Progressively harder cocking

[Juice]

I am new to Mosins, just got my first one last weekend. Your normal referb 91/30. I cleaned everything pretty well with boiling water and spirits. Have not fired the gun yet.

After I got all the storage grease off I was working the bolt, dry firing and decocking, and after a handful of times it started to get harder to cock. Once cocked the bolt slide just fine. Then the bolt would not move up unless hit super hard using both hands. I let it sit awhile and tried again, the bolt was easy to cock. But as I did it more it started to get really hard again. I have repeated this a few times over the last few days. I took the bolt apart but I didn't notice anything.

Does anyone have an idea? The only thing I could think of is that it's "sticky bolt" and the friction from the bolt moving a bunch was enough to start sticking. But it's only hard to move the handle up, everything else is smooth.

I don't know a lot about guns, anything would be helpful. Thanks!

[Juice]

Also, if I cock it by pulling the rear of the bolt back by hand it will move fine too.

[Junk Yard Dog]

Sticky bolt happens when a fired case is stuck in the receiver because of ancient cosmoline on the chamber walls getting hot and gluing the case in to the chamber. You would have to have fired the weapon and then been unable to extract the fired case without force for it to be sticky bolt. Did you adjust the firing pin when you put the bolt back together? It almost sounds as if the pin is tightened a bit too much. It's very unusual for anyone to have this problem on a weapon that is not loaded or been fired. The refurbs do require some break in just like a new pair of shoes, all the refurbished parts need to learn to work with each other. Take the bolt apart, make sure you haven't screwed that firing pin in too far, make sure the bolt is lightly oiled.

[W5BYR]

My referb M44 sticks like it's Crazy Glued together while firing steel cased ammo. If I switch to Yugo surplus brass cased ammo or commercial Prvi Partizan ($$$$$) it's smooth as silk. I hate to fire steel case because it seems like one day the bolt will stick on a permanent basis. Shooting commercial ammo will send me to the poor house.

The brass cased Yugo doesn't seem to be available any more.

Y'all shoot safely Jim

[Juice]

I loosened it by a full turn, the screw head isn't flush anymore it's slightly below. Still does it.

[Junk Yard Dog]

Classic sticky bolt, 20 gauge shotgun cleaning brush, mount it on a section of shotgun cleaning rod, wrap the brush with OOOO size steel wool, chuck the rod into a power drill, soak the brush with solvent, or better yet, JB bore paste, drill it into the chamber ( but not the rifling) for a minute, clean and fire the rifle, if sticky persists then do it again. This is not from steel case ammo, its grease, old oils, and the lacquer coatings some steel case ammo uses sticking to the inside of the chamber that are doing it, this can be stubborn shit to remove, and it will stick to steel case ammo when it gets hot.

[Junk Yard Dog]

I loosened it by a full turn, the screw head isn't flush anymore it's slightly below. Still does it.

OK, put it back, now we wait for some of the more gunsmith minded around here to chime in, entropy was around earlier, maybe he will have an opinion.

[Junk Yard Dog]

My referb M44 sticks like it's Crazy Glued together while firing steel cased ammo. If I switch to Yugo surplus brass cased ammo or commercial Prvi Partizan ($$$$$) it's smooth as silk. I hate to fire steel case because it seems like one day the bolt will stick on a permanent basis. Shooting commercial ammo will send me to the poor house.

The brass cased Yugo doesn't seem to be available any more.

Y'all shoot safely Jim

The sticky bolt recipe was for your rifle Jim.

[desdem12]

The first thing i would check is the extractor channel at the front of the chamber. Make sure all the stuff is cleaned out of there. Then i would move on to the bolt head and see if the extractor is positioned right.

[Juice]

The extractor seems to be on right, on the back of the bolt head it's so tight and flush you can barely see that it's a separate part. What would I look for in extractor channel? What would cause that to work and then stop?

[WeldonHunter]

I would also stop dry firing it. The firing pin is designed to hit a primer which helps absorb the energy of the firing pin. Dry firing causes direct metal to metal contact. The front of the cocking knob hitting the back of the bolt are the stop for the firing pin and everytime it's dry fired those two surfaces get hammered. I would shoot the rifle and see how it works then.

The extractor channel is the curved groove on the right of the chamber in the picture below and that's what a clean one looks like.

[Juice]

It does it when I only decock too.

[WeldonHunter]

My referb M44 sticks like it's Crazy Glued together while firing steel cased ammo. If I switch to Yugo surplus brass cased ammo or commercial Prvi Partizan ($$$$$) it's smooth as silk. I hate to fire steel case because it seems like one day the bolt will stick on a permanent basis. Shooting commercial ammo will send me to the poor house.

The brass cased Yugo doesn't seem to be available any more.

Y'all shoot safely Jim

Jim are you shooting the 1940-50s stuff that's being sold now? The leadcore stuff I mean. If so I've heard of and had a lot of sticking problems with it. If it's newer stuff then you may need to do some more cleaning like JYD suggested.

[Juice]

[desdem12]

That is the second one i have seen like that. Remember the other one Weldon? Who was it that had that?

[WeldonHunter]

That is the second one i have seen like that. Remember the other one Weldon? Who was it that had that?

Oh heck I can't remember. It looks ok though.

[desdem12]

Ya i think it was cut different. Maybe it was a wartime thing.

[W5BYR]

My referb M44 sticks like it's Crazy Glued together while firing steel cased ammo. If I switch to Yugo surplus brass cased ammo or commercial Prvi Partizan ($$$$$) it's smooth as silk. I hate to fire steel case because it seems like one day the bolt will stick on a permanent basis. Shooting commercial ammo will send me to the poor house.

The brass cased Yugo doesn't seem to be available any more.

Y'all shoot safely Jim

Jim are you shooting the 1940-50s stuff that's being sold now? The leadcore stuff I mean. If so I've heard of and had a lot of sticking problems with it. If it's newer stuff then you may need to do some more cleaning like JYD suggested.

The biggest offender is bxn 68 silver tip Chechoslovakia manufacture. Looks to be high quality, boxed almost like commercial ammo but obviously surplus.

For what it's worth the M44 chamber has been repeatedly cleaned, scrubbed with oversize brass bore brush using hot water, soap, solvent, WD40 and steel wool. Electric drill with shotgun cleaning rod, repeat. Based on what I see using a clean patch after an overnight soak in GI bore cleaner it is spotless. Again, firing brass case ammo is silky smooth while steel case ammo locks up the action tighter than Dick's hatband.

Y'all shoot safely Jim

[Junk Yard Dog]

That Czech ammo is lacquer coated steel and yes, this stuff is the number one offender as some of that lacquer will transfer to the chamber walls. I shot seven cases of this stuff years back, still have a few cases left, it's pretty good shooting ammo if you clean the chamber .

[millman]

The OP does not have sticky bolt. He said he had not fired it. Put grease on the cocking cam sufaces. This will help to smooth things out.