steel cases anyway

[Purdy]

I have a Mosin carbine and bought a sealed tin case of military ammo. I didn't expect much and haven't been disappointed. I have come to believe the ammo was made for use in machine guns as many cases have dents in the soulder area and elsewhere and they are not uniform in size. About one in six or seven won't chamber. Last week while out shooting, one case wouldn't extract after firing. The bolt lift was very difficult, I had to lay the gun on the bench and have a friend help hold it while I hit the bolt handle hard several times with the heel of my hand. When the bolt finally opened, the extractor had jumped over the rim and the case remained in the chamber. The cleaning rod below the barrel is to short to knock the case out.

I got to thinking that the Russians must not have cared much about their troops as this would have been a real problem on the battle field. Of course in some battles they only gave rifles to every other man and a stripper clip of ammo to the alternates.

[kortik]

Your logic is absolutely marvelous.

You got to thinking that Russians fed their MNs on the battlefield in 1940s with the same ammo of non-specified origin you've bought in 2009 or whatever
year it was...

[tmanbuckhunter]

And it's also funny that he doesn't have the proper length cleaning rod to remove the stuck case so his mosin will probably be a rust bucket in the coming months.

Here's a tip, when shooting laquer coated ammo don't let the gun get too hot, and clean the cosmoline out of your gun before firing.

[gandog56]

He never said it was lacquered;


But I wonder if it was.

[jmp8927]

Sounds like a little cosmo in the chamber to me. Personally I've never had a problem with lacquered cases, but then I've only ever shot it in my SKS and WASR-10. Haven't tried it in a bolt action.

[Ferroflame]

I've never had any problem with steel cased ammo, lacquer coated or not.

[toolman]

Look at the headstamp on the ammo. There was a bad run of Russian ammo in 1988 that is horrible with all of the problems you've described. I bought a tin from Kiesler's and fired about 30 rds before giving up on it. Kiesler's made good on it, but it was some bad stuff.

[Iron_Colonel]

Well, I had a guy one time I was at a range, he was shooting some handload .300 Win mag loads, and he had a squib fire and the bullet was stuck in his barrel. I had an aluminum cleaning rod at the time, and I let him try to tap it out, but it was ruining the rod end where the brushes screw in. I had my AK-47, with the short cleaning rod. The only way he could get it out was sticking the fat end of the rod in first, and dropping it so the weight of the rod tap it out. So that worked just fine for the bullet. Might consider trying the same for your rifle if you didn't already if that problem happens again. But if you have a cleaning rod and the little pieces that go with it, then you'd be set to go for cleaning. Even if it isn't long enough to reach one way, you can clean from both ends anyways

Let us know the headstamp on your ammo too, and some pics of your tin so we can identify the ammo, and steer clear if necessary.

[Mike82]

that's odd jmp, my wasr-10 doesnt like the cheap laquered ammo. of course it could have also been that specific group of cratridges were oversized....they wouldn't enter the chamber fully after warming up.

[gandog56]

Originally Posted by Mike82

that's odd jmp, my wasr-10 doesnt like the cheap laquered ammo. of course it could have also been that specific group of cratridges were oversized....they wouldn't enter the chamber fully after warming up.

My Saiga eats ANYTHING!

[Mike82]

^show-off^

[assaultrecon28]

ive had the exact same problem.... only worse cause 1 out 3 rounds was like that, my mosin just didnt like the czech copper washed cases

[Flaming Day]

Oh Yeah? My Mosin loves lacquered even after 60 rounds!Thats right,75 rounds in total of lacquered with out a hitch,all in one sitting.

[Purdy]

Originally Posted by kortik

Your logic is absolutely marvelous.

You got to thinking that Russians fed their MNs on the battlefield in 1940s with the same ammo of non-specified origin you've bought in 2009 or whatever
year it was...

Your "logic" is even more marvelous.

[Purdy]

Originally Posted by tmanbuckhunter

And it's also funny that he doesn't have the proper length cleaning rod to remove the stuck case so his mosin will probably be a rust bucket in the coming months.

Here's a tip, when shooting laquer coated ammo don't let the gun get too hot, and clean the cosmoline out of your gun before firing.

And do you take "the proper length cleaning rod" with you to the gravel pit to shoot? I was simply pointing out that the cleaning rod provided on the gun wasn't long enough to do the job. Kind of like the problem Gen. Custer's men had at the Little Bighorn.

[Purdy]

Originally Posted by toolman

Look at the headstamp on the ammo. There was a bad run of Russian ammo in 1988 that is horrible with all of the problems you've described. I bought a tin from Kiesler's and fired about 30 rds before giving up on it. Kiesler's made good on it, but it was some bad stuff.

I don't have the top of the tin as it was dumped. The cartridges are laquered but have no head stamp, nothing, nada. There was a paper sticker on the bottom of the tin "made in Russia" that isn't much info.

To the other suggestions above. I am an experienced shooter/handloader having shot since the mid '40's and reloaded since the early 60's. I am no novice. The gun was thoroughly cleaned when first obtained and I thoroughly clean the bore after each session using hot water, then windex, then dry patches then Sweet's then lightly oiled. The bore is immaculate as the carbine was un-issued when I obtained it.

I just thought I would share my experience but obviously some people here would rather criticize someone they know absolutely nothiing about.

[killsnapz]

The cleaning rods on alot of the old bolt action rifles are not long enough to reach down the whole length of the barrel. I do not know exactly how the soilders on the field when about cleaning their rifles but it takes two seconds to remove the bolt on a Mosin or Mauser 98K and go at it from both ends. I do'nt think the intended the cleaning rod to be used to clear the barrel. I have also read that alot of times soilders would take the cleaning rods from two rifles and screw them together to make a rod long enough to clean the rifle fromo just one end of the barrel. I pulled out my two M39's and removed the rods to see if the would in fact thread together to test the theory and you can thread two cleaning rods together to make one long one!
I have noticed that the laquered ammo takes a bit more effort when pulling up on the bolt to unchamber the fired shell but I never had to beat on the handle to free the spent shell. I have a crate of 1970's 7.62 from Bulgaria and a crate of Yugoslavian 8mm. Both are laquered and can be a little sticky when the barrel heats up but nothing crazy.
Has anyone ever tries to remove the laquer from surplus ammo or is it a real bad idea?

Michael

[kortik]

Michael,

It's both bad and useless idea. Potential problems are not because of lacquer, but because of steel case. BTW, lacquer is the best anti-corrosion coating you can have for the ammo.

[kortik]

No, Mr. Purdy, how did you come to the conclusion that Russians had problems in the period of time between 1941 and 1945 because the can of ammo you bought recently didn't do well with your particular MN? Did you start shooting in 1940's at the Eastern Front? On which side did you shoot?

[billy]

Originally Posted by Purdy

I have a Mosin carbine and bought a sealed tin case of military ammo. I didn't expect much and haven't been disappointed. I have come to believe the ammo was made for use in machine guns as many cases have dents in the soulder area and elsewhere and they are not uniform in size. About one in six or seven won't chamber. Last week while out shooting, one case wouldn't extract after firing. The bolt lift was very difficult, I had to lay the gun on the bench and have a friend help hold it while I hit the bolt handle hard several times with the heel of my hand. When the bolt finally opened, the extractor had jumped over the rim and the case remained in the chamber. The cleaning rod below the barrel is to short to knock the case out.

I got to thinking that the Russians must not have cared much about their troops as this would have been a real problem on the battle field. Of course in some battles they only gave rifles to every other man and a stripper clip of ammo to the alternates.

TAKE A BRASS CLEANING brush and put it on a short section of cleaning rod.
chuck it in your cordless drill .
squirt some carb or brake cleaner on the bristles and stick it in the chamber for a minute or two.
that will get the crap out and cases wont stick near as badly.