WOW i pretty much cried

[NYY]

got my 91/30 today. LOVE it. took it apart right away and learned it all and cleaned the cosmo out. Learned to take down the bolt.. took a while... took apart wood from barrel.... put barrel back together... AND THEN i TRIED putting the barrel bands on aand.. well, the pressure was so tight..something was wrong because they werent going BACK On easily AT ALLL and was all bad that It slipped fast and quickly took off the "holder" for the bands on the barrel.. ok.. so i replace the band with black rubber tape... AND then try putting the first band on to go to the spot closest to the 100-900 m sight.. had to use a hammer and screw driver... my wood IS ALL MESSED UP. i cried from frustration. never getting another mosin nagant. took me literally from 8pm to 1am to finish my "simple take down" process. Even though I love mine and bolt is so smoooth i can eat off it, Im sticking with this C&R only....

[Alex$]

A piece of scrap 1"x2" about 10" long, either redwood or doug-fir is what I use to get stubborn barrel bands on and off. It will not scar the finish or the wood if you are careful.

Is the wood scarred or is it just the shellac that got buggered?

[Interloper]

Holy wow. If something doesn't want to go, force it? All you had to do was spread the bands a tiny bit with a screwdriver or snap ring pliers. How bad is it? Let's see some pics. You may be able to smooth out the shellac with some denatured alcohol.

[Volksgrenadier]

There is a wealth of information about mosin nagant rifles available on the net, youtube, web forums, etc. Avail yourself of such knowledge before resorting to hammer work :-D

Hopefully merely the shellac was in any way damaged and can be fixed with denatured alcohol, amber shellac, and some TLC.

[edwardm]

A hammer and a screwdriver. Oh boy. At least you didn't go total caveman and grab the nearest rock!

A generally good rule of thumb (because contrary to popular believe, sometimes you need *some force* to put things together) is to use a sacrificial 'driving' material softer and more malleable than the 'driven' material. So, if I'm tapping in a steel pin, I'll use a brass punch or pin setter. If I'm working on brass or copper or hard wood, I'll use a nylon punch or a piece of viton and a rubber mallet or hammer. For even softer things, I'll use a very light rubber hammer and a piece of rag or cloth.

One thing to remember is that when working on anything, guns, cars, furniture, be patient It went together once before looking nice and proper, so it can be done again.

[olhunter]

Ok, so you learned something. Now it has 'character'.

Better a Mosin than something valuable.

You can get another one for $69.

And unless you truly gouged the wood badly, you can fix it.

[rojocorsa]

I scratched my shellac, but I don't really care. It's not like the rifle was 100% finish when got it.


+1 for PITA barrel bands.

[NYY]

i thiiink its the shellac that got all scuffed. puttin pics up in a sec

[NYY]

[00BuckShot]

Try using a chain saw next time. Comes off real easy!

Sorry I couldn't resist. Sucks but hey, it's your gun, it's just character!

[paul0660]

In the last picture, are those gouges on the stock (lower part) your work?

[Haggar85]

thats 10 minuets worth of damage on a good day in Stalingrad.

[NYY]

Yes those gouges are my work.... and more like 30 minutes my friend...

[paul0660]

3 things:

learn from this;

the wood block thing works;

you can stick a small screwdriver in the seam of the band to spread it.

Oh yeah a little lube helps too.

[olhunter]

Are all those dents from you and your hammer? lol....

Step away from the tools....

It's actually not too bad. You can fix the shellac and steam out the dents if you're unhappy with it.