Hey, i have an mosin nagant m-44 and plan on owning more soon. The bolt works more smooth than any other deer rifle i own, even loading rounds, but after each shot the bolt becomes really hard to open. I know that bolts get harder to open after the shot, but with this one i have to brace it on my hip and use a pretty good bit of force to open it. Any help on how to fix this is appreciated.
thanks, savage
Hi Savage, Best thing is to read the sticky about cleaning the rifle. The chambers have a lot of old cosmo in them. Blow them out good with brake cleaner or gun scrubber and you should be OK. OR soak a 20g brush in hoppes and chuck it into a drill and polish it out. Careful not to get the cleaner on the stock. It will take the finish off. AND make sure not to go down teh bore with the brush in the drill.
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Dedicated to SwedeSteve, Arkansashunter and Ezearln. Rest in peace my friends.
Another place to look for gunk is the groove the locking lugs lock into when you close the bolt. Even cleaning with a chamber brush like the one the Army armorers use on the M-60 and the M-14 won't get all of it. You have to go after it with a dental pick or something similar. If you don't have a dental pick, the bamboo skewers used in Chinese cooking are an acceptable substitute. Go after the gunk with mineral spirits and your pick, and you will be surprised how much gunge you will get out of the groove.
Get that groove clean and keep it clean, and you will be surprised just how much smoother the lock-up on your Mosin bolt will be.
Of course the best cure for a sticky bolt is to send your Mosin to me. After I shoot a few thousand rounds through it you should have no more sticky bolt.
