Is this pitting on the bolt head?

[Themosinkid95]

Pitting on barrels of guns that went to war is very common. There is pitting from being left to the elements as well as pitting from blood. You are likely to find both on an old war horse.

You're kidding about the blood right?

[desdem12]

Absolutely not. These are weapons of war and as such their owners were shot sometimes and they bled on the rifles. Blood is highly corrosive on these and leaves distinct pitting usually. There is a dark history to a lot of these weapons and most have been to one fornt or the other.

[Greasemonkey]

Here is a perfect example of a pitted receiver, I was told it's a strong possibility it's blood pitted. It's a Finn capture.

[desdem12]

I would say that is blood pitting on that one. I was looking over some M24/47s at a gun store. One had pitting like that on one side of the reciever and there was a blood stain on the stock to match the spot on the reciever.

[Greasemonkey]

Almost all exposed metal it like that, the barrel has some under the handguard, end of the barrel and front sight much the same way. I think at some point the rear sight, magazine and stock were changed by the Finn's. Strange thing is the bore didn't suffer the same fate

A blood stain on the stock, now that is a little eerie.

[Sgt. Rob]

Greasemonkey - does anything on the metal look like possible shrapnel damage or scrapes? Looking like that, the holder had to have been evicerated!

Semper Fi, Rob

[Greasemonkey]

Greasemonkey - does anything on the metal look like possible shrapnel damage or scrapes? Looking like that, the holder had to have been evicerated!

Semper Fi, Rob

Evicerated!

No, no shrapnel/metal damage I have found, I have another that has barrel shrapnel damage, but not on this one. It is a M91/30 in a 2 piece Finn stock/handguard with Civil Guard numbers.

[Sgt. Rob]

That one sounds interesting, was it posted recently? I seem to remember seeing a post not too long ago showing possible battle damaged Mosins.

Semper Fi, Rob

[Greasemonkey]

Sgt. Rob, here a the link with my '39 Finn capture with shrapnel damage http://www.russian-mosin-nagant-forum.c ... f=5&t=2202



What would gas cutting/pitting look like on a Mosin bolt, would it even be possible? Just curious.

[Sgt. Rob]

Any gas cutting from escaping gas would more then likely be at the rim area on the bolt face. That being said I have never seen it in person, nor heard of it on a Mosin. It usually seems to happen on semi auto actions?

Semper Fi, Rob

[Junk Yard Dog]

That rifle could have been lying amongst a pile of the former owners entrails for days or weeks until it was a putrid mess and the corrosive body fluids started to eat into the steel. Blood is very bad for firearms, much worse than water or even corrosive primer residue. Primer salts need moisture to start their work, but blood already has both the salt and the moisture and higher levels of salt that found in the primers. It's also viscous and will tend to stay were it splatters on the metal rather than spread like water, it eats into the metal in the patterns of it's splatter, and eats like acid. Stops eating when it dries out, starts again when moisture returns. Reminds me of photos of battlefields after the states war battles, body's blown to pieces and the rifles laying next to them, or on top of them. Most milsurps have a dark and bloody past with the possibility of many bodies on them.

[mosinmike17]

Brutal. I came on to find out if mine was catching because of the bolt head and caught this..now I'm not going to complain about my small piece of steel having a dent.

Question: is that catching really bad when you load it up?

[desdem12]

Your bolt head has a dent? That could be not good if it catches the rims everytime. I probably would replace it.