Firing a surplus weapon for the first time, things to be careful of?

[jlbreak]

I am about done refinishing my Mosin Nagant manufactured in 1941. I have cleaned all the cosmoline out of it and redone the stock which should be done drying soon. I was wondering if there is anything that should be looked for before firing a military surplus weapon.

Things I think to consider would be:
A lot of rust anywhere on the gun
Burrs or nicks on the end of the barrel which may prevent a bullet from exiting
A bolt that doesn't tightly fit closed
A barrel that is loose in the stock (some I tried at the store before buying had barrels that moved when I moved the bolt handle.)

Any other suggestions from a standpoint of safety?

 

[Bell47pilot]

I had a gunsmith look mine over. He checked the headspace and took a close look at the barrel and bolt. Said it was in great shape and good to go. Only cost me ten bucks. Good insurance as far as I'm concerned.

 

[maestromsv]

Check the sights, one of the mosin nagants I got, front sight was moved over 1/8". I've since got a Carl Gustauf, it's stock is heavy, but practically no recoil.

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[unintentionalracist]

I checked the receiver for warping and cracks. Take the bolt off (by pulling the trigger with the bolt open and pull it out the back) and look down the bore for any debris. If there's a pebble, chunk of lead whatever, it can be deadly to fire. The headspace can be adjusted by using the takedown tool and rotating the firing pin. My cocking handle has two lines on the side of the hole in the.middle, when the back of the firing pin is flush with the surface of the cocking handle, and the line matches up with the two lines on th cocking piece, it's good to go. Yours may be different.

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[jlbreak]

I would also recommend cleaning all the cosmoline out of the barrel, receiver, and bolt (take it apart), if your firearm has it. It will fire without cleaning it out but the hotter it gets the sticker it gets and then it will be much more difficult to clean later and will likely create other problems like sticking bolt, failure to eject, or more serious damage to the gun because of having to beat on it to get it unstuck.

 

[jlbreak]

Check the sights, one of the mosin nagants I got, front sight was moved over 1/8". I've since got a Carl Gustauf, it's stock is heavy, but practically no recoil.

What have you needed a canon for? lol

 

[S&W645]

What have you needed a canon for? lol

For the pesky squirrels.

 

[kelcarry]

I had a gunsmith look mine over. He checked the headspace and took a close look at the barrel and bolt. Said it was in great shape and good to go. Only cost me ten bucks. Good insurance as far as I'm concerned.

Pay a few bucks for a real pro lookover.

 

[maestromsv]

What have you needed a canon for? lol

It's actually in 6.5x55 swed., sweet shooting and accurate with iron sights.

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[Rocketgeezer]

Your going to have fun with the Mosin, and it may be the toughest rifle you ever got your hands on, if you have one with a nice barrel its deadly accuate out to 400-500yds, with a good scope, they are very simple to tear down and clean and work on, if your headspace is a little off you can adjust the fireing pin, I have never seen one screwed to the point it would not shoot, and you mentioned the barrel and action being loose in the stock, that's most likely because the two screws that hold them are loose, on most you can just tighten them, in a extream case you may have to bed the stock,