The Russian Mosin Nagant Forum

So... I disassembled the 91/30 for the first time to do a big clean. I didn't mess with the bolt, just took it out sprayed it with a little windex, wiped it down and set it aside. I cleaned the rest of the rifle with no glitches.
The problem came when I hit the bolt with a little hoppes and went to wipe it down, it twisted to the "fired" position and "fell apart"so I figure what the heck it apart now I'll clean it up, so I did, I didn't take it apart and more than it already was - 3 pieces. Once clean dry, and oiled I put it back together as per the instructions, it re installed to the rifle as it should.
Now it seems more difficult to pull back, not really hard just like there is more spring tension than before. It was nice and smooth before and now it seems to take a little more muscle to cock. Did I mess something up? Could I have change the firing pin length wile fumbling to assemble it? Is there away to adjust the spring tension that I did accidentally? I don't have a tool to check firing pin length.

Any help would be appreciated.

As long as you have the connector rod in the right place and the bolt head in the right slots you shouold be ok. If you have a caliper you can adjust the pin depth with that if you have to. if you didn't adjust the depth it should be the same.

I think it would be really hard to notice the difference in spring pressure even if you turned it two or three full turns.

You can get the combination tool off Ebay for dirt cheap. I just mailed my spare one out to another member or I'd send it to you

If you think you may have turned it or not sure, I wouldn't fire it again until you can check it.

They come apart pretty easily, don't they?

Yeah they come alert alot easier than I expected, I don't think I turned it but I am just not sure, I did fumble with it for a bit and it could have turned but I doubt it would have been more than once but who knows I guess I'll order a tool tonight....

You are experiencing the same thing new owners of these guns (like me just a year ago) find out when they start to disassemble the world's most complicated bolt for the world's simplest rifle. Maybe this will help:

http://www.milsurps.com/content.php?r=2 ... y-Tutorial

There are a number of good videos on Youtube if you just search for "Mosin Nagant bolt." I'm sure you will get plenty of help on this forum. Good luck.

I did kind of the same thing with my first Mauser bolt. Fiddling with it and it went click. I jacked with that thing forever trying to get it apart. Posted the question on here. YouTube video was posted and had it back together right in under a minute.

ive got it back together and re installed in the rifle with the directions on this site and a little fiddling, it seems to be correct except that it seems to require more force to cock it, not way harder just ore than it was. ..

Without seeing it assembled, it is hard to tell why you are having trouble. All I can say is make sure the connector rod is properly connected to the cocking piece. Sometimes when you put the bolt back into the cocked position to install it in the rifle, the connector can slip over the guide on the cocking piece. When that happens, it is hard to the the bolt all the way back in the gun. When the bolt is cocked, is the firing pin flat head screw slot in line with the two marks on the face of the cocking piece?

tjtM38 wrote: When the bolt is cocked, is the firing pin flat head screw slot in line with the two marks on the face of the cocking piece?

Actually no, its a little bit off slightly, counter clockwise, maybe at 11:30 not much, but it was in line before.... can I just turn it clockwise a bit? Its in line when its not cocked.

Sounds like your firing pin is close to where it should be. Yes, you can adjust it slightly with just a screw driver in the cocked position, but firing pin protrusion should be checked with bolt decocked before you make any adjustment. The link I sent you tells you how to do this. There are also several youtube videos that explain it better than I can here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUtdEIAT7Lg

If it is at like 1130 then you are fine. it will line up when cocked or uncocked one or the other

yeah.. need the tool.

Once yo uget the tool you should mess around with the depth a little. You will find that there is only a couple of places that it can go. You will be able to tell after a while right off if it isn't right. But of course always check cause it doesn't hurt to. The more attention you pay to your new baby the more you will learn about her. Don't be afraid to take her apart cause it is next to impossible to hurt these. Just pay attention to houw it comes apart and it will go together the opposite of that. if you run into troubles there are youtube vids and of course we are here to help. So no worries runs like if you didn't turn your pin then it should be in the dame place and be close to the marks on the back of the cocking piece. It doesn't have to line up exactly but be close.

When I was purchasing my Mosin I took the bolt out to check its bore. I twisted the bolt and it fell into 3 pieces. It took the guy 20 minutes and 2 YouTube videos to fix. I havent tried it myself.

It isn't to bad at all. When you take out the bolt hold it with the cocking nob towards the floor and then turn it to safety while holding the bolt head in place with the other hand. You will then be able to take the bolt head off. Watch for the teet that goes into the spot where the handle is. make note. Then watch for where the connector rod goes. If it is one that has wings then make sure it is under those if not make sure it is in the right spot. No biggy. The other parts i will not go into here but they are equaly easy.

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Dolk