How do mosin nagant?

**Shamash** · Posted On: 8/03/2010 4:42pm

I recently bought a second mosin nagant and cannot get it to chamber a round. I cleaned the chamber out but it hasn't helped. The model is a M91/30 and I'm trying to load a seller and Bellot 7.62x54 cartridge.

Does anyone have a remedy for this problem or should I take it to a gunsmith?

**joecos** · Posted On: 8/03/2010 5:02pm

There are some "experimental" Mosin's floating around that were chambered in .30-06, you might have ended up with one of those.

Edit:
You might also find this interesting, evidently there can be a state where cosmoline has dried into a varnish that you can't really see and can't get out with a bore brush, one of the posts in this calls for the use of a shotgun brush chucked into a drill to clean the chamber.

http://www.northeastshooters.com/vbu...-sticking-bolt

**Mr. Machette** · Posted On: 8/03/2010 6:19pm

Originally Posted by Shamash

I recently bought a second mosin nagant and cannot get it to chamber a round. I cleaned the chamber out but it hasn't helped. The model is a M91/30 and I'm trying to load a seller and Bellot 7.62x54 cartridge.

Does anyone have a remedy for this problem or should I take it to a gunsmith?

What is the country of origin? What markings are on the reciever? Does it have any import marks?

Also, since you may be describing a "head space" issue, I would definitely recommend taking it to a smith for a basic safety check.

**Don Gwinn** · Posted On: 8/04/2010 1:11am

Yes, take it to a gunsmith. Have him check the headspace. It would be odd if it were so far off that you couldn't chamber a round, but far from unheard-of.

To test the hardened cosmoline/varnish theory, it'd be nice to have a brass or aluminum sharp object--a butter knife would probably work, especially if you ground it narrow and sharper. Then see if you can scrape anything out of the chamber. If you get scrapings of brownish crap falling out, you need solvent and patience to get the rest out.

The closer you can come to chambering the round, the more likely it is to be a possible headspace issue. If the round won't go in, feels "sticky" or sticks far out of the chamber, it's more likely that there's something in the chamber blocking it. You should be able to see such an obstruction by removing the bolt and shining a light down the barrel, but you never know.

**joecos** · Posted On: 8/04/2010 11:59am

While you are at the gunsmith, make sure he checks to be sure the bolt matches the rest of the rifle. If you have (for example) a Russian weapon with a Bulgarian bolt it could cause headspace issues and the piece may not be safe to use at all.