[tphelon10]

Hey guys, I'm planning on picking up a Mosin here fairly soon and I'm just wondering if it's gonna be necessary to refinish it. I'm not planning on making it a show rifle, but I would like it to look halfway decent and last for quite awhile. The ones I'm looking at are arsenal refurbished to "excellent condition" but I'm not sure of the quality of the Russian post WWII wood/metal finish. Pics of your rifles either refinished or stock would be helpful.

[VTD]

Hey guys, I'm planning on picking up a Mosin here fairly soon and I'm just wondering if it's gonna be necessary to refinish it. I'm not planning on making it a show rifle, but I would like it to look halfway decent and last for quite awhile. The ones I'm looking at are arsenal refurbished to "excellent condition" but I'm not sure of the quality of the Russian post WWII wood/metal finish. Pics of your rifles either refinished or stock would be helpful.

I'll see if I can take a mosin family photo for you tomorrow.

My m38 looks great. The 91/30 sniper repro and 91/30 don't look fantastic but I'm not worried about refinishing them either.

[MontanaLon]

before:





after:







From the looks of it when I got it she had seen hard use and went back to the arsenal dirty. "Arsenal refinished" apparently meant knocking most of the accumulated crud off, dipping in cosmoline, and then dipping in shellac, in that order.

Seriously it had shellac over cosmoline in more than one place though it may have been from a prior "arsenal refinish" than the one that landed it at my door. I didn't do any sanding, I wanted to preserve the multitude of cartouches and dings and dents in the stock. It has character. The most abrasive thing I did to it was steel wool. Used paint stripper to cut the shellac and cosmoline then mineral spirits to draw out the oil in the wood. Helps to let the sun heat it up as well to pull the oil out.

I am happy with it. It isn't a show piece but I don't think Mosin were ever meant to be. But it also isn't a grungy piece of junk either.

[rasputin]

Really, you can just do what you want. Have fun with it. I don't have all that much experience refinishing wood. I kinda' like "tuning up" up the wood a bit - see if I can bring out the grain. I only slightly refinished the stocks on my Mosin and SKS. Took my time. I'm forgetting what I used to clean the wood. I think I used linseed oil. I didn't take them apart to do it. It was good practice working with the wood and I wasn't really worried about affecting the value of the rifles. Neither rifle is worth all that much so altering them doesn't decrease their worth.

[VTD]

Sorry the pictures suck.

[tphelon10]

Nice pics guys! Thanks!

Well I'm going to the local shop today, any advice on what to look for? Ideally I'd like a pre/early war, round receiver.
I don't care where it's made or if it's matching, I want a shooter more than a wall hanger.
I've heard a lot about counter-boring, but I'm still not sure what it is and if it's bad for a shooter or not.
Anything special to look for in the bore and chamber? I'm assuming I just look for corrosion or other blemishes and the strength/depth of the rifling.
Any other things I should look for?

[AOBrien]

You pretty much have it all covered. As far as counter-boring goes, that just means that the arsenal had to take the last inch or so of the rifling (muzzle end) and smooth it out because it was ruined. There is a lot of arguments going back and forth as to whether or not its a good thing. I say as long as the rifling is strong, there is no corrosion, and there isn't any pitting in the barrel at all you're pretty much good to go.

If you can, see if you can get your hands on the tear drop tool that goes with it. It'll make checking the firing pin protrusion* a lot easier and it'll insure that you wont get light primer strikes or puncture the primer at all.

Also, when going to shoot it, if you expect it to shoot 4-5 MOA you'll be a lot happier with it. The last few that i've bought/shot i've had that mind set going into it and when it turns out to shoot 3-4 or better MOA then you'll be alot happier.

I will warn you now though, once you own and fire one, you'll want more. Mosinitis.

[tphelon10]

Thanks for everyone's help! I walked out the door of the shop with a 1942 91/30 made at the Izhevsk arsenal. It's in good shape, the rifling's good, wood and metal is nice. Now I need to give it a good cleaning and get some pics. I paid $150 after taxes for the rifle and 60rds of ammo.

[bob72]

Thanks for everyone's help! I walked out the door of the shop with a 1942 91/30 made at the Izhevsk arsenal. It's in good shape, the rifling's good, wood and metal is nice. Now I need to give it a good cleaning and get some pics. I paid $150 after taxes for the rifle and 60rds of ammo.

Sounds like you did good!!

Now we are waiting on the pics

[tphelon10]

Hey my camera sucks so I only got one picture and it's not great.



She cleaned up nice, not as much crap in it as some of the stories I've heard. I do have one problem, sometimes the bolt doesn't want to close with a round in the chamber. It seems to do it randomly, one time it will close easily then it will take a ton of force even using the same round. I'm stumped as to what could cause it. I cleaned out the chamber really well and like I said it just seems to happen randomly.

[andy2205]

I do have one problem, sometimes the bolt doesn't want to close with a round in the chamber. It seems to do it randomly, one time it will close easily then it will take a ton of force even using the same round. I'm stumped as to what could cause it. I cleaned out the chamber really well and like I said it just seems to happen randomly.

Did you strip the bolt and give it a very good cleaning? Mosins are not controlled feed rifles, when you close the bolt the extractor has to ride over the rim of the cartridge. Any gunk built up in or around the extractor can cause it to be tough to chamber a round.

[tphelon10]

I did clean the bolt, but I'll break it down again and make sure the extractor is clear.

[AOBrien]

Nice looking rifle!!! But again just be warned they are really fun to shoot and tend to multiply like rabbits.

[Gran Torino]

Congrats on your new rifle. While I'm not into the older WWII pieces I truely do admire some of the hard work you guys put into them. Some of them truely look as good as new

[Mr B]

I did clean the bolt, but I'll break it down again and make sure the extractor is clear.

When you cleaned the bolt, did you actually take the bolt a part, remove the firing pin to clean it and the inside of the bolt ?.

[Mr B]

Congrats on your new rifle. While I'm not into the older WWII pieces I truely do admire some of the hard work you guys put into them. Some of them truely look as good as new

You should consider getting one, there not real expensive, and there fun to shoot. I have two Mosin Nagant M44`s, one Mosin Nagant M38, one Mosin Nagant M91/30, as well as several others, and im always looking for the next one.

[tphelon10]

When you cleaned the bolt, did you actually take the bolt a part, remove the firing pin to clean it and the inside of the bolt ?.

Yes I did. Is there any way to remove the extractor itself or is it a permanent part of the bolt face?

[andy2205]

Yes I did. Is there any way to remove the extractor itself or is it a permanent part of the bolt face?

Maybe this will help.

http://7.62x54r.net/...Disassembly.htm