The Russian Mosin Nagant Forum

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.

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

I was so tempted to go there, with the title, but I will leave it alone, because this is a family forum......

SA1911a1 wrote:I was so tempted to go there, with the title, but I will leave it alone, because this is a family forum......

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Good advice from Junk Yard Dog.

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...

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.

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.

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.

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.