So my buddy got me a sweet Mosin Nagant 91/30 for Christmas. Made in 1942, matching numbers, great condition, awesome color, and the bolt is smooth as glass. We were talking about shooting it, and I started wondering if it was even safe to just put a round in and go bang. Should I get it checked out to see if it's safe for firing? He got it at Sarco in Easton. Do they give their rifles any treatment before selling them or is it possible that it might blow up in my face?

It's possible but not probable. I would check it over for any cracks and then fire it from the hip for the first shot if you have concerns.

Like any other gun, tear it apart, clean it.

+1

Fair enough. He stripped it down and cleaned it before he gave it to me and said everything looked fine. And i think the same, having looked it over myself. Just wasn't sure if that was enough with a gun that's this old.

Although it may be old chances are its made better using higher quality virgin materials than todays modern guns. I say clean and shoot all you want.

My son's 91/30 is from 1923. We tore it down, cleaned, checked the action then went to the range and abused the hell out of our right shoulders. No worries. Those things were built to club people to death, not just to shoot them.

The Soviets rearsenaled them before putting them into storage for WWIII. They're safe to shoot as long as nobody monkeyed with the action or firing pin depth.

 

Also, folks shoot firearms much older than 1942 vintage, that's "new" in my book! Haw! I have a '26 Mosin, a '27 M1903, and a '30s .22 Winchester, all shoot just fine.

 

Age doesn't really affect firearms, as long as they are well kept and the proper cartridge loads are used. (modern smokeless in an old black powder gun may make it blow up in your face, for example).

The Soviets rearsenaled them before putting them into storage for WWIII. They're safe to shoot as long as nobody monkeyed with the action or firing pin depth.

 

Also, folks shoot firearms much older than 1942 vintage, that's "new" in my book! Haw! I have a '26 Mosin, a '27 M1903, and a '30s .22 Winchester, all shoot just fine.

 

Age doesn't really affect firearms, as long as they are well kept and the proper cartridge loads are used. (modern smokeless in an old black powder gun may make it blow up in your face, for example).

 

Check the firing pin depth. Did it come with the stock goodies that includes thr guage for doing that? If not they're usually cheap off ebay.

Check the firing pin depth. Did it come with the stock goodies that includes thr guage for doing that? If not they're usually cheap off ebay.

 

You can use a caliper with a depth gauge as well for this. Depth should be between 0.075" minimum and 0.095" maximum