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Trouble closing bolt on round

Author	Comment
Dockem.curioandrelicfi...	Trouble closing bolt on round	Lead	[-]
Posts: 31 (11/23/09 11:17 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Tags : None My new M91-30 is VERY difficult to close the bolt on a round. It will get the bolt handle to about 45 degrees from verticle and jams up. At the range, if I jiggled it, reopened the receiver, retried closing it and forced it, it would finally close. A few times it seemed easier than other times. I'm using Hungarian ammo. With no round, it functions smooth as silk. I got home, tried a bolt from another rifle and it seems to operate okay with no round. I then tried a spent cartridge with the original bolt and then the swapped bolt and they both jam up trying to close the bolt on the spent cartridge. If it did close, I had to take a rubber mallet to it to get it to reopen. I rechecked the firing pin protrusion to no avail. I had already flushed the barrel/receiver with brake cleaner earlier, but gave the bore/receiver a good wipe with a Qtip with bore cleaner on it and reoiled it. Still no luck. I don't have headspace guages to check with. Any ideas what is going on and any possible solutions?
Kari Prager		#1	[-]
Posts: 6 (11/24/09 12:02 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I had a somewhat similar problem using factory loaded Sellier & Bellot ammunition in my M 39. I could only close the bolt with considerable force. The fired case would extract OK. The problem turned out to be that the bolt was headspacing on the shoulder of the cartridge, not the rim, i.e. the case head was sticking out of the chamber a little bit instead of the rim seating on the chamber, which kept the bolt from closing all the way. I bumped the shoulder back a bit with a sizing die on a pulled, unfired case and it chambered fine, as did all my re-sized S&B cases. I would suggest trying a different brand of ammunition and see if it chambers easily. I found that new, unfired Privi Partizan and Lapua cases chambered just fine in my rifle, even without resizing, before reloading, so I am sure it was the shoulder being set farther forward on the S&B cases. Because your rifle still chambered fired cases with difficulty this may not be your problem, but it is easy enough to check. In your case I don't think it is insufficient headspace on the rim, because then I don't think you could have closed the bolt at all. That's how a no-go headspace gauge feels, anyway. The rim doesn't give like the case body does. There are other possibilities but this is the only one I have experienced personally. Kari Kari Prager "Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm" Sir Winston Churchill
NotPC		#2	[-]
Posts: 5561 (11/24/09 01:35 AM) Host Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Do as Kari suggests and try various countries of origin on surplus ammo. Some, like Albanian have variable rim thicknesses in some lots. Make sure that the extractor clearance groove on the face of the barrel shank is clean and free of all debris. Make sure the receiver cuts ("ways") for the bolt locking lugs are free of any trash. This is where a dental pick tool will come in handy. Many Mosin problems can be solved by a thorough cleaning. Never force anything! Analyze where there may be a bind or ill-fitting parts. HTH, Regards.
padavid12		#3	[-]
Posts: 64 (11/24/09 02:43 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I had the same problem and posted on this forum a few threads down. It turned out to the the extractor giving me problems. I removed the extractor and cleaned it thoroughly to no avail. When I compared the bolt head with extracter to a known good one, I notice the extractor was slightly in toward the bolt face. I gave it a slight bend outward and the problem was solved. Apparantly, it was in just enough that I had to force the bolt closed. I don't know what caused this problem but it works fine now. David
Dockem.curioandrelicfi...	Adjusted the extractor	#4	[-]
Posts: 32 (11/25/09 07:24 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I was able to bend it out a bit more so that it would "jump the rim" of the cartridge and the bolt would close easier. But it still jams somewhat on opening and I still had to take a rubber mallet to it . I'm going to try cleaning out the receiver again to make sure there is no crud, preventing the cartridge from seating properly. Could there be places on the bolt or receiver that be polished? I noticed that on opening, that it the bolt handle stuck at the "2 o'clock" position. Thanks for info.
zeebill		#5	[-]
Posts: 3840 (11/25/09 07:47 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I was told the last time I was wrong about this but I still contend the feed works simpler if the cartridge is fed from the mag feed and not loaded singly by sliding a cartridge into the chamber and shutting the bolt. When you do it that way you force the extractor to jump the rim of the cartridge and that to me puts undo stress on it and sort of bends it into the center of the bolthead more. Have you completely removed the extractor from the bolt head and cleaned the grove it sets in? If not that stil might be your problem there. How does the brass look like after the shell is on its way and the casing comes out of the rifle? Are there any ripples or splits in it? There should not be much of anything. You have checked head space I am assuming? While the extractor is off the bolthead and the bolthead is seperated from the bolt body trial fit a shell into it to see if the bolthead can be dinged out of round in someway. I had one that drove me crazy trying to find that little problem which showed up as a hard feed and extraction. As suggested above eyeball the chamber area for a burr or obstruction and do try different ammo, preferably a brass cased type to see if that helps or hinders the problem. Some rifles just will not tolerate a certain ammo period! I frankly think I know why in most cases but am not 100% sure though. Good Luck and be patient! Bill

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