The Russian Mosin Nagant Forum

So I've been cleaning away for most the day. Patches are now coming out clear. This barrel is 124 years old and I'm concerned about putting rounds through it. She has strong rifling but I think the pitting is an issue. If anyone could give me their feedback on shoot or no shoot, I'd appreciate it.

She is counter bored, I would say about a 1/4" maybe a bit less.

Shoot it.

Alright Millman! I'll bring ya back some footage!

That doesn't even qualify as pitting compared to some of the dark bores I have shot in the past. Pits in the bore make cleaning a pain in the ass because they hold crud, but as most tend to be down in the grooves they have little impact on the accuracy, or safety. Wear at either end of the bore is what destroys accuracy, muzzle and throat erosion. Shoot it, you have gotten a nice NO-GO headspace gauge off eBay or Brownells and checked the headspace right?

Junk Yard Dog wrote:Shoot it, you have gotten a nice NO-GO headspace gauge off eBay or Brownells and checked the headspace right?

No I did not, I sent it to my gunsmith/Chief Engineer(Owns a handful of Mosins) and he told me the bolt action is great. I didn't think the NO-GO was a wise purchase only owning 1 Mosin. I will make sure to ask him if that was something he looked at. If not I'm sure he has the gauges. If you chamber a round and there is no play in the bolt is that considered the same? I understand the dangers associated, is that the only method to test head-space?

I just spoke with him, Head Space was a "GO"

After you shot and clean, give us some more photos. It might just get to looking better.

SA1911a1 wrote:After you shot and clean, give us some more photos. It might just get to looking better.

Yes Sir!

As my late Uncle always used to say "Giddyuppp Sumbitch!!!"

Shoot 2 rounds thru it and then look at the bore. Prepare to be amazed. Mucho fino ammo can !

Shoot one round alone and check firing pin strike centered and not too deep and check cartridge for splits or wrinkles. Make sure primer is not swelled up too much after firing. Load two shells if all is right and see if she will feed right. If all goes well take and shoot her hot and clean again with wet patch using whatever you prefer. Brush and check the bore then after another wet patch. She should burnish forward from the chamber to the muzzle riding the rifling cleaner as you go. Where those imperfections are between the rifling grooves may either fill up a bit like Jim said and make it a bitch to clean in the future and get clean patches or they may kind of go away a bit. Time and shooting will give you that answer. I have found the older barrels seem to have tougher steel to my thinking and I know not why to be honest. Maybe all the heat and use they have gotten over the years has made them just seem tougher? Good Luck and enjoy! Bill

I have an M44 Mosin Nagant and a VZ 24 Czech Mauser that have bores just like that, maybe worse. As long as the checks suggested above were done and it passed it should be fine. Both of mine are fairly accurate and the more you shoot it the smoother that pitting will become. I use the VZ 24 for deer hunting in the same condition it came from the arsenal and it's dropped all three deer I've shot at where they stood. It tends to shot high with surplus ammo but I use 170gr Remington Core-Lokt for hunting and it seems to like that. Coming up with that grain weight round was a fluke because it's all they had at the Big 5 when I bought these rifles in 1999.

Almost_Samurai wrote:

Junk Yard Dog wrote:Shoot it, you have gotten a nice NO-GO headspace gauge off eBay or Brownells and checked the headspace right?

No I did not, I sent it to my gunsmith/Chief Engineer(Owns a handful of Mosins) and he told me the bolt action is great. I didn't think the NO-GO was a wise purchase only owning 1 Mosin. I will make sure to ask him if that was something he looked at. If not I'm sure he has the gauges. If you chamber a round and there is no play in the bolt is that considered the same? I understand the dangers associated, is that the only method to test head-space?

No it is not.


Owning one Mosin is like owning two rabbits.

entropy wrote:Owning one Mosin is like owning two rabbits.

I have no interest in owning a rabbit, let alone 2....
Unsure what that means.

I watched a few more videos on Head Space, understand better now. Thanks.

Though the reproductive rate of Mosins in the average milsurp owner's safe has slowed due to prices going up,there's virtually no such thing as owning one Mosin Nagant.

Almost_Samurai wrote:

Junk Yard Dog wrote:Shoot it, you have gotten a nice NO-GO headspace gauge off eBay or Brownells and checked the headspace right?

No I did not, I sent it to my gunsmith/Chief Engineer(Owns a handful of Mosins) and he told me the bolt action is great. I didn't think the NO-GO was a wise purchase only owning 1 Mosin. I will make sure to ask him if that was something he looked at. If not I'm sure he has the gauges. If you chamber a round and there is no play in the bolt is that considered the same? I understand the dangers associated, is that the only method to test head-space?

No, that is not a way to test headspace at all, Mosin bolts are designed to be a bit loose so mud and ice will not jam them. The wobble they have is not in the area that matters. Two ways I know to test headspace, using a correct headspace gauge, and these are not that expenive, my Klein lineman side cutters cost more than a simple No-Go headspace gauge. The second way is to tie the rifle to a big tire, tie a string to the trigger, run the string behind something heavy you will be hiding behind, with the rifle pointed down range pull the trigger on a live round using the string. If the rifle doesn't blow up you examine the fired cartridge case for signs of stretching. You can get killed screwing around firing rifles older than most people grandparents, and used in one or more wars. One way to help reduce the possibility of death by exploding rifle is to perform the basic safety checks such as headspace no matter if you have a hundred rifles in that caliber or one. You take the rifle down and closely eyeball high stress areas such as the receiver ring were the barrel screws in to look for streee cracks, any loose or missing parts, cracks in the wood. Then you cock the unloded rifle, and drop it on it's buttplate down on something like a piece of wood that will not mar the metal. The idea here is to see if the shock of dropping onto the plate from 4-6" is enough to get the sear to release, it shouldn't be. Never economize on safety equipment, buy fewer rifles if you have to, but get the gauges and use them to peridicaly check the headspace.

Junk Yard Dog wrote:Then you cock the unloded rifle, and drop it on it's buttplate down on something like a piece of wood that will not mar the metal. The idea here is to see if the shock of dropping onto the plate from 4-6" is enough to get the sear to release, it shouldn't be.

Thank you for this detailed explanation.... Option 2 sounds like something you'd see in an old cartoon

I highlighted your comment, I understand cocking the unloaded rifle and dropping it but what is the Sear??

You mean dropping it from that height to make sure it doesn't actuate the firing pin??

The sear is the spring attached to the trigger that holds the firing pin back on the cocked position. When you pull the trigger the sear moves down and releases the firing pin. Bang. The drop test tells you if the sear is worn or damaged in such a way that the rife will fire when subjected to a bump..

Alright, I ordered the head space gauge. To quote a fellow shipmate "I'm new! I'm New! I don't know what to do!!"
Although it was already checked, it wasn't by me and I better double down... The range will have to wait a bit longer but I may live a bit longer as well

I don't know how you can collect more than one of these things with all the detail/time/effort that goes into range time with one

Let us know how your range trip goes