Weird cleaning issue with my 91/30

[Rover]

Went shooting with some buddies today, and for the first time figured out how to hold the thing so I didn't get kicked on every shot, it's amazing how accurate the thing is, was shooting 5-10" groups at 200yds with a crazy cross-wind. Ended up putting about 200rds through it, which I suspect is the start of my problem, because the most I've put through it in one sitting before this was about 15.

Got it home, tore it down and sqirted some bore-scrubber down the barrel, let it sit for 10 minutes while disassembling some other guns. Started running patches through it, with any other gun it takes about 4 patches before they start coming up clean. ran about 8 through and they still came out black, and were getting worse every time. Shot it with bore-scrubber again, nylon brush, then a felt mop, then more patches, now they're coming out pure black I don't see how cleaning it is making it dirtier, but it is. Could this possibly be bluing coming off the inside of the barrel? It's coming off the outside, but is there even any blue of the inside? Could it be because of how hot it got? It was very hot to the touch.

Not a huge deal as I'm about to bead-blast it and re-blue the whole gun, refinish the stock, now that it appears to be more accurate than my Remington 700, may as well show it some love. Just want to see if maybe this is normal, or if I should be worried.

[Fate]

Sounds more like you're just working thru various levels of fouling.

Is this a refurb/recent import or one of the older ones that don't have much blueing or finish left?

If the latter, please reconsider bead blasting it and refinishing it, at least until you've posted some info about it. You might have something that's worth more than you think. Refinishing rifles like that will kill their value, not to mention "history."

Back to the bore. Getting a fouled bore heated up thru shooting is a good way to get it pretty clean. But milsurp rifles aren't Remington 700s. In some cases you won't ever get them 100% clean and really, trying to do so only wears them out faster.

[Spiggy]

mosins are natural dirt magnets, there's no point to cleaning them too much as they'll never be immaculate no matter how much you scrub.

Trust me, I've had a bunch of them and they're by far the dirtiest looking rifles in my collection. Hell, some of them still sweat cosmo if I leave them in the sun at the range.

[vinny_land]

Sweets 7.62

[Rover]

Sounds more like you're just working thru various levels of fouling.

That makes sense, the heat started to break it free and the gun-scrubber combined with Hoppes cleaning fluid started really breaking it loose. I'm also guessing that whoever shot it last before I got it probably didn't care much about it, it was just some Army issued gun they were told to shoot.

Is this a refurb/recent import or one of the older ones that don't have much blueing or finish left?

Doubt it's the latter, it's a Big-5 sale gun, the bluing has lots of wear and tear, and the "Century Arms" and new serial number on the side have probably killed any kind of collector value it once had. It's also just a standard round receiver. Only thing I can think of that mite make it worth something is a low original serial number (4045) and all the important parts are matching numbers. I'll post up some pictures tomorrow, but I doubt I could decrease the value too much by stripping and re-bluing. I really only bought it because at the time I only had a .22 rifle, and it was the cheapest rifle with any kind of power, and mil-surp ammo was cheap, sucked to shoot so I kept almost selling it, got my grip figured out and it's a painless tack-driver now, so I'm keeping it for sure, and will probably pick up a couple more, hey, they're cheap, why not own 5?

Spiggy, dirty is right. There's goop on and in everything, but I'm trying to clean it up reasonably well, and it seemed to get dirtier the more I cleaned it tonight. Plus a clean gun makes it less scary when you offer it to other people to try, and thus their reaction when some janky old rifle almost knocks them over is that much better. Had that a couple times today, let the other people shooting at our spot try my AR, they were scared to death of the recoil, and there is essentially none, then you hand them an old bolt action with the world's longest barrel, no big deal right? then they shoot it make make roughly this face ------>

[gunboat]

Amazing that all those women snipers were able to survive that "kick"

[Dolk]

It can be cleaned.

http://thedolk.com/borecleaner/index.html

A single mark on the barrel shank can make it a very valuable rifle. Know the marks and what they are before "refinishing" it. To destroy the history of a valuable historical piece would be a shame.

Bill

[paul0660]

200 rounds is a lot, that mil surp ammo is very dirty, and the rifling will hold a lot of it. It's nothing to go through 20 patches with intermittent brushing, and that is after pouring boiling water down it. Same thing with mausers and surplus ammo, and Enfields and old .303 as well. Part of the fun, no?

[Agustav]

WOW! 200 round! I fired 100 round last weekend and my shoulder still hurt when I think about it...

[BroncoBob]

I had the same issue when I cleaned my surplus 91/30 for the first time. After spending about 30 minutes on it I said screw it, GTG.

[Fate]

WOW! 200 round! I fired 100 round last weekend and my shoulder still hurt when I think about it...

Once you figure out the "sweet spot" and technique to holding it right, it really shouldn't hurt to shoot.

It wasn't designed for a modern shooting stance. Put your trigger arm out like a chicken wing and really seat the butt into the hollow between your shoulder muscle and collarbone.

[Dirtbiker]

PLEASE do not refinish it!

Especially don't blast it you will ruin the metal surface.

COMPLETELY disassemble it and scrub it from head to toe. You will be surprised how nice it will look after a complete cleaning.

[Dr. Peter Venkman]

1. Get a bore snake
2. Profit

[biscuitninja]

When i first get one i tsoak the entire barrel with a mix of simple green, and some windex. Once I get it semi clean I use small strips of a small green scower pad to get the REAL grime off. Then about 30 patches later or a smaller bore snake with patches tied to it... all soaked in cleaner. It come pretty clean.... but never really clean.

good luck
-bix

[Rover]

It can be cleaned.

http://thedolk.com/borecleaner/index.html

A single mark on the barrel shank can make it a very valuable rifle. Know the marks and what they are before "refinishing" it. To destroy the history of a valuable historical piece would be a shame.

Bill

I'll have to give that a shot, if nothing else it looks cool sitting there with alligator clips hooked up.

Where can I find a "key" for what the marks mean? I've got marks and numbers all over the receiver, and understand roughly none of them. If this one does turn out to have some sort of collector value, who's got a completely worthless one to sell me? Now I want to refinish it just because I'm always looking for a cool new project to keep me busy when I need a break at work (yes I get to tinker with guns at work, self employed FTW!)