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Disassembly
and Cleaning
When you get a Mosin you need
to know how to disassemble it and do a complete initial cleaning.
Taking the Mosin apart is easy and can be accomplished with just a
screw driver. Remember, you are not a trained gun smith nor do you or I
play one on TV. and we darn sure didn't stay in a Holiday Inn Express
last night! So, what we will be doing is performing field maintenance.
Although some of you may be very experienced in fixing up firearms, try
to remember that these rifles are old and age is not kind to metal or
wood. A 50 year old stock is going to be as dry as firewood and very
brittle. Forcing out a band spring can be all it takes to crack the
stock. Likewise, a cross bolt that is been in the rifle for 50 years
may be stressed just enough to snap. On war time produced rifles, the
metal can be of lesser quality.
Note: Read Everything On This
Page!!!
Lets talk about what needs to
be disassembled.
First
of all there is no reason to mess with the cross bolt or barrel band
springs. Attempting to remove the cross bolt can result in its
breaking. Removing the band springs can result in a cracked stock if
not done correctly. We have beat this to death so lets move on...
To do a good inspection and
cleaning, you will need to get the metal pieces separated from the wood
pieces. Some of the instructions that follow will be model dependent so
keep that in mind. Depending on the model, the pieces-parts disassemble
differently. For now we will discuss the process in generic terms. The
first thing you do when ever you pick up a rifle is to open the bolt
and inspect the chamber to ensure it is not loaded! Each and every time
you pick it up, you open the bolt, hold the rifle up so that you can
see into the chamber (tilted slightly and at a 45 degree angle) and
visually check the chamber. After you have satisfied yourself that it
is not loaded, you grab the rear of the open bolt while pressing on the
trigger and pull it back and out of the receiver.
Set the
bolt aside. At this time, you will remove the hand guard. Remember I
said some information is model specific? No? Well pay attention dammit!
I said that and if you read this article over you will see where I said
it. No, don't start reading it over now! Take my word for it...anyways,
here's the deal. If your rifle is a Model 1891, Model 24 or other M91
variant, it will have different barrel bands than the more modern
Mosins. The barrel bands will have a screw in them. Now here's the
deal, these screws are backwards from normal screws. To loosen them,
you need to turn them clockwise. Stop! Don't try to think about it now,
just pay attention...that means that they unscrew in the opposite
direction a screw would normally unscrew. Why is this important?
Because I get all this mail from folks who break their band screws. Do
not break your band screw! It is embarrassing and finding a new barrel
band can be darned difficult. Another thing, these barrel bands on the
M91 type rifles were often pinned to keep the bands from creeping
forward under recoil. Check to see if there is a pin or tiny screw
inserted next to the barrel band and remove that. If it is a screw,
this screw will unscrew in the normal fashion. Once you have the barrel
bands unscrewed just enough to slide forward, remove them. Oh, did I
mention that if your rifle has a cleaning rod to go ahead and remove
that first? No? Well I didn't and I was just trying to see who was
paying attention! After you remove the barrel bands, remove the hand
guard and set it aside. Never mind gawking at the naked barrel, you
have work to do and there is plenty of time to do that later!
Now, about barrel bands and
later model Mosins...Again this will be model specific. On converted
Dragoons, carbines, 91/30's and later constructed Mosins of other types
like the 91/59 and 91/38, the barrel bands are held in place by the
band springs which are under them and recessed slightly in the wood.
They push up against the barrel bands to keep them tensioned so that
they hold the hand guard on. They also like to collect all kinds of
crap underneath them which makes it hard to depress them to remove the
barrel bands. Your first task is to determine how much crap is under
there and remove it. Push down on the band spring. Push hard because
this isn't a job for the wimpy! If it resists depressing, get your self
some round tooth picks and a syringe filled with hot water. Grab the
one your significant other's or mom's that she uses in the kitchen.
Just don't let her find out about it! Inject a strong stream of hot
water under the barrel bands. Why hot water? Well, it will help to
dissolve grease and cosmoline and will flush out loose crap. It will
also dry faster and be less prone to corrode the band spring. Now, take
your tooth pick and dig around as best you can under the spring and
pick that crud out of there. Once you are satisfied you got all you
that you can, try depressing the spring again. It should depress enough
to allow you to slip the barrel band over it. If it doesn't, we go to
plan B. I didn't tell you about plan B yet you say...well of course I
didn't because everybody knows that B comes after A and we weren't
there yet!
Plan B is the screw driver in
the cleaning rod trick and it takes a little finesse to keep from
scratching the heck out of your stock. First, obtain a flat blade screw
driver no wider than the cleaning rod channel. Turn your rifle upside
down so that you are looking down at the cleaning rod channel. What's a
cleaning rod channel? Its the slot were your cleaning rod was under the
stock. Take your screw driver and a couple of cleaning patches. Fold
the patches over the tip of the screw driver and insert the screw
driver behind the barrel band between it and the wood of the stock
behind the rear band. Do not force it! Wiggle the barrel band far
enough forward to get the screw driver behind it. Now, this takes some
talent because you are going to balance the rifle in your lap, while
holding down the band spring with one hand and using the screw driver
with the other to ease the band forward over the band spring. You need
to do this in stages. Pry a little bit as you press down and then while
still pressing down, push the opposite side of the band so that it does
not bind on an angle. Keeping this up, gently walk the band over the
band spring. I say gently, but realize that this will take a little
force because what you will be doing is spreading the band spring a
little. If you were paying attention to what you are doing, you would
have noticed that the band spring is not connected underneath therefore
it can spread apart. Again, don't mess up your stock while you are
doing this!
You can do the same thing
with the front band. Now, remember I mentioned model specific
differences? No? Well wake up! I did and here is another one. You
cannot completely remove the barrel bands on a M44 Carbine. Don't try
and as a matter of fact don't even think about it and don't write to me
asking how to take the bayo mount/front sight assembly off to do so
because that is even a dumber idea! Just slide the darned things down
towards the bayo mount so you can remove the hand guard.
Now
that we have the hand guard off, we can turn our attention to
separating the metal from the wood. Look at your rifle from the top.
See that area where the bolt was? At the very rear of that area as you
look down, you should see a screw head sticking out of the tang. You
can't see the screw because the bolt is in the way? I thought I told
you to remove the bolt? Failure to follow instructions is the sign of a
weak mind so next time pay attention. Now go ahead and remove the bolt
and look down there.
Using a larger flat blade
screw driver, remove this bolt. Turn the rifle over. Just in front of
the magazine, you will see another big old screw head. Remove this
screw but make sure you are holding on to the barreled receiver (the
metal stuff) because the barrel and receiver may just drop right out in
your hand.
However it may not until you
grab hold of the magazine and give it a sharp pull to remove it.
After
that, the barreled receiver should just drop right out but don't let
it! Remove it slowly because there just might be shims in there that
you need to note where they were.
Most
likely they will be under the pillar or the tang. If there was a shim
in the pillar area, note if it was behind the pillar or under the
pillar with the bolt that you took out running through it. Set these
aside and don't loose them because I won't be telling you how to make
new ones in this article. After you have removed the metal from the
wood, set the wood aside for a minute because we are going to check out
the metal. Start at one end and look for signs of active rust. Active
rust will be brown or reddish in color. Check the receiver part
(everything that is not your barrel) for cracks or deformities. Inspect
the barrel for deep pitting and bulges. Deep pitting is anything that
is deeper than your little brother's acne scars. Anything else should
be checked by a gun smith. Of course a bulged barrel means that you
have a wall hanger. After inspecting the outside of the receiver, it is
time to get down to cleaning it and the barrel. See the Cleaning
article.
Dave's Bolt Disassembly Article
Before
attempting any type of activity with a firearm you must verify that the
firearm is unloaded and safe to handle. Be certain that both the
chamber and magazine are empty. Check again. It is also an excellent
idea to handle firearms in an area without access to ammunition so that
accidents can be avoided. Even if you have verified that the firearm is
not loaded, always assume that it is loaded and ready to fire and
handle it appropriately.
In the case of military surplus firearms, a thorough check by a
qualified gunsmith is critical prior to using the firearm for the first
time. The procedures and opinions presented in this article are not
meant to take the place of a professional gunsmith's services and are
presented only for the education of the reader.
After
assembling the bolt of a Mosin Nagant firearm it is extremely important
to verify firing pin protrusion before firing. A tool is
available that performs this function form most distributors (see photo
and comments below in the text).
The Mosin Nagant bolt is
frequently referred to by the uninitiated as over-complicated, poorly
designed, roughly finished or just plain ugly. I must admit that,
before becoming familiar with the Mosin Nagant series of rifles and
their history, I too considered the bolt to be old fashioned and unsafe
looking. The simple fact was that I had not learned to appreciate the
bolt design for what it is – an incredibly efficient, robust design
that is actually simple and easy to understand. This unusual
organization of seven pieces of steel has withstood the test of time,
battle and extraordinary political change.
In addition, unlike many
parts of the Mosin Nagant series of rifles, the bolt has remained
almost exactly the same – no matter if the firearm is an 1895 M91 or a
mid-1950’s M44. Although aesthetic differences do exist between the
various manufacturers, what other firearm design can claim a bolt
design that remained essentially unchanged through its entire service
life – of approximately 100 years! By unchanged I mean that nearly* any
piece of the Mosin Nagant bolt can be interchanged without modification
with a bolt from another Mosin Nagant rifle.
*NOTE: Although bolt heads
can be interchanged, the rifle’s headspace must be verified after such
a change is made. In addition, because bolt heads are not generally
marked with identifying numbers to match them to a specific receiver,
it is critical to have the firearm’s headspace checked by a
professional before firing a Mosin Nagant for the first time. This is
true even if the bolt body has a stamped serial number matching it to
the receiver. Remember, these rifles have been around for a long time
and parts may have been swapped (perhaps many times) before you
received the firearm. Safety first!
The
bolt is made up of seven individual pieces:
1) Cocking piece
2) Bolt body (also called the
bolt handle)
3)
Firing pin
4) Main spring
5) Connecting bar
6) Bolt head and extractor (2
pieces)
SAFETY
CHECK!
Take
it from someone that learned the hard way - the firing pin is under
considerable spring pressure. If the firing pin is unscrewed from the
cocking piece without being held in place, it may (will) fly in an
unpredictable direction and cause damage to itself, you, or a
bystander. Follow the directions below carefully and wear eye
protection.
Never disassemble more than one bolt at a time. This will prevent the
interchanging of parts, particularly bolt heads.
Disassembly
There are a number of methods
to disassemble the Mosin Nagant bolt, all of which work and each of
which has its advantages and disadvantages. The method I use does have
an element of risk, in that the firing pin can be broken when the
spring is compressed and the cocking piece is removed. Read the entire
set of instructions carefully – if you are not comfortable with each
step – and the possibility of breaking a firing pin if your hands slip
(in Step 5), do not attempt this procedure.
STEP 1: While
holding the bolt in your left hand as shown above, grip the cocking
piece with your right hand and pull it toward you slightly. Turn the
cocking piece counterclockwise ¼ turn and then gently let the cocking
piece move away from you. Keep the bolt head pointing upward or it
could fall off of the bolt body!
STEP 2: The
bolt should now look like this. I call this the bolt's "fired
position". Continue to hold the bolt head end upward!
STEP 3:
Hold the bolt as shown and pull the bolt head and connecting bar away
from the bolt body.
STEP
4: Put the bolt head and connecting bar aside. Now
for the hard part…
STEP 5:
This is where you can break the firing pin. The photo above shows
several “dimples” in my kitchen table that were created when I took the
photography for this article. My wife does not know where these dimples
came from and blames the kids. Please do not tell her the true story.
Any HARDWOOD surface will suffice for this step, but be thoughtful of
your marriage when selecting the “right spot”. Do not use metal – the
firing pin will skid and (possibly) break. Softwood will not support
the pressure and the firing pin will probably sink into it like a nail
(and possibly break).
While holding the bolt body
in your left hand as shown, maintaining a perfect 90 degree angle from
the hardwood surface, push down on the bolt body, thereby compressing
the spring, until you can turn the cocking piece in a counterclockwise
direction without hitting the bolt body. This is a somewhat awkward
procedure and considerable downward pressure on the bolt body is
necessary.
Continue turning the cocking
piece in a counterclockwise direction until you can remove it from the
firing pin. SLOWLY raise your left hand and gradually release the
spring pressure on the firing pin. When the pressure has been
completely released, remove the firing pin and spring from the bolt
body.
Hey –
you did it!
Clean all of the parts while
you have them apart, with special care not to forget the inside of the
bolt body and the inside of the bolt head. Lightly lubricate the firing
pin, spring and internal surfaces; however, try not to get any oil on
the exterior of the bolt body. Your hands might slip later if you do…..
Assembly
STEP
6: Put the spring back on to the firing pin and
insert both (as shown above) into the bolt body.
STEP 7:
As in step five, while holding the bolt body in your left hand as
shown, and while maintaining a perfect 90 degree angle from the
hardwood surface, push down on the bolt body and install the cocking
piece onto the firing pin by turning the cocking piece in a clockwise
direction. After you have turned the cocking piece clockwise three full
revolutions onto the threads, SLOWLY raise your left hand and gradually
release the spring pressure on the firing pin.
STEP 8:
SAFETY
CHECK!
Keep
the firing pin pointed away from anything important (such as your face)
and wear eye protection. I have mistakenly turned the firing pin in the
wrong direction in step 8, and it will fly off in a random direction if
you do this. Safety first!
Hold the bolt as shown above,
and using the connecting bar as a wrench (as shown above), turn the
firing pin CLOCKWISE until….
STEP 9:
…the rear of the firing pin is flush with the cocking piece and the
index mark is aligned, as shown above. Be certain that the cocking
piece is in its “fired” position (turned 1/4 turn counterclockwise; see
step #2). If necessary, adjust the firing pin again using the
connecting bar as a wrench (see step #8).
STEP 10:
Put the bolt body assembly aside for a moment and pick up the
connecting bar and bolt head. While holding them as shown above, slide
the bolt head on to the end of the connecting bar…
STEP 11:
…and turn it ¼ turn counterclockwise to the position shown above.
STEP 12:
While holding the bolt body assembly in your left hand and the
connecting bar/bolt head in your right hand as shown above, slide the
connecting bar/bolt head onto the bolt body. Make certain that the
connecting bar’s left end mates with the “nub” (cocking notch) on the
cocking piece.
STEP 13:
This is what you should end up with. While holding the bolt head and
connecting bar in place on the bolt body…
STEP 14:
…rotate the entire assembly and hold it as shown above. Grasp the
cocking piece in your right hand, and while continuing to hold the bolt
head in place, pull the cocking piece toward you and simultaneously
rotate it ¼ turn clockwise…
STEP 15:
…until it clicks into place as shown above.
You have successfully
assembled the bolt!
SAFETY
CHECK!
Be
certain to check the firing pin protrusion using the screwdriver /
protrusion tool found in a standard Mosin Nagant Cleaning
kit. If you do not have this tool, the cleaning kit is well
worth the money and can be obtained from most of the better known
Internet firearms vendors. Failure to check firing pin
protrusion can result in insufficient protrusion and the
awful "click........". Excessive firing pin protrusion can
result in pierced primers and a sudden release of high pressure gas
into the receiver. Both situations are extremely dangerous
and can cause severe injury or death to you and
bystanders.
A
future article will explore the details of checking firing pin
protrusion; however, a brief summary is necessary. First,
verify that the bolt is in its "fired" position and that the firing pin
is flush with the cocking piece (see step 2, above). The
index marks must be aligned.
Second,
as shown below, the firing pin must (at least) touch the top
of the milled out area below the number "75" on the protrusion
gauge. If it does not, firing pin protrusion is
insufficient. Be certain that there is no gap between the
bolt head and bolt body (hold them together) when performing this test.
Finally, the firing pin must *not*
touch the top of the milled out area under the number "95".
If it does, firing pin protrusion is excessive.
Although it is possible to
adjust firing protrusion in the field, a matched bolt should not have
this problem, assuming the firing pin and the cocking piece are flush
and the index marks are aligned. A bolt failing the
protrusion test under these circumstances is suspect and must be
checked by a qualified gunsmith.
Bottom line: Be
safe and use common sense!
The
links section of the site contains many vendors selling protrusion
gauges; however, feel free to email me if you cannot locate a vendor
selling them. I will email you a list.
Dave/Col9
collector9@usa.net
Cleaning Your Mosin
Now that you have
successfully disassembled your Mosin, you are ready to clean it. You
don't have it disassembled yet? Well go back and do it and make sure
you read the article and not just go and try pulling it apart on your
own! There are reasons for this other than increasing my page hits!
Now, for the rest of you that
have properly disassembled your Mosin, lets talk about cleaning it.
First of all, we want to clean it while preserving its collectable
status. Using improper cleaning methods can destroy its value as a
historic firearm. What do you mean its not historic because its just
another old M44? Don't get me started! Just go look in your gun safe or
closet and tell me how many 1903 Springfield rifles are in there or how
many Mausers with all matching numbers and Waffenampt stamps? Probably
not a heck of a lot because you can't find them any more. There were
millions made and they were all either placed in collections or messed
up and destroyed through home workshop projects and improper cleaning.
Your M44 might be cheap rifle today but twenty years from now, it could
be one of a hand full on the open market when you get ready to sell it
for the money to pay your nursing home bill! Even though it might be
mismatched, if you knew your Mosin history, you would know that when it
comes to Mosins, they are expected to be mismatched. Now where the heck
was I? Oh, yes...cleaning and preserving the rifle's value. The first
rule of thumb is (repeat after me...) Do No Harm. Do not do anything
that will harm the finish of the rifle, it's markings or stock
cartouches. Try to keep the original finish intact if at all possible.
This means we need to select cleaning materials that are
non-destructive.
So
there you are with all of your Mosin parts spread all over the kitchen
table and you are getting nasty looks from your significant other or
parent. Hopefully you remembered to put a drop cloth or news papers
down first! If not, don't blame me because I am not responsible for
your having your head up your forth point of contact! Now, lets
approach what materials we will need based on what we need to clean.
For the stock, you will need a non-abrasive, non-volatile cleaning
product that will not remove the finish from your stock. Since finishes
are either oil based or alcohol based, we need something that will not
contain petroleum products or alcohol. I like to use Orange Clean or
any other citrus based cleaner. It will cut the grease and cosmo
without harming the finish. You will need plenty of rags or paper
towels and plenty of elbow grease to get the gunk off. For the metal,
you need a good degreaser like break cleaner or Gun Scrubber. You also
need some a solvent like paint thinner, turpentine or good old
fashioned kerosene. Don't know where to buy kerosene? Look no farther
than your corner gas station as diesel fuel is nothing more than
upwardly mobile or refined kerosene. Once you have your cleaning
products assembled, you can get started on the cleaning.
The stock, spray an area of
the stock with your citrus cleaner and remove the larger portion of
crud and cosmolene. Methodically cover the the entire stock and get the
major crud off and then go back and clean the rest and pay attention to
getting the crud from around the outside of the cross bolt and out of
the band spring inlets. Use a toothpick to for this job as it won't
harm the finish. Allow the stock to dry.
While the stock is drying,
spray the receiver and barrel as well as the magazine assembly inside
and out with a degreaser. Wipe down the outside and then run a cleaning
rod with a patch through the barrel to push the crud out of there. Go
back over the inside and outside of the receiver with your degreaser
and get the film off from it. Use your break cleaner to spray into the
feeder/interrupter assembly to clean that. If you are really
adventurous, you could disassemble that and the trigger assembly and
clean these parts separately. Soak a patch in your break cleaner and
run it through the bore to clean the residue out of there. Now, grab
your chamber brush...what? You mean you don't have a chamber brush?
Well go get one because you are going to need it. Did you read my list
of Mosin tools? While you are at it, if you don't have one already, dig
out your three piece cleaning rod and attach the chamber brush to just
the handle piece as you would attach a jag for pistol cleaning. Squirt
a health amount of break cleaner into the chamber and scrub the heck
out of it with the chamber brush! Make sure the brush contacts every
nook and cranny in there. Concentrate on the locking ring area and the
chamber walls. When these rifles were placed in storage, they were
packed with cosmolene. Over the years that cosmolene dried out and
formed a nearly transparent film in the chamber. If you don't get that
film, it will cause you all kinds of hassles later on with extracting
rounds that are lacquer coated. When you are thinking it is clean,
scrub it some more and then finish off with your chamber brush
liberally soaked with Sweet's 7.62. I can't say enough about this
product. It is the best bore cleaner on the market and it does an
outstanding job on the chamber.
Now,
before you go to the fridge for your favorite beverage or pour yourself
a cup of coffee, get an old pan and fill it with solvent and toss your
bolt parts and magazine assembly in there and let them soak. Go ahead
and release the floor plate latch of the mag assembly and remove the
floor plate by pinching it like one of those spring clothespins. Dump
everything in th solvent. Go enjoy your coffee, smoke a butt or play
with mamma and get back here to finish up. Done already??? Heh, heh,
gettin' old huh? Well no matter...back to the bolt. All of those bolt
pieces are hollow from the bolt head to the bolt guide, the bolt body
and the cocking piece. That means that there are plenty of places for
crud to collect. Get yourself a small Phillips screw driver (star point
if you are from Podunk) and stick a patch on the end of it. Pull the
bolt head out of the solvent it was soaking in and stuff that patch
inside it and rotate it. You might have to get something to hook the
patch back out with. Give the bolt head a final squirt of break cleaner
(inside and out) and dry patch it. Do the same thing with the bolt
guide, bolt body and cocking piece. when you are done, the metal should
be dry and free of any oily or greasy film. Do the same thing
with the magazine assembly. Coat everything with a light coat of your
favorite gun oil. Pull the spring and firing pin out of the solvent and
spray them down with the break cleaner and wipe dry and coat with gun
oil too.
Now before you get all
excited and want to put everything back together again, don't forget to
clean the bore. Remember we only got the crud out but we didn't do any
serious cleaning. I like to start out by using Sweets and I run several
patches through to get out the last century's worth of copper fouling.
What? You said the dealer told you this rifle was un-issued? Yeah,
ok...if you want to believe that go ahead but trust me, use the Sweets.
You will be surprised at what comes out of your bore. Now if you look
down that puppy and it looks a little dark, I might suggest picking up
some J&B Bore Paste not to be confused with JB Weld!!!
Remember, J&B Bore Paste....are you
listening to me??? Quit thinking about getting your gun out to the
range and pay attention....J&B Bore Paste!
Use as directed and you will be happy you did. I have resurrected some
real sewer pipe bores with this stuff.
Now we are ready to put
everything back together so clean up your mess before you end up
sleeping in the garage and put your cleaning stuff away and go back
back to the Disassembling Your Mosin Article.
Reassembly
For reassembling the bolt see
Dave's article above.
OK...now, pick up your stock
and the barreled receiver. Hold the stock in a horizontal upright
position. If there were shims in there before, put them back to where
they were. Now pick up your receiver and lower it into the stock.
Turn the stock over
and put the magazine assembly back on.
OK...now, pick up your stock
and the barreled receiver. Hold the stock in a horizontal upright
position. If there were shims in there before, put them back to where
they were. Now pick up your receiver and lower it into the stock.
Don't forget to reattach the
floor plate. Make sure the mag housing is seated properly and pinch it
against the receiver assembly by squeezing it and the top of the
receiver with the stock in between and drop the mag housing bolt in and
hand tighten.
Now rotate the rifle right
side up and drop in the tang bolt and tighten with a screw driver and
go back and tighten the magazine bolt with a screw driver.
Now
you are ready to put the hand guard back on. Place the hand guard on
top of the barrel and line it up properly.
Take the rear barrel band
because it would be pretty dumb to put the front one on first and make
sure the joint is pointed down and slip it past the front band spring
and slide it back to rear and over the rear band spring until it clicks
into place.
Now do the front band.
Remember
the model specific stuff we mentioned before? On your M91, slide the
rear band on with the crack pointed down and the screw head on the
right side of the barrel as you are looking down range. Slide it all
the way back and replace the pin or screw you removed earlier. Don't
tighten it yet. Do the same with the front band. You did remember to
put the hand guard on first didn't you? Now you know why I said not to
tighten it yet! Now, you can tighten the rear band by turning the screw
which way? Well...I'm waiting? Don't look up there on the page, you
should know this by now! That's right...clockwise! Same goes with the
front band.
Now, replace the cleaning rod
and screw the darned thing in so it doesn't come snaking out of its
hidey-hole while you are shooting the rifle at the range!
When you are done with that,
you can reinsert the bolt by depressing the trigger and sliding the
bolt home.
Now....look at the table and
tell me if there any parts left over?
If there aren't, you are done! If there are, go to
the top of this page and start over.
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