Mosin - I could not refuse anymore....

[edsinger]

Just bought a Mosin-Nagant 91/30 for $99 and 100 rds of ammo for a total of $139. I just couldn’t refuse. So here I have been reading for hours on it and here is what I do know,


- It’s a 1943, non Tula, Iversink??, anyhow the serials match in three spots.
- It seems to be in decent shape, all the KIT parts came with it.
- ITS COVERED in GREASE. It took me a while with paper towels to get it some what clean and get the crap off what I could get at including the oil can.
- On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the rarest, mine is a (1). Ok with me, for $100, I can not complain.
- My son already wishes I would have bought (2).



Here is what I am unsure of,

- How far do I have to get the grease cleaned before I shoot it? I mean it is grease after all. I am not at all comfortable of taking the whole thing down and then reassembling it.
- Tried to find info on the ammo that I bought, but was unsure. Head stamp says 75 & 22. I assume 1977 but unknown origin, thought Bulgaria but..it looks like a copper case, with a red stripe around the bullet with a silver looking tip.
- Do I really need to get a butt pad for it? A 12-Gauge does hurt me at all and 7mm just barley did but I would not want to shoot more than 20 rounds anyway.
- So I gather water is the best way to clean after corrosive ammo. Somehow that gives me the creeps. Water is the last thing I want to forget a spot with, but from what I read it works best. Will not RemOil clean it also?
- Nobody answered the fella’s question about dropping his rifle in a bathtub full of scalding hot water to get rid of the cosmeline/grease. Does that really sound like a good idea? I will do it just to avoid taking the darn thing all the way apart.
- Just what is the darn oil can for? Mine still had OIL in it, luckily I got it cleaned up off the kitchen floor before the wife saw it.
- I really don’t want to sight it in with the bayonet installed. Any ideas on how to adjust without it? I read that the marks are sighted in for the bayonet and I read somewhere else that it shoots 8-10” high at 100 yards. What should I expect with a 6o’clock aim at 25 and then 50 yards.



Thanks Fellas.

 

[Wabatuckian]

Hello,

Wipe down the bolt and swab out the bore. Wrap the whole works in newspaper, set it on a heater overnight, and repeat. (The newspaper will be soaked with cosmoline).

The ammo is Romanian light ball. Relatively good stuff.

No, you do not need a butt pad for it. I never figured out why folks wanted them. I did put one on my old M44 (now gone) because the LOP was just ay short, but the 91/30 is better on that front. Besides, if I ever use bayonet and buttstock, I don't want there to be padding!

When you ignite a corrosive primer, you produce potassium chlorate, a salt. It's hygroscopic and will attract moisture which will cause oxidization. People make a huge deal out of this and will have you cleaning it in all sorts of different manners. They did me, and turns out the techniques they use is overkill. I use those techniques on my blackpowder rifles! No, just run a patch soaked in soapy water down the bore, then follow it with three or four patches soaked in plain water, then clean as usual. It won't rust. In fact, if you're going to clean the rifle right away, you probably don't even need the water. If Hoppe's dissolves fouling, it's going to work on salt.

Regardless, if you do use water, use tepid water. Folks will tell you to use hot or boiling water; don't. It will cause flash rust.

About the bathtub: It won't hurt it. Just remember the flash rust thing. Oil it well afterward. Remember you'll have some flash rust, but it'll only be surface rust on unprotected surfaces. Bluing is just rust that holds oil. Soooo... flash blue it

How to adjust without it? You can drift the front sight. The elevation is not adjustable. Expect it to shoot about 6" high at the 100 meter setting, at 100 meters.

I don't remember the exact ballistics, but you can search the ballistics tables and they'll tell you. Seems to me it's only half an inch lower at 25 and half an inch higher at 50.

Hope this helps some.

Josh

 

[JML]

It's faily easy to disassemble a Mosin.How ever as soon as you think you have all of the cosmoline off of it,then you go shoot it and it starts oozing out even more.But it's a cheap piece of history and their a fun rifle.Have fun with it.

 

[edsinger]

Hello,
Wipe down the bolt and swab out the bore. Wrap the whole works in newspaper, set it on a heater overnight, and repeat. (The newspaper will be soaked with cosmoline).

So this means I should not shoot it at all until all the grease is gone correct? I guess I will have to use the oven, which means disassembly etc. I need to learn how anyway, its just the spring spooks me. I did find a good site linked here elsewhere that has a good take down article.

General Articles

The ammo is Romanian light ball. Relatively good stuff.

Ah 22 (Romania), I missed that one..so 1975 then.......Here is what the bullet looks like...

Here is the Cartridge but with a red stripe, silver tip, and red Primer.

No, you do not need a butt pad for it. I never figured out why folks wanted them. I did put one on my old M44 (now gone) because the LOP was just ay short, but the 91/30 is better on that front. Besides, if I ever use bayonet and buttstock, I don't want there to be padding!

I never thought of using the Butt stock as a weapon. I highly doubt that I would be down to using a Mosin at that point but what you say makes sense. They didn't need it 50 years ago......Guess I will find out when I shoot it.

When you ignite a corrosive primer, you produce potassium chlorate, a salt. It's hygroscopic and will attract moisture which will cause oxidization. People make a huge deal out of this and will have you cleaning it in all sorts of different manners. They did me, and turns out the techniques they use is overkill. I use those techniques on my blackpowder rifles! No, just run a patch soaked in soapy water down the bore, then follow it with three or four patches soaked in plain water, then clean as usual. It won't rust. In fact, if you're going to clean the rifle right away, you probably don't even need the water. If Hoppe's dissolves fouling, it's going to work on salt.

Notes Taken

Regardless, if you do use water, use tepid water. Folks will tell you to use hot or boiling water; don't. It will cause flash rust.

Makes sense

About the bathtub: It won't hurt it. Just remember the flash rust thing. Oil it well afterward. Remember you'll have some flash rust, but it'll only be surface rust on unprotected surfaces. Bluing is just rust that holds oil. Soooo... flash blue it

That's funny stuff. Well the more I think about it, the grease/cosmoline doesn't really bother me. I got most off with a towel, now I can just clean it a few times and if I miss some, who cares, it wont rust.

How to adjust without it? You can drift the front sight. The elevation is not adjustable. Expect it to shoot about 6" high at the 100 meter setting, at 100 meters.

Ah, that makes sense....

I don't remember the exact ballistics, but you can search the ballistics tables and they'll tell you. Seems to me it's only half an inch lower at 25 and half an inch higher at 50.

I guess I will just have to shoot a couple downrange and see. The first one will be way off till I 'feel' her out.

Hope this helps some.
Josh

Thanks Josh for the replies....

Ed

 

[sgreen3]

Good purchase! You will be coming down with the "mosin itis" in no time now,lol. When I first got mine I cleaned the cosmo with some q-tips and hops#9 ( what ive seen its best to make sure the bolt and chamber and barrel needs to be cleaned the best. Josh is right(no need for all the overkill) after shooting i just run a couple patches with windex sprayed on them, then some dry patches, then a lighlty oiled patch and ur done! Main thing is have fun with it! Let us know how it shoots.

 

[pinshooter45]

Just bought My own 91/30 hex reciver at the 1500. While mine was not covered with a generous amount of cosmoline. I use the same proceedure to remove it as I did when I got my 98K. I used hot Water amd Dawn dish soap. There are many ways to do it...but to keep the peace in the family I figured using the oven was not a good idea. Looking at Utube this week I found many recipes. But Dawn Is Easy to find and cuts grease well, I often use it to clean my hands after working on my cars. I would get as much out as psossible to avoid sticky bolt syndrome!

 

[Frankingun]

The only cure for Mosinitis is to buy another one. I have four. Welcome to the club!

 

[Wabatuckian]

So this means I should not shoot it at all until all the grease is gone correct? I guess I will have to use the oven, which means disassembly etc. I need to learn how anyway, its just the spring spooks me. I did find a good site linked here elsewhere that has a good take down article.

Ed

Take the bolt head and connector off (pieces 3 and 6).

Press the firing pin (4) into a piece of pine until the cocking knob (2) comes up a bit.

With a properly sized screwdriver, unscrew the firing pin from the cocking knob and when the cocking knob falls off, slowly release the spring tension. The spring wraps around the firing pin and won't be going anyplace unless you let it fly.

It's really easy to do.

Josh

 

[johntheplinker]

Josh seems to have about everything covered. Only thing I will ad is this: DON'T use the oven. Your house will reek of cosmolene for hours if you get it too hot. I tried it one time, got it a little warm, and to put it politely, SWMBO had a conniption fit. The main reason you want to to remove the cosmolene is that it is a preservative, and not a lube.

 

[acarnahan]

Personally my favorite way to get rid of cosmoline (grease) is to set it outside on a sunny hot day. It will seep out and you can wipe a lot off. I use Simple Green to get the remaining film of grease off.

 

[SmileDocHill]

This is a pretty good site for basic info on how to get started with this rifle.
Collecting and Shooting the Military Surplus Rifle (2006) - Surplusrifle.com
I linked directly to the bolt disasembly page but there are other great info pages within the "Mosin 91/30" section of this site.
On the right side of this page. --> http://www.surplusrifle.com/russianmosin189130/index.asp

 

[edsinger]

thanks guys, I will use some dawn and clean, then once it warms up, the sun should get the rest.

This is why INGO is so great! :Cheers:

 

[emst52]

Congrats on your first Mosin

 

[malern28us]

Definitely DON'T SKIP THE BOLT TEARDOWN! I thought I had mine pristine until I tore mine down. It just looks overwhelming. If I can show someone else how to do it after only doing it once myself, you know its easy. If you live anywhere close to Roanoke/ Ft Wayne, I will be glad to help with what little knowledge I have.

 

[tradertator]

Sitting it out in the sun works well, but if you lay a trash bag in the area under the rear glass of a vehicle and lay the rifle on it, you will be amazed how much goo oozes out.

BTW, I'm a fan of using windex on corrosive primered rounds. It might just be me, but I think it works much better than just water.

 

[Tombs]

Personally my favorite way to get rid of cosmoline (grease) is to set it outside on a sunny hot day. It will seep out and you can wipe a lot off. I use Simple Green to get the remaining film of grease off.

That's especially important.

By far the best way you can do it, because it'll get most of it out of the wood.
If you just keep wiping it down, it's not going to do much. About time you get out on a hot summer day, it's going to be bleeding that crap all over you.

Letting it bleed it all out in the sun or an oven is really the most effective way.


It's also extremely important that you learn the rifle inside and out. Taking it completely down a few times would be extremely recommended.

 

[edsinger]

Well the deed is done....



It has been completed (except the firing pin and spring), its all been taken down, cleaned off, coated with RemOil, and tested.

Some things of note, the barrel band springs are NOT the same. I was wondering why it wasn't fitting. One is a wee bit smaller than the other and it will slip through the larger one.

The bolt removal was easy, getting it all back together and finding the right combo that would slide back in was my largest challenge. It has to be JUST right and then it slips right in like a.....buttered noodle.

Thanks folks for the help and suggestions, now I know it is ready to fire.


All I need to do now is test the firing pin depth etc, and sight it in WITHOUT the bayonet.



Here is a picture:


Uploaded with ImageShack.us

 

[2cool9031]

Nice job Ed! You have a great looking Mosin...sure looks better than with all that gunk on it.

 

[LtScott14]

All you need now is a sunny day to shoot, some vodka(just kidding), and caviar. A russian style hat is also required if going to shoot. Remember to call everyone comrad
and study up on slang so you can walk the walk and talk the talk!
Have fun and bring your hearing protection, you will need it.

 

[HamsterStyle]

As far as the firing pin depth is concerned, a good base line is to have it screwed in to the cocking knob until it is pretty much flush with the surface and the flathead notch lined up with the two lines engraved on the knob.