistoll will protect till a range trip.


Needless to say I am glad I took the rifle apart and found the stuff in there but now dreading what the other two may be like. I need to get at them next for a look too. If I had not opened and inspected these rifles I would never have found this stuff and it would have been merrily eating my stock and rusting my barrel. When you buy a rifle you have no idea how it was stored and this and safety are reasons why I support cleaning and inspecting new purchases. I understand perfectly why people like to buy them as they are but I sure like to know I am not supporting some gun eating creature in my safes too. Do as you may but I like them to be safe and secure. Bill

Possibly those '91's were never put into proper storage, but yes, it never hurts to dig into them and inspect. I didn't do any of that with my '33 Tula I bought in 2010 from an online retailer (J&G Sales). I have since had it apart for a broken sear spring, though and - no mold! (thankfully) I was also pleasantly surprised that my rifle had very little cosmoline, it was easy to clean-up.

Really good Tips. Much Thanks

I always break them down to inspect them if possible.

Hey Bill, I heard it was your Birthday? HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Happy birthday Bill.
I take them down when I can. The SCW rifles with the front sling hangers though I leave them be for fear of breaking the hanger. I clean some and leave some depending on what it is and what I am doing with it. I clean the rust and bore on all though.

Green death mold?? What kind of people have you been buying these guns from? Hundreds of rifles shotguns, pistols, muskets, even the Nepalese "as found" Martini rifles never had anything like that going on. Seeing something like that poking it's face out would be a good reason to take down a rifle and clean it, you know you have to set that stock in the sun for a few weeks right? There is no chemical you can put on that stock that will kill the fungus permanently and not hurt the wood finish at the same time, but sunlight kills fungus dead. The real danger of fungus is not the wood, that will take more than a lifetime to accomplish, it's the metal that will suffer as fungus absorbs moisture from the air, and then it will be in contact with the steel. Of course if that mold is the deadly type protecting your hands is of no real use, you need a respirator, and face mask, you do not want to breath that shit. People have died from inhaling that shit, entire homes have had to be abandoned because of that and it can spread with amazing rapidity. I would segregate that rifle from the pack, and segregate every other rifle it's been in contact with from the rest of your collection. Go put it out in the sun, do not let it rest in some moist, dark place inside the house, you do that and it's all over.

You have two more like this? Do not handle them without a respirator, take them apart outside, and let everything sit in the sun. Mix up a solution of 50/50 household bleach and water, clean the room you were taking that other rifle apart in, clean everything that it touched with bleach, clean the entire room, wash everything you were wearing with the same, and if you notice a cough developing, or a skin rash go visit the Doc . From your description that doesn't sound like your ordinary mildew, these rifles probably came from a home infested with black mold ( looks black on drywall, but green on most other things like wood) and this kind of fungus is some Very Bad Shit.

So, if you do discover the Andromeda Strain, please alert us, posthaste!

jones0430 wrote:So, if you do discover the Andromeda Strain, please alert us, posthaste!

Now that was some nasty mold!

I understand what Junk Yard Dog says on the mold. Before the wife and I bought our house, the apt. we lived in developed black mold on the carpet in a corner of our boys bedroom. My youngest sons' crib was right over it! The ceiling developed a stain, but management said the roof was not leaking. (bullshit!) They finally did resurface the roof and fixed the leak. My son was born preme and already had asthma problems, which the mold only aggravated. He's now a big, healthy 16 year old (praise God), but it was kinda scary.

No worry - that was just Bloomberg with his newest attack on legal firearms.

Marcus wrote:No worry - that was just Bloomberg with his newest attack on legal firearms.

He's retired, now they have a real idiot running the show, full on communist no less.

So this is how the Zombie Apocalypse begins.

If I can safely disassemble them I do. Discovered some active rust that needed attention that way. Haven't found any green mold yet though. I've found some black stuff on one Japanese Arisaka that would not come off. No idea what that stuff was. It's baked onto the wood.

That would be cooked in grease Tom. If that is how the zombies come to be then I guess we know what is shambling around in Bills house right now . OK, who goes down there to get the guns and take care of the Zed? Bill wouldn't want it hurting anybody, but make sure you check the pockets after you do the deed, Bill just got back from a show so there may still be a roll of cash in a pocket. He would want us to have that along with the rest of his gear I got more guns than I need now, but if you happen to find his stash of spam while you toss the place do keep me in mind

Mold is nothing to mess with. Google, " Wood eating mold.", and see what I mean. If it hasn't gotten to the outside of the stock you can wipe the channel down with household bleach. Some molds are resistant to sunlight.

Junk Yard Dog wrote:

Marcus wrote:No worry - that was just Bloomberg with his newest attack on legal firearms.

He's retired, now they have a real idiot running the show, full on communist no less.

He may not be mayor anymore but he just started a new effort to combat gun violence and added a 50 million dollar injection to it. He's still very active in the fight to take our firearms and is a very dangerous man. His target with this latest venture, the NRA. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/16/us/bl ... .html?_r=0

Longcolt44 wrote:Mold is nothing to mess with. Google, " Wood eating mold.", and see what I mean. If it hasn't gotten to the outside of the stock you can wipe the channel down with household bleach. Some molds are resistant to sunlight.

X'2 always take a weapon down to the basic parts for inspection and cleaning including the Finn's, and if you are worried about the latter obtain a torque screwdriver.

Bleach is DAMN good at killing most molds and or Viruses.

Why do I constantly wash my hands after shaking hands and before I eat

It's also a good idea to wear rubber gloves when touching anything that you don't know where it's been.

Be sure to wipe down with a MIX of water and bleach. Some molds have the ability to seal themselves off to toxins, bleach to them. The mixture of water tricks it into allowing it in and killing it.

.Bill Happy Birthday,... I am glad you posted this green mold thing. Has anyone else had this happen before? Judi and her Mosin's

Happy Birthday Zeebill!!