Hello fellow CGr's I'm planning on buying my first Mosin Nagant 91/30. I've done some research and I know a few things about corrosive ammo, prices and pitting but I'm still a relatively new shooter. Can anyone share a few tips for this rifle. I did a search and few threads came up about this rifle. Any thoughts?
Tip for new mosin shooter?
- Thread starter MosinMan
- Start date
I've only been shooting my own Mosins a short time now.
Cleaning out the corrosive fouling is a cinch. You CAN use the original rod and jag but I prefer to use a longer new style rifle rod from the breech.
For swabbing away the salts that attract the moisture a few patches soaked with common Windex works superbly. I follow this with a dry patch to remove most of the moisture. After that a couple of patches wetted with some Ed's Red until they come out clean. Typically the second Ed's Red patch is clean enough that I then just run a single dry patch and call it done. The Ed's Red takes care of any solvent dissolvable powder fouling and leaves a light oil film for protection.
The whole effort takes all of 5 minutes from start to finish and about 5 to 7 patches.
About every third or fourth time out I'll dunk the bolt into the Ed's mix and then prop it up face down in a small plastic food container with a paper towel at the bottom to drain and dry. This cleans and lubes the inside of the bolt. But so far the one time I've done this nothing nasty came out. The chief thing seems to be that it lubes and protects the insides of the bolt from corrosion and wear.
If you're feeling particularly charitable a thin smear of a good quality grease on the hook that engages the trigger sear before you put the bolt back in will aid a little in making the trigger pull a bit smoother.
Finally I run the last clean Ed's mix patch over the outsides of the metal surfaces and around the insides of the bolt well of the receiver as well as I can to leave a light oily film for protection against rust before putting it away.
Like I say, it sounds like a lot of steps but once you've done it the whole thing takes about 5 to 7 minutes from setting the rifle on some sort of stand or old towel to putting it back in the safe/cabinet.
Cleaning out the corrosive fouling is a cinch. You CAN use the original rod and jag but I prefer to use a longer new style rifle rod from the breech.
For swabbing away the salts that attract the moisture a few patches soaked with common Windex works superbly. I follow this with a dry patch to remove most of the moisture. After that a couple of patches wetted with some Ed's Red until they come out clean. Typically the second Ed's Red patch is clean enough that I then just run a single dry patch and call it done. The Ed's Red takes care of any solvent dissolvable powder fouling and leaves a light oil film for protection.
The whole effort takes all of 5 minutes from start to finish and about 5 to 7 patches.
About every third or fourth time out I'll dunk the bolt into the Ed's mix and then prop it up face down in a small plastic food container with a paper towel at the bottom to drain and dry. This cleans and lubes the inside of the bolt. But so far the one time I've done this nothing nasty came out. The chief thing seems to be that it lubes and protects the insides of the bolt from corrosion and wear.
If you're feeling particularly charitable a thin smear of a good quality grease on the hook that engages the trigger sear before you put the bolt back in will aid a little in making the trigger pull a bit smoother.
Finally I run the last clean Ed's mix patch over the outsides of the metal surfaces and around the insides of the bolt well of the receiver as well as I can to leave a light oily film for protection against rust before putting it away.
Like I say, it sounds like a lot of steps but once you've done it the whole thing takes about 5 to 7 minutes from setting the rifle on some sort of stand or old towel to putting it back in the safe/cabinet.
Learn how to work the bolt properly. Dont grab it with your thumb amd index like you would a modern hunting gun. Come up with force with the bolt on the palm of your hand, pull back and then push back with force with the palm again and roll the bolt back into place. This way you can cycle the bolt super fast and without taking the rifle off your cheek. Sooooo many people do it wrong. Hard to describe, maybe I'll make a video.
Also look up a video on how to take the bolt apart. Do this and clean out all the cosmo with simple green. Also get a 20 gauge bore brush and shank it into a drill, use lots of simple green and vlean all the cosmo out of the chamber and locking lugs. Get all these bits clean and the Mosin is actually very smooth.
so
rry for typos I'm on my phone.
Also look up a video on how to take the bolt apart. Do this and clean out all the cosmo with simple green. Also get a 20 gauge bore brush and shank it into a drill, use lots of simple green and vlean all the cosmo out of the chamber and locking lugs. Get all these bits clean and the Mosin is actually very smooth.
so
rry for typos I'm on my phone.
Buy a soft but pad.
My M38 kicked like a mule, it was awesome.
The Mosin carbines can leave one with a sore shoulder, but the M91/30 is a pussy cat. I've shot mine in two service rifle matches (~100 rounds in ~2 hours, most of it from the prone) and don't have any issues with recoil.
Good rifle and good price at this time. Buy lots of ammo and learn to shoot with proficiency. Easy to clean, not many moving parts on a Mosin. There are a wide assortment of good commercial ammo for target and hunting. That rifle has no problem shooting deer or taking down moose. Enjoy and welcome to the board.
sk8erfinch
CGN Regular
- Location
- British Columbia
with corrosive ammo use Windex or any ammonia based cleaning agent ... i use Windex the normal blue one and it works perfect ... take the bolt apart put it on paper towel spray the crap out of it let it sit take the rifle spray the barrel down inside and out chamber and muzzle let sit ... go drink a beer come back do normal cleaning as you would.
Only 1 butt pad is acceptable for a Mosin, its the steel one that came on the carbineBuy a soft but pad.
My M38 kicked like a mule, it was awesome.
Jocelyn
I would add that MN like all military rifles have been designed with hard use in mind.Operate bolt fast and firm,it won't break and you will be very surprised how well it works,feeds and ejects cases.
That applies to all military surplus bolt actions-no exceptions(none that I know of).
use a recoil pad, recoil turns into fatigue which turns into crap shooting and maybe a flinch. The bolt doesnt have to be rough and hard. Check out the youtube videos on mosin sticky bolt. with an easy hour of work my mosin cycles like butter. It is easy to adjust the trigger with hand tools to break light and crisp. check out surplusriflesforum.com for all your mosin tweaking needs. Enjoy new nazi shooting rifle comrade.
After comparing my Russian to my Finns; I'd suggest cycling the bolt ( not dry firing though) a couple hundred times after oiling it. It gets smoother.
I'd put a Russian bolt in one of my Finns and was amazed to find the bolt / trigger pull was like dragging something across rough asphalt.
As the collectors value was gone anyhow I laid the bolts out side by side and figured out why the Finn was so much smoother. A pot of coffee and a little fine emery paper later ( no power tools, power tools bad ) the Russian bolt cycled much smoother.
This will undoubtedly be frowned upon in this forum; but unless one is single and lives alone...sitting and cycling an action til it's smooth...well...that sorta thing is generally frowned on in a family atmosphere, LOL
Stay safe
I'd put a Russian bolt in one of my Finns and was amazed to find the bolt / trigger pull was like dragging something across rough asphalt.
As the collectors value was gone anyhow I laid the bolts out side by side and figured out why the Finn was so much smoother. A pot of coffee and a little fine emery paper later ( no power tools, power tools bad ) the Russian bolt cycled much smoother.
This will undoubtedly be frowned upon in this forum; but unless one is single and lives alone...sitting and cycling an action til it's smooth...well...that sorta thing is generally frowned on in a family atmosphere, LOL
Stay safe
sk8erfinch
CGN Regular
- Location
- British Columbia
Ive honestly never thought the Mosin had much kick i have a m44 with steel but plate... maybe its because i shoot federal 12 guage 3 inch slugs as much as i shoot .22lr ;p
omg wow thank you all for the warm welcome and helpful information. The info on cleaning was good, especially with the cosmo since it had completely slipped my mind. I found a good video about mineral spirits and PVC pipe that I think I will use. http://youtu.be/3zFP5ZZQe6g
But he talks about the sun warm temperature to clean the wood stock. Being in Canada and winter that will be heard... Forgive me for this sounds like an idiot idea... Would it be super terrible to "warm" a wood stock in an oven at like maybe 40-50*C? Or is this a
idea?
Also I live in Toronto and I haven't found a store that sells them so I'm planning on buying it from an online store. What questions should I be asking to get a good rifle? I'm a first time buyer of the mosin so no advice would be too noob for me. Thanks again!
But he talks about the sun warm temperature to clean the wood stock. Being in Canada and winter that will be heard... Forgive me for this sounds like an idiot idea... Would it be super terrible to "warm" a wood stock in an oven at like maybe 40-50*C? Or is this a
idea?Also I live in Toronto and I haven't found a store that sells them so I'm planning on buying it from an online store. What questions should I be asking to get a good rifle? I'm a first time buyer of the mosin so no advice would be too noob for me. Thanks again!
Or just fix the bayonet.
ah i would rather my rifle not be 9 feet long lol
Rory McCanuck
CGN Regular
- Location
- Middle of Manitoba
I don't think putting your stock in the oven is a great idea.
A 91/30 stock is about a week and a half long, and likely
won't fit in your oven. Then there's the dripping cosmo
all over the cookies Mrs.MosinMan is baking.
A hair dryer and paper towels will work nicely.
A water-proof, well insulated glove will help cleaning all
the metal parts. Remove the bolt from the action, and the
action from the stock. Point the barrel into your tub.
Pour boiling water from your kettle
into the chamber and down the barrel.
The heat will loosen the cosmoline, and the water will wash
it out. Several kettle-fulls,and let dry, it only takes a minute,
then run some patches liberally
soaked in Ed's Red through the bore. The recipe for Ed's Red
can be found here: http://www.frfrogspad.com/homemade.htm.
Put it all back together and go shoot it. Shoot it lots.
The boiling water trick only takes a few minutes and will
also clean out all the salts from shooting corrosive surplus ammo.
Have fun!
A 91/30 stock is about a week and a half long, and likely
won't fit in your oven. Then there's the dripping cosmo
all over the cookies Mrs.MosinMan is baking.
A hair dryer and paper towels will work nicely.
A water-proof, well insulated glove will help cleaning all
the metal parts. Remove the bolt from the action, and the
action from the stock. Point the barrel into your tub.
Pour boiling water from your kettle
into the chamber and down the barrel.
The heat will loosen the cosmoline, and the water will wash
it out. Several kettle-fulls,and let dry, it only takes a minute,
then run some patches liberally
soaked in Ed's Red through the bore. The recipe for Ed's Red
can be found here: http://www.frfrogspad.com/homemade.htm.
Put it all back together and go shoot it. Shoot it lots.
The boiling water trick only takes a few minutes and will
also clean out all the salts from shooting corrosive surplus ammo.
Have fun!
