my first mosin

[Interloper]

This is true.

I use regular unleaded to clean new to me rifles, outside. Lighter fluid is expensive kerosene, which will also work. Unless the stock is heated somehow, it will likely bleed cosmo for years, but it's not a big deal.

Man, I'm not trying to jump on you anything but using gasoline as a cleaner is very dangerous.

[laika]

Only problem I have with big 5 mosins is sometimes sticky bolt. Clean the receiver chamber area really well - once you start shooting, cosmoline will leak out from places you never knew existed and you'll clean again when done of course; the headspace/clearance issues have been nonexistent for me so far.

Congrats to both of you on your first (not last) Mosins!

[Anchors]

I check the firing pin protrusion and work the bolt a few hundred times after cleaning to really get it going.
If it is even a little bit sticky cold once you start firing it it will really jam up.
Mine was completely smooth from working it and once I started shooting it it got harder to work the bolt, but not too hard.

[samspade77]

The first thing I'd recommend is to thoroughly clean off the cosmoline. It took me numerous hours, many cans of brakes cleaner, oven cleaner, blood, sweat, and tears.

[pingpong]

For the bolt I just take it apart and drop it into a pot of boiling water, and stir it around a bit. Same with the magwell. All the cosmoline will melt right off and float to the top of the water. Plus you don't have to dry the parts; they metal is hot enough to dry itself.

For the barrel, I pour a bunch of how water down the pipe to get rid of the cosmo, and finish it up with some liberal amount of CLP. For the receiver I have one of those handheld steam cleaners that I use to get into all the nooks and crannies (there's usually quite a bit of cosmo in the rear sights).

For one of my Mosins I used a hairdryer to heat up the stock for the cosmo to sweat out. It took forever, and a lot did come out, but each time I take it to the range I still find more that comes out after firing the gun for a while.

For my other Mosins I've done the ol' oven cleaning + sanding + restaining trick. Some people will cry foul about ruining the historical value of the gun, but I just want a nice looking Mosin. There are millions more around that can be bought if I wanted to retain the original finish.

[Divernhunter]

I used good old fashion solvent we used for car parts cleaning and spray brake cleaner on the metal. I did mix some gas with it but I do my work outside and do not smoke. Never had a problem. I soaked the bolt in it and blew it out with air several times as well as doing so with brake clean spray. I buy it by the case cheap. I wiped down the stocks with solvent. In the summer I put them in a black garbage bag once I wrap them in paper and reg towels. Then put them in the sun prefer to put them in a car/truck on the dash with the window rolled up while parked. That sweats the stuff out of them quite well. I have done 5 M44's, 1 M38, and 6 M90/31's with not a problem.

IF you get a sticky bolt when it warms up then take a wire brush that is big enough to fit the chamber and use solvent and a drill to clean the chamber from the laquer build up.

Have fun with the new rifle.

[CaliforniaLiberal]

I purchased a mosin nagant from big 5 and get to pick it up tuesday, I am just wondering if there is anything I should do before firing it? I know to clean the cosmoline out if it and a friend of mine recomended using lighter fluid to clean all the cosmoline out. Is there anything else that a I should check or inspect before firing?

thanks in advance

If you truly care to honor the spirit of the Mosin you must never forget the sacrifices of the Great Motherland War and the courage of the Soviet soldier.

When you bring the rifle home for the first time you must use the bayonet and your helmet to dig a fighting trench at your front door. You may cover the trench with evergreen branches and snow if available. Then you must spend the night in your fighting trench without a jacket or blanket, just shirt sleeves. If you have a comrade to keep watch with you (also dressed in shirtsleeves) you may watch in turns and sleep if you can. In the morning you may refresh yourselves from the garden hose if it is not frozen. You must journey to the firing range in the back of an open pickup truck (or preferably, walk) and may not break your fast until you have fired your weapon.

It is not necessary to find a Nazi or the image of a Nazi to shoot. This is just silly superstition. Screaming "Rodina!" or "for Comrade Stalin!" just before you fire is certainly welcomed.

[johnthomas]

I don't own a Mosin with the original finish on it. Orange oil based stripper works great on the finish as well and the cosmo. I use the spray foamy stripper. I don't use sand paper, after a half hour or so I scrub the wood with 0000 steel wool, nylon brush and warm water. I dry it with a hair dryer and do it again, sometimes 3 times. I dry with the dryer again and let it set overnight. I use steel wool again to make it is smooth. I stain with birchwood casey stain and use the steel wool again. Then I use birchwood casey tru oil which is more varnish than oil. I put about 15 coats using 0000 steel wool after every coat and a good brushing for dust. This many coats will fill a lot of bad spots in the wood and gives a glass like finish. It takes a lot of time, but it is worth it.

[someR1]

^^a better method is Rit-Dye. My ak47 stock looks IMMACULATE .....

[96232]

Pick it up In an hour

[paul0660]

Man, I'm not trying to jump on you anything but using gasoline as a cleaner is very dangerous.

Cheap, works great, dangerous. That is how things are sometimes. I am very careful, and have a big back yard.

[96232]

Cleaned it with simple green

[Stryfe76]

^^a better method is Rit-Dye. My ak47 stock looks IMMACULATE .....

OK now we need to know what you've been doing with the dye

[Interloper]

Cheap, works great, dangerous. That is how things are sometimes. I am very careful, and have a big back yard.

Oh I hear ya. Used it many times myself. I just remember as a teenager getting chewed out by my dad's mechanic buddy when he saw me cleaning engine parts with gas. He had some kind of spontaneous combustion incident that left his hands horribly burned. Not a pretty sight.

[96232]