The Russian Mosin Nagant Forum

Hi there, I have a question about a recently purchased (my first) 91/30 mosin. I have the seemingly common problem where I have to hit the bolt pretty hard to get it to close. I don't believe headspace is the issue since I have already fired about 20 rounds through it and everything seemed fine. I was originally thinking it was the extractor, because after slamming a couple rounds into the chamber, the lower half of the extractor would be covered with a thin coating of the copper from the case. I removed the extractor and out of curiosity, I tried to chamber a round without the extractor in the bolt face, and even then I would still have to slam it shut sometimes (it would close smoothly occasionally). Sometimes it would work if I would open and close the bolt again while the bolt was still in the chamber. I also don't think there is a burr in the chamber since the casings don't have large scratches in them like some people have reported. I'll also add that opening the bolt after firing is not a problem (no "sticky bolt"). Does anyone have any ideas? Should I consider ordering a new bolt face with an extractor? Thanks!

Got any friends with a Mosin? If so borrow their bolt and see if the problem continues. If you change any bolt parts remember to reheadspace the rifle before firing. This is a hard question to answer without the rifle in hand.

Just some wild guesses...
Is the edge of the bolt face bent or nicked in a way that would bind against the back of the case? Lacquer coated rounds might not feed smoothly.

Junk Yard Dog wrote:Got any friends with a Mosin? If so borrow their bolt and see if the problem continues. If you change any bolt parts remember to reheadspace the rifle before firing. This is a hard question to answer without the rifle in hand.

I don't, but I will keep this in mind, thanks.

soylentblue wrote:Just some wild guesses...
Is the edge of the bolt face bent or nicked in a way that would bind against the back of the case? Lacquer coated rounds might not feed smoothly.

Ah, I bet this may have something to do with it since I still had trouble closing the bolt even without the extractor installed. I'll check it out, thanks.

I agree with JYD. Go to Liberty Tree and pick up another bolt head and try that out if you don't know anyone with a Mosin. Always good to have some parts like that laying around anyway. Same thing though. Check out headspace any time you change any bolt parts.