Mosin bolt movement when pulling trigger...

manbearpig

manbearpig

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on all of my Mosins, when the bolt is cocked and i am slowly pulling the trigger, the entire rear section of the bolt wiggles downward in the action quite noticeably. i cant help but think that the trigger would be far less mushy if this did not occur -- is there anything you can do to minimize this?

does anyone have any recommendations on what can be done to accurize a Mosin? or is the design of the trigger assembly a hopeless limitation?
 
changing bolts does nothing, tried it.

it seems to be a combination of the massive tolerances in these rifles, the open receiver bridge, and the multi-piece bolt.
as the trigger is pulled the rear of the bolt moves down about 3mm.

im going to try polishing up the trigger and shimming it and see if that helps any, might just be the 20lb trigger pull :)
 
The bolt wiggle doesn't affect the bolthead on Mosins, only the relation between the bolt body and the trigger.
Sure, you could try soldering calibrated brass shims into the action but...
Finns tuned their triggers and regulated the bedding with shims under the action just rear of the recoil lug but I don't have the specifics.
I'll try to find more about that.
Will keep you posted.
PP.
 
Some modern rifles still have very minute bolthead movement when the trigger is pulled.
This is why, on high precision rifles, the action is often blueprinted and sometimes the bolt itself is sleeved to insure zero movement.
On a Mosin, the bolthead doesn't cant at all when in battery, even if the bolt body wiggles. Think of it as a "floating" bolthead.
As massive tolerances go, the Mosins can have all the tolerances you want at non-important areas but they are quite up to spec in the place that matters most: headspace. There aren't many Mosins found with dangerous headspacing. The only dangerous ones are the so-called Bannerman 30-06 conversions. And even these are still quite collectable...
PP.
 
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trigger

I polished mine and used soda can tin (.004) measurement each to shim and I used 3, but every rifle is different so yours might be different, but mine has no slop and no drag at all and lightend it up a bit but not very much. I just wanted to get rid of the long drag. Blake
 
i was watching the bolt head as the bolt wiggled, and there is absolutely no bolt head movement - so i never was really worried about that.

i do think, however, that the 2mm or so movement of the bolt body as you pull the trigger contributes to the mushiness of the factory trigger.

thats my main complaint with mosins - the mushy trigger. i dont mind heavy triggers as long as they are crisp and consistent. a 5-6lb trigger that breaks cleanly and consistently can be shot accurately with practice... a mushy, crappy trigger that breaks inconsistently cant :(
 
I like the mushy trigger. It gives you that almost dbl stage pull feel :)

And remember, most Mosins were not made for accuracy. They were just part of the human fodder thrown at the Germans. "one man gets the gun, One man gets the ammunition" - I love that movie!
 
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Mosins have been found to more accurate then some would like to admit.

I have an old article that is interviewing a marine sniper in Vietnam, and in it they mention that they consider the Mosin a formidable weapon to go up against when it is in the hands of a good shooter.

Also Personally I wouldn't worry about the movement.

As PerversPépère says:
As massive tolerances go, the Mosins can have all the tolerances you want at non-important areas but they are quite up to spec in the place that matters most: headspace. There aren't many Mosins found with dangerous headspacing.
Click to expand...

This reminds me of walking away from a minty Mosin for sale last year that had an action so smooth I thought it was a #4 Enfield. :(
 
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The best thing you can do to lighten the trigger pull on a mosin is to stone the sear so that it contacts the cocking piece evenly across its width. Then get some 600 grit paper, wrap it around a file, and carefully polish the cocking piece engagement area. DO NOT change the angle out of 90 degress. You will be surprised how much lighter you can make the pull. The Finns sometimes went even further and ground the sear springs thinner, but I would not recommend this as it also makes it break easier.
 
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