ammunition, bolt-action, jamming, mosin-nagantI tried to shoot my new Mosin Nagant 91/30 today. Very first round got stuck and couldn’t be ejected with the bolt. Somehow I managed to open it and push out the casing with a rod. Following rounds didn’t get stuck so badly but every time I had to bump the bolt hard to eject.
So I wonder if something need to be adjusted in the rifle or if it is an ammo problem. I used some cheap surplus ammo in green steel casings with no clear marking. I picked that up on gun show.
Any recommendation on how to fix it?
If the extracted shell has distinct scratches on it, there may be a burr in the chamber area causing your problem. The most likely cause though is cosmoline that was not removed. It can be melted momentarily by firing and then essentially glue the shell in place.
To remove any remaining cosmoline from the bolt, remove and fully disassemble it. You can either use a heat gun to melt the cosmoline off, or you can soak the parts in solvent for a while. To remove cosmoline from the chamber, use a good solvent with a chamber brush mounted in a power drill (at a fairly slow speed). Afterwards inspect the chamber to be sure no bits of cleaning brush or any other debris is left in the chamber. (For the longer version, see Sticky Bolt Syndrome.)
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