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Great looking rifle! Milsurp ammunition varies wildly just so you know. I had some Chinese stuff for my M38, it was steel cased with a copper wash on it, and that stuff was incredibly hot! The case expanded so much I had to knock the bolt open with a piece of wood

Remember to give it a good clean after using milsurp too, some of that stuff is corrosive too.

Now, get it fired and wear your sunglasses, you'll see a hell of a flame out of that! :shakeshout:

A real fire breather is the Steyr M95/30 - sorts the men from the MN owners!

Lighter, shorter and fires a heavier bullet! :shakeshout: :55:

M95/ - 3.4kg, 1003mm (500mm barrel) and a 206gn bullet @2360fps
http://www.hungariae.com/Mann9530.htm

M44 - 4.03kg, 1030mm (520mm barrel) and 148gn bullet @2300fps (approx)
http://www.mosinnagant.net/USSR/Russian-M44-Carbine.asp

M38 - 3.45kg, 1020mm (510mm barrel), and 148gn bullet @2300fps (approx)
http://www.mosinnagant.net/USSR/Model-1938-Carbine.asp

http://7.62x54r.net/MosinID/MosinAmmoM44.htm

Well, I fired one shot then had to wait 15 mins until the session was over because my target fell over!

Once back up and several shots later I found the aim point although the shooting to the left by 4 inches at 25m could be partly attributed to needing new glasses.

The privi is 182gr ( doesnt say power weight ) and gives quite a sharp kick.
Managed to wack my cheek bone with the back of my thumb.

For a first time out I'm very happy.

Stripping down and cleaning was interesting and easy once you know how.
I can see now why these are cheap, but functional.
As the trigger was a bit notchy, I polished the sears which has made it a lot better.

The only thing I've probably got to recheck next is the firing pin protrusion.
I forgot to collect the gauge and bits from the shop!

One weird thing I don't get though is that the cartridge doesn't appear to sit against the bolt face, but against the collar of the bolt face. I suppose this must be correct or the firing pin set at 0.095 would push right through the primer!

Mark

For shorter distances I always used standard milsurp light ball which was remarkably accurate. I also learnt very early on to keep my thumb down with a service rifle after I smacked myself on the nose with the back of my hand.

Dammit. Why do I want an M44 so much? I can feel a variation coming on...

Does this look any good? http://www.gunstar.co.uk/mosin-nagant-m ... les/664417

It looks very lovely indeed. My Spider senses tell me that the stock looks a little bit Polish.

Using the identifier thingy on 7.62x54r.net it looks like it's an Izhevsk. Doesn't mean it didn't get a new stock at some point though. Looks pretty tidy to my untrained eye.

Blighty wrote:It looks very lovely indeed. My Spider senses tell me that the stock looks a little bit Polish.

I think your Spider sense is right as well. I would expect a Russian stock for the wood to be darker and for the sling eyelets to have a metal plate around them rather than just a hole at that date

Classic Rifles wrote:

Blighty wrote:It looks very lovely indeed. My Spider senses tell me that the stock looks a little bit Polish.

I think your Spider sense is right as well. I would expect a Russian stock for the wood to be darker and for the sling eyelets to have a metal plate around them rather than just a hole at that date

I don't think so. The escutcheon plate around the sling hole was abandoned until after the war for speed and ease of production. Have a look at my earlier pic contrasting a 1939 stock with a 1945 one.

legs748 wrote: I don't think so. The escutcheon plate around the sling hole was abandoned until after the war for speed and ease of production. Have a look at my earlier pic contrasting a 1939 stock with a 1945 one.

Interesting. My 1942 M38 has escutcheons on both of the sling holes, I suppose it's down to what's determined as early and late war too. I've been having a read on the 7.62x54r.net website and there seems to be a huge variety in the configurations of the M38s and M44s, with some rather confusing overlap too