Question regarding a 91/30 Mosin Nagant and a bayonet that won’t fit.

[Djwells]

Hey y’all. I recently purchase a 91/30 Mosin Nagant and the bayonet that came with it will only slide just right before it touches the front sight. I’ve read online that it’s common for mismatched bayonets to not want to go all the way and it’s possible to make them fit with a little work. Has anyone personally ever did some work to the bayonet to make it fit? I heard if you carefully take a dremel to it you can make it fit. Anyone tried this?

I have zero experience on this kind of stuff. If anyone on here does and would be willing to meet up to dremel/do whatever it takes to make it fit, I could pay you for your time. I could probably do it myself but I would hate to mess anything up. If this job interests you, post a reply and I’ll send you a message and we can go from there.

Thanks,
Dan

Edit- Bought a Dremel kit from home depot and went to town on it. Ended up getting it to fix! Thanks everyone for the replies.

[moosefisher]

Never did one. But there are a lot of videos on YouTube showing how to deal with this. It looks easy enough. Take your time. Good Luck, MOOSE

[Djwells]

Thank you sir. I haven't looked on YouTube yet but will do that.

[Deckard]

DJ, I have done exactly what you describe with a misfitted bayonet for a Mosin. I used a Dremel with a small cylindrical stone on the inside of the bayonet and took off just enough to make a snug fit. Don't worry about taking off too much--that bayonet steel is plenty tough. Go slowly and keep the tool moving and you will be fine. Don't forget to polish it up afterwards so you don't scratch up the Mosin putting in on.

[Coctailer]

I've had hundreds of Mosins come through over the years and many bayos did not fit.
I miss the old days of 5 Mosins for $200.

[wolfy]

I paid $29 for my Mosin.
but that was just before the turn of the last century.
Didn't come with a bayonet

[Iambusy3]

There's a very good explanation for this issue. The Mosin has a tapered barrel. The 91/30 measures 28 3/4 inches in length and is essentially the same barrel as the older M91 barrel which measures 31 1/2 inches. Basically the 91/30 is a cut down version of the M91 and in fact some of the older M91s were converted to the newer configuration. Your bayonet will slip onto an older M91 and fit like a glove. I'm not sure why the bayonets that came from Dunhams and elsewhere have this issue but my theory is that a large number of the older M91 bayonets were thrown into the batches of the more numerous 91/30s. I've never seen one of these bayonets that actually fit the shorter models but every one I've seen have fit onto a M91 (Like they were made for it). You can force the bayonet open to fit the 91/30 if you like but they were not designed for that. Naturally a number of "experts" have told me I'm all wet but can't explain why all these bayonets fit perfectly onto an M91 (But not onto the 91/30s).

[Djwells]

Interesting information. Thank you for sharing!

[Djwells]

I bought a Dremel kit from home depot and went to town on the bayonet and I got it to fit! It's still a little snug and could use some more work but I'm putting that project off to the side. Was very tedious putting it on and off dozens of times to check if I had it right.