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I recently purchased a 1934 Tula, Hex reciever mosin nagant 91/30. I wanted something cheap to shoot and something to practice some basic gunsmithing. So i read a few posts on the internet about how to improve the trigger. Then set about doing them. I started by drilling the top of the trigger and putting in a set screw to push on the sear, then polished the sear and trigger surfaces that touch, to smooth things out. then i drilled out the trigger pivot hole in the reciever and trigger itself because the holes in my reciever were ovaled and had a lot of slop. I then installed a larger pin and put a teflon washer to take up side to side slop as well. I also cut the firing pin spring down a tiny bit to make the rifle easier to cock. Now i have no creep, and a much lighter trigger pull, that's fairly crisp. It's still heavy, i'd guess around 6#. But compared to the massive creep and probably 14# pull it had before it's definitely an improvement.

Now here's my issue. When i bought the gun the bolt cycled easily, now it is very hard to cock the gun after firing(opening the bolt after the trigger has been pulled) I thought it might need lubed, so i took the bolt apart and lubed and reassembled it. Still the same. Then i thought maybe i cut too much off the firing pin spring. So i took apart the bolt and put the piece i cut back in with the rest of the spring. It made no difference. I'm thinking that maybe when i drilled trigger pivot that it moved the trigger up slightly and the bolt stop(top of trigger) is rubbing on the bolt, making it hard to cock? there are marks on top of the trigger that i know are new because i polished it before i put it back together. So now i'm thinking my next step would be to take the trigger out of the gun reinstall the sear and then cycle the bolt and see if it is still hard to cock. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
 
:s0122:

What can I say? Although you described well what you did, I am a very visual person.

I have a rule of thumb: whenever I go making changes like this, I buy the parts I want to modify but leave the originals untouched, whenever possible. That way you can track back your errors easier. A bit late for that, though.
 
Put the thing back together with the modified trigger... but before you install that, take a bit of machinists bluing (two kinds.. one dries hard, the other stays soft.. use the soft type. Normally used by a mechanic setting up hypoid differential gears. Maybe an automotive machine shop, or well stocked parts/supply house will have it. Comes in a small toothpaste tube sort of container).
The way you use it is to take a VERY small dab on the end of a Q-tip or similar, rub it on the area you suspect is binding, on the end of the trigger. Make as thin and smooth an application as you can. Put the trigger back in place, precisely as it would be were the weapon fully assembled.

Fit up the bolt again, cycle it...... remove it. IF the trigger is indeed binding on the bolt anywhere, your bluing will leave a patch of blue on the bolt, precisely where it contacts. Now, you can SEE what was going on, as the bolt area will have the bluing on it.


Sounds like your suspicion is spot on.... that when you drilled the trigger and side-holes in the guard, you got your point a bit off-centre... which has effectively raised the trigger just enough to bind. Drilling a larger hole and re-centring to the proper axis would be the RIGHT thing to do..... but, from here (no pics, as was mentioned) I couldn't say precisely HOW one might accomplish this reliably. I suppose one way might be to drill out the trigger (caution, I'm not sure how much material remains in way of that hole.... it wouldn't do to remove enough more as to weaken the trigger itself, now, would it?) a bit larger, first finding a thin-walled sleeve of something relatively hard.... stainless or brass thinwall tubing, perhaps?... drilling to the OD of that, then re-centring (using a machinists vise and drill press for accuracy and control) the hole for the trigger pivot.....


seems a bit of a pickle you've brewed up here.... my guess is you've got only a few thousandths of float before that trigger either binds (what it seems to be doing now) or falls so low it no longer retains the sear/pin as it should... and thus would randomly fire with no warning. Might give new meaning to the concept of muzzle control, though..... but thanks all the same, I'll take a pass on going shooting with you if that is the situation........
 
Tionico's is great advise. I am getting some machinist blue myself.

One other thing that might help is to get your hands on another rifle and put them side by side.

Regardless you are 20/20 or not, if you don't already have one, get yourself a decent magnifying glass, monocular or facsimile. Illuminate your bench generously. it is surprising how people sometimes can ignore basic things like that. Been there; done that.
 

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