Mosin Cosmoline Questions

[Mosinguy]

Hiya everyone! I just bought a 1938 round receiver Tula at Bradis Saturday I cleaning the cosmo out of her, and the chamber I cleaned with a Q-Tip (barely any cosmoline on the entire rifle) and laquer thinner. So my question is would this Q-Tip cleaning of the chamber be enough? Will I have a sticky bolt problem like this? This is a beautiful rifle, no pics (yet) but if this thread sparks any interest then I'll take a few

P.S. First post! I'm a new member but haven't posted until now! Cheers!

- Jake

 

[rugertoter]

Hiya everyone! I just bought a 1938 round receiver Tula at Bradis Saturday I cleaning the cosmo out of her, and the chamber I cleaned with a Q-Tip (barely any cosmoline on the entire rifle) and laquer thinner. So my question is would this Q-Tip cleaning of the chamber be enough? Will I have a sticky bolt problem like this? This is a beautiful rifle, no pics (yet) but if this thread sparks any interest then I'll take a few

P.S. First post! I'm a new member but haven't posted until now! Cheers!

- Jake

I used a small bottle brush, nylon, for about twenty minutes on mine. You want to brush that stuff out of there because it is really cooked in those breaches and bores.

 

[cornfused]

You really need to completely disassemble the rifle stock and bolt to get all the cosmoline out of there. Lots of videos on you tube to help.

 

[johntheplinker]

Welcome, mosinguy, and welcome to the sickness of Mosinitis! Your cleanup might be enough, Lacquer thinner works well on cosmo, so if there isn't any hardened on the chamber walls you should be o.k. First time you shoot it you may want to take a rubber mallet, piece of 2x4 or short piece of pipe to fit over the bolt handle just to be safe. If you do have sticky bolt syndrome you can always clean it again with a solvent soaked brush on the chamber. I chuck a short piece of cleaning rod in a variable speed drill and turn it slowly for a bit.

 

[trophyhunter]

You really need to completely disassemble the rifle stock and bolt to get all the cosmoline out of there. Lots of videos on you tube to help.

And after it's apart, get a large black lawn and leaf bag and put it all in there and set it out on a hot sunny day for a bit, you'll be amazed how much more of it will melt its way out of the nooks and crannies and solvent cleaning the bolt and chamber is made easier that way.

 

[Mosinguy]

No guys I've cleaned the entire rifle down, used a heat gun on the stock, boiled the accessories, and lacquered and wiped down all cosmo'd metal and lubed the barrel. The chamber looks good it seems, bore light shows no sign of cosmoline (bore light = maglight solitaire). Smooth action, smooth trigger, the bore is in very good condition I'd estimate. Slight frosting in the barrel but no complaints here. Hopefully I can add to the disea- I mean...umm...collection...yea that's it collection...

I'll try to post pics when I get home guys! I know how everyone likes gun pron

 

[Gunaria]

The one sure way to tell if you have sticky bolt is too go take it shooting. Thank you Cpt. Obvious. Lube her up and take her for a spin.

 

[Mosinguy]

Yes, that's the plan when I buy the loose surplus rounds at Bradis next payday. 120 rnds equal $35 I'm not too concerned about 4" groups with surplus at 100 yards like a lot of people are. It was the history that brought me in, not false promises of sniperdom (Enemy at the Gates)

 

[boozoo]

If you do have a sticky bolt, sometimes a little time spent polishing mating surfaces on the bolt pieces is all it needs. But do a little at a time and be patient if you have to do it.

 

[Mosinguy]

Polishing agents remove small amounts of metal right?

 

[JohnP82]

Welcome to INGO and congrats on your purchase! Sounds like you got it all covered pretty good. Just get some ammo like you plan and break her in. Hope all goes well for you. Enjoy the new noisemaker!

 

[papasmurf]

I'll hop on the "buy ammo and shoot it" band wagon. I actually played with the firing pin screw a little bit and that helped with my bolt being sticky, that was before i gave it a full and complete strip cleaning of the bolt. now its smooth as butter.

 

[boozoo]

Polishing agents remove small amounts of metal right?

Yes. if it's needed, what you'd be trying to do is remove machining roughness.

I've had some that were perfectly fine, but I also had one that looked like the ramps were cut out with an oxy-acetylene torch. THAT one, I had to use a jeweler's file to knock down the ridges, then polish it. I've also done minor reshaping on the sear and polishing on the contact surfaces between the sear and cocking knob to get a better trigger release, although some people go the route of adding a set screw to make it adjustable.

Another interesting trigger mod if you can find it is to get a Finn M39 trigger.

I only go the route of polishing if I know I have a problem though, because it takes a lot of patience and time. My M44, m91's, and M39 don't have any issues with that, but I did have a 91/30 and 91/59 that were problem children in need of a little help.


Another way to avoid sticky bolts is to buy Finn'd Mosins.
I won't mention the cost delta though.

 

[sgreen3]

There are a few vids on you tube that deal with the sticky bolt of the mosin. I did it to my M44 made a nice improvement from the way it was. Polished the chamber, and the firing pin. moded the spring. Lubed everything back up. The bolt on my M44 is smooth. Not mauser smooth by no means, but a hell of alot better than it was.

 

[Dorky_D]

I have heard boiling water is good to remove it. WD-40 eats cosmoline too.

 

[Mosinguy]

I guess then I need to shoot the gun to be positive it isn't sticky...dang it When I go to the range I'll bring some WD-40 to spray in there. Would an old toothbrush work instead of a 20 gauge shotgun brush? It seems it could fit in the chamber.
Oh yes! Mosin pron! Since I'm new here can I directly post a picture to the thread or do I need to use a picture hosting website (photobucket)?

 

[Mosinguy]

http://i1194.photobucket.com/albums/aa375/Mosinguy/2f789eab.jpg
http://i1194.photobucket.com/albums/aa375/Mosinguy/81d4c98b.jpg
http://i1194.photobucket.com/albums/aa375/Mosinguy/aaa80fe2.jpg
http://i1194.photobucket.com/albums/aa375/Mosinguy/bd5ce90f.jpg

Ok, I figured it out! You might have to copy and paste I think...
Anyways, there is still a bit of cosmoline in the barrel since I forgot to buy more patches! :banghead: Tell me what you guys think. Did I choose a good barrel? I thought it looked pretty good considering this was my first mosin.

 

[Prometheus]

I have heard boiling water is good to remove it.

Hot water works well, it doesn't need to be boiling though.

I leaned my bolts up against a 500 watt shop light with a drip pan underneath. The cosmo just runs right out, lol.

The firing pin is the biggest area of contention, it will cause light primer strikes.

I used kerosene as well. It doesn't eat the cosmoline quite as well as other things, but it leaves a decent film of protection on the rifle (and won't hurt the wood) after the flammable portions evaporate.

 

[schafe]

All Mosin surplus ammo is not born equal. Everyones situation and gun is unique, but I found that in my Mosin, the dark laquer coated steel cased stuff sticks in the chamber tighter than the copper washed steel stuff. I discovered this by accident when I mixed some in the same loading. The darker laquer coated steel ones even felt sticky.(Still experimenting,and re-cleaning)
Also sometimes a chamber can look like it is devoid of Cosmoline, but is there in a very thin, invisible coating, and in places very difficult to see. Just my .....Have fun and welcome to INGO

 

[DarkRose]

Great post! I just picked up a Tula Mosin myself from Bradis a few weeks ago and have yet to get into it and clean it, so this post came at the right time for me as well.

I've owned a couple before that I've sold before ever shooting, this will be my first actual shooter!