Mosin Nagant hair trigger

[dualsport]

I got this gun from a friend's collection, he passed on and his daughter was kind enough to think of me. It's a Russian 7.62X54. I test fired it with some milsurp ammo, all good, but noticed a very light trigger. Just to see I cocked it while unloaded and smacked the butt on the floor, it dropped the hammer. For now the gun is in one place and the bolt another, for safety's sake. Is there a way to restore the trigger? I'm assuming the trigger/sear engagement is weak. (I swear this isn't just bs to cover up some misguided file work!) Everybody swears by their Finns, is my Russian worth even fixing? I even put a note on the gun ,Dangerous trigger!, in case I keel over too and somebody else gets this gun.

[NickSS]

Take the action out of the stock and look at the sear spring (?). This is a flat spring on the bottom rear action. Some people lighten the trigger pull by shimming the spring which reduces the engagement of the sear with the bolt lug that engages it. If it has been shimmed just reduce the shimming a little and the sear will engage better. If this is not the trouble you may have to buy a new sear or bolt cocking piece. Both parts should be easy to get from gun parts in new york.

[dualsport]

Thanks Nick, I'm on it.

[Ricochet]

It's also possible there's gunk in the sear notch preventing good engagement.

[machinisttx]

Also possible that he used a teflon based lubricant on the engagement surfaces. I did this by mistake(same rifle actually) with a grease I did not know contained teflon. Clean it, lube with anything other than teflon based lube, and retest.

[HamGunner]

For around $70, Hubber Concepts sells an after market trigger for the Mosin Nagant as well as for others. I have one on my M-28 and one on my T-38 Jap carbine and they are both decent triggers as well as easily installed. If your bore is decent and the rest of the rifle is in fair enough shape, then I would think it might be worth fixing up. I have a Russian carbine that shoots well enough with the .311-.312 bullets, but the M-28 is a tack driver with .308 dia. slugs.

[dualsport]

Pulled her apart today. No gunk or sign of teflon. Cocking piece looks fine, no visable wear. Nothing shimmed or filed. My guess is sear/spring is weak, maybe it was left cocked a long time, I don't know. I'll order a replacement and see if that helps. The bore is ok, rifling still strong, and the gun's in good shape. It was assembled in 1939, but the reciever was made in '38. Not Tula, the other Russian arsenal. If it shows some potential I'll look into a trigger job by a pro, maybe shoot it in some matches. I did a chamber cast, the throat is .315", couldn't measure the five groove bore. I'd love to have a Finn, but this is what I've got. Thanks again for the help guys.

[Bullshop Junior]

All russian gun do that. I can push the hammer forword and all four of out nagant pistols, and my rifle did that.

[dualsport]

Your rifle would fire if you banged the butt on the ground?

[jonk]

I had this issue on a Swiss Vetterli once. Some judicious thinning of the body of the sear, allowing the lip to protrude a bit higher into the receiver, fixed it.

[sheepdog]

Take the action out of the stock and look at the sear spring (?). This is a flat spring on the bottom rear action. Some people lighten the trigger pull by shimming the spring which reduces the engagement of the sear with the bolt lug that engages it. If it has been shimmed just reduce the shimming a little and the sear will engage better. If this is not the trouble you may have to buy a new sear or bolt cocking piece. Both parts should be easy to get from gun parts in new york.

Yes but also some people make little washers from soda cans and put them under on the screw that holds the sear to raise it. Its a reversible tweak and popular among nagant shooters.

[WILCO]

I'm assuming the trigger/sear engagement is weak.

Take it to a gunsmith.

[dualsport]

I'll look closer for those shims, might have missed something. I keep the gun locked up and the bolt put in another place, it won't be loaded again until this issue is taken care of. I do realize what a hazard it poses, even my wife knows about the warning note on the gun in case I croak all of a sudden. After a little research I see now how simple the firing system is on these guns, I think I can replace a sear or even trigger ok on one, I have built guns that were a lot more complex without any problems. The statement by Bullshop Jr. puzzles me a little, is hair triggers common on these MNs? That wouldn't make sense for a rugged battle rifle with a crappy safety. While I'm at it, I've never had a dedicated BR rifle with a 2 oz. trigger, will they go bang if you smack the butt on something?

[Ricochet]

Somebody posted a story the other day on Gunboards' forum, I think, about a Russian inspector who had made himself especially obnoxious to the craftsmen building Mosins at the New England Westinghouse factory during WWI. They conspired to build a whole rack of Mosins with the sear barely engaging. This inspector would load each rifle with a live round and whack its butt sharply on the floor to make sure it wouldn't fire this way. After several rifles in a row fired right up beside his face, he seemed to have gotten the message, or at least it took the fight out of him. He stayed pretty much out of their way.

None of my Mosins will fire this way, at least as hard as I'm willing to smack their butts down.

[dualsport]

No more hair trigger! No money spent. Before I say another word let me say this worked on my gun, I am not a gunsmith and do not give gunsmithing advice. Messing around with triggers and sears is potentially lethal and I advise against it. There, is my &^% covered? After studying this thing more it's obvious this is the simplist trigger system possible. The sear was fully engaging in the cocking piece (?) channel, so I figured the only thing it could be is lack of spring tension. Took a chance, put the trigger spring in a vise and rebent it a little. Reassembled gun and condition improved, but would still fire if hit hard enough on butt. Pulled apart, rebent a little more to increase spring tension, reassemble and bingo, no more accidental discharge. I hit it on the kitchen floor (concrete) 20 times, hard enough to where I was worried I'd crack the freakin' stock and the magazine floorplate popped open, no problems. Trigger and safety function test good to go. I'd like a Huber trigger, but that would disqualify my gun for matches I want to shoot with cast bullets. I like it so much I bought two more this am at Big 5 in Sacramento, they're having a black Friday sale, nice 91/30s for $90 with all the accessories included, even a bayonet and sling. I think I've been bit by a bug.

[Three44s]

"I think I've been bit by a bug."

......... Where have we heard this before? ............

LOL!!

Congrats on your fix ........ and welcome to Mosin land!

Three 44s