The never ending story- cleaning a Russian Mosin-Nagant

[Fastzntn]

I bought this Mosin Nagant several years ago for the bang for the buck factor. I got the gun and 440 rounds of surplus ammo for less than $175! It's really fun to shoot. It's not really all that accurate (probably a lot of it is my fault, and the iron sights) but when it hits something it makes quite a scene.

I had a hell of a time getting all of the cosmoline off, and if I remember correctly I finally used acetone.

On to the bore..... The surplus ammo I'm using must be the filthiest thing man has ever created. It leaves a lot of copper in the bore, not to mention it's corrosive so I have always been sure to clean it immediately after shooting. Usually I would let the bore soak with Hoppe's products, and it usually ended up being a 3 day cleaning process.

Last weekend I decided to clean the rifles. The more I cleaned the Mosin, the more junk came out! I can tell it is LAYERED with copper fouling on top of powder fouling and on and on and on. I'll soak the barrel and a few patches will come out blue or green, then the next soaking will lead to patches that come out dark grey or black. This has been going on since Sunday! I've got Birchwood-Casy Gun Scrubber, Hoppe's Bench Rest Powder Solvent and Outer's Foaming Bore Cleaner. The foaming bore cleaner works pretty well.

Anyone have any tips? Otherwise I'll be swabbing this bore for the next three months.

[bkelm18]

Ever try a BoreSnake? They clean a lot better than patches. A .30 caliber sized BoreSnake should fit any 7.62 bore. I've never owned a Mosin so I don't know if it would help or not. But I'm looking to buy my first with my tax refund.

[strickj]

i have a friend that uses tampoons in different sizes for his boars.says it works alot better then patches,although i have never tried them.

[R1100R]

Some people use Windex on the first couple of passes to kill off the salts in the
corrosive ammo. I use a product call Sweet's 7.62. It contains ammonia in it. But
do not leave it in the barrel more than 10 minutes. Also I do love my bore snakes.

[Crunchman]

As a Military rifle collector, I've run into several cruddy bores. My usual procedure is to do a thorough initial cleaning with Hoppes or surplus GI bore cleaner. Plug the bore and fill up the barrel, stand the rifle upright for about an hour, pour the dirty solvent out, then scrub well with a copper bore brush, followed by lots of patches. I then coat a patch in jeweller's rouge (polishing compound) and scrub till shiny, changing patches as needed. In the really filthy ones, I have coated 7 to 10 bullets in rouge, fired them through, and followed with another aggressive cleaning. If the bore is not completely pitted, this procedure will bring the bore back to a decent condition. The main thing to remember with these old military weapons is to always neutralise the corrosive salts in older type military surplus ammo with a weak ammonia solution (Windex with ammonia is good) immediately after you get through firing, even better if done while the barrel is still warm. As R1100R said above, Sweets 7.62 is also excellent.
Hope this helps.

[Spuds]

Regarding ammonia, after accidently bleaching the stocks of a Smith Corona M1903-A3 and a Finnish M27 Mosin Nagant, I quit using it in any form. Water, good ol' nature's nectar is all that's needed to flush corrosive salts from a bore. I enhance it a bit with Dawn or Joy dishwashing detergent.

The other thing that comes to mind is most Mosin-Nagants are 50+ years old, some over 100. A bore doesn't have to shine to be clean. I wouldn't worry about getting it mirror bright, if it's clean, it won't rust, so why bother? If you can't help letting it bother you, get some J&B Bore compound and have at it.

[HemiRam]

I didn't know you could own guns in the PRK. :D

[Fastzntn]

two of my three guns aren't legal in commiefornia. they were bought in tn and followed me here :)I didn't know you could own guns in the PRK. :D

[Centennial]

I have found that a product made in Nashville for many years called Kroil is excellent for cleaning a stubborn bore and most anything else.

[mousegunner]

I have read that the electric bore cleaning is very powerful...

http://www.surplusrifle.com/reviews/copperout/index.asp

[nj.piney]

i have a yugo mauser ,i use semi corrisive ammo, i clean it with hoppes 9 pluse, a black
powder cleaner, works great ,use a wet patch and soak the bore for five min. and
clean. check your bolt ,because you will find rust build up on the firing pin after several cleanings.

[Mike.357]

I clean my Mosin by using a cheap ammoniated window cleaner. I soak a patch in it. run it through the bore, then a dry one. Repeat this process until it comes out moslty clean. Then i clean the bore one more time using Hoppes. Final step is to run a bore mop with a little rem oil on it in and out a few times. My bore has a mirror like shine on it. I also disassemble the bolt and soak it in the same window cleaner, wipe it down ,re-assemble then drip some Rem oil on that. I use the same window cleaner on a rag to wipe down inside the mag and any place I can reach in the action and frame. No problems here.