I heard that about half of all Mosin Nagant bayonets were to tight, so when I got mine I wasn't surprised that I could only force it to about 1/4" of locking. So I put a grinding stone on a drill and set to work. After trying upmteen times it wouldn't get any better. I inverted the bayonet and could put it on backwards about 1", so the problem seems to be in the middle. After I wore our my dremel stone down to a nub and took a round file after it, then wrapped sandpaper around a dowel and scrubbed with that for a while. Hours later IFINALLY it about 1/8" from being able to lock the bayonet to the barrel. Either I have an awful big barrel or an awfully narrow hole the bayonet or both. Anybody else seen this? I wonder how hard the bayonet steel is?

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

Bayonets for the 91/30's were fitted to specific rifle,
and serial # stamped. Does yours match the rifle?

You learn something new everyday here. I must just be lucky?

Attached Images

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My MN was a carbine, it looks rather ugly on there but it works fine!

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14 S&W Revs none with locks!

I suspect that barrel diameter on Mosins varies depending on when they were built. My wartime production 1943 Izhevsk is so rough you can almost use many surfaces as a nail file. My 1936 Tula is MUCH better finished. Although I haven't measured them, it wouldn't surprise me to find the 1943 has a thicker barrel than the 1936, simply because of the lack of polishing work. Now, if all the bayonets are made to the (smaller) pre wartime standards and tolerances, then I can easily see how a bayonet would not fit well.

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Release the Kraken

The easiest way to open up the bayonet socket is to get a piece of leather or even an old terry cloth towel and wrap it around chisel end of a pry bar or even a tire iron, stick it in the slot on the bayonet and twist along the length of the slot. Then, check fit. repeat if necessary.

If the leather, cloth is checked often and moved enough so as to not wear through to the metal on the chisel end as it is being twisted, it'll not put burrs on bayonet socket.

Depending on your strength, a vise may or may not be needed.

It takes longer to get all the materials together than it does to get it to fit.

Out of all the two dozen or so 91/30s that I've had, that's all I've had to do to get the bayonets to fit.

Edit; I tend not to fit the bayonet as mounting them mars the finish on the muzzle - especially if the blueing nicer side.

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Thread Killer.

Or....a small cylinder hone.

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James L. "Jim" Rhiner

I know nothing about M-N bayonets, but I did watch "The Battleship Potemkin" on TCM last week. The famous scene on the Odessa Steps where the Czar's Cossacks were putting down a civil revolt, their M-N bayonets looked like they were three feet long.

They were made tight since they were not to be removed afterwards, they were always fitted to the gun at all times.

No, but they were 'zeroed' at arsenal with bayonet
fixed, and it does alter zero.

Thats a lot of fitting on one of those to get it to go onto the bbl.
They can be quite tight and need some 'help' but that much grinding is something I've never run up against.
I'd wonder if the socket portion of the bayonet wasn't a bit bent out of round. It'd only take a few '000 out of round to make a miserable amt of work to get it to fit again. It might also have been bent w/a slight curve to the socket. It ain't going onto the bbl then w/o a lot of reaming & grinding work.

Those rifles and accessorys have been through a lot. Many of the bayonets then selves show up bent. The steel isn't particularly hard and the socket area usually can be handled with files on the ones I've had the pleasure of fitting so you don't need a mallet along with the bayonet as part of the gear.

I only affixed the bayonet once on mine, if I remember it was a little tight but did go on. It's not a big deal, if I need a rifle and bayonet combo I'll grab the Garand.

My 36 hex's bayonet fits perfectly probably cause it's numbers match the rifle.

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LIVE FROM THE DAWGHOUSE

I just bought the bayonet off Ebay. I don't think I'll even bother to check!

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

....I'm a carbine NUT. I could overlook the disproportional bayonet. Besides, it probably wasn't intended as an aesthetic statement, anyway.

Carbines are the firearms that are best suited to me as far as rifles go. I think they should make a movie called 'Carbine Smith', but Jimmy Stewart wouldn't be available.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

...so it is nicely finished. The bayonet, I don't know about. It could have been made in the Khyber Pass.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

It takes a LOT of grinding and sanding to get it to move just a little closer to fitting. I had a slip of the grinder and galled up something in there so I lost ground, but it SHOULD be 'easy' to gain that back.

I got an idea to just go to the hardware store and get some stones, wire wheels and whatever or this is going to take the rest of the summer.

It's good to know that it's not just me.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

All the serial numbers have been "forced" to match the rifles with "forced" serial numbers! Matching numbers is a fallacy.

If you can discern the difference between numbers that
are stamped into the steel (by arsenal, during original
production) and numbers that are 'drawn' with an
electropen/vibrating etcher, then you can tell which
were original numbers and which were 'force matched'.

If the electropenning was done during an actual arsenal
overhaul and bayonet fitting was part of process, the
force match bayonet will fit the rifle it's numbered to.

My Russian made in 1944 M44 carbine has the side folding bayonet. Swing it out and pull back on the retaining collar and it slips on easy. Shoots a hoot with the Yugo Heavy ball bright muzzle flash and loud boom. As I age find the carbine sights easier to use probably because of the short distance between sights. Frank

The bayonet I got with my 43 Tula was just like yours, way too tight. I spent a couple of evenings smoothing the bayonet mount using the emery cloth on a half-inch dowel method. Now it snaps right on and fits perfectly with no wobble at all.