[ETCss Phil McCrackin]

I've been thinking about picking up one of these rifles for the combination of smallbore competition, cheap highpower practice, and of course, fun plinking with my 9yr old son.
http://www.havlinsales.com/44us1.jpg
Do any of you guys have any experience with these? Around 200 bucks seems like a steal for what could be a great little piece.

[Jim Watson]

That money will get you a CZ452 Basic and better shooting. When the CMP was selling surplus Mossbergs for $89 they were a good deal and I know shooters doing good work with them. The current price of over $200 for a used rifle is not.

[Berg]

The M44 is a great piece of history. They can sometimes be found for around $150 in my area. I have a friend who has one but like the previous poster, he prefers his CZ .22 The CZ will generally have scope mount and iron sights for agbout $189 on sale at a major retailer.

The M44 sometimes has issues like mags hard to find and the trigger guard is easy to break. Plus I don't hink you can mount a scope with out drilling it and ruining it's collectability.

CZ youth model:
http://www.internetguncatalog.com/pics/31197.jpg
CZ 513:
https://www.gilbertsguns.com/productimages/000964.large.jpg

[Swampy]

Phil,

I own several of the Mossy US-44's. They are GREAT rifles. Full size adult stock, good target sights, accurate as all get out. What's not to like??? ;)

Bought several of them when the CMP was selling them for $75 each. Anybody who did not get one or six before the supply dried up really missed out. All of them will shoot 1 to 1-1/4 MOA at 100 yds all day long. This is with the iron sights and CCI Std Velocity ammo.

If you can get a good Mossy US44, with magazine and solid trigger guard for $200 you are getting a decent deal.

BTW, Brownells sells both magazines and replacement trigger guards, as does Havlin Sales in StLouis. Vic Havlin is the "Go-To-Guy" for anything Mossberg.

Also, BTW..... You CAN mount a scope on one of these rifles without modifying anything. I bought a couple of modified Weaver side rails from a guy named Doug (sorry, can't remember more than that.). These screw directly to the rear sight mount holes. The Weaver stock upper rail fits right to the lower side rail and you can then put on any scope you want. The one I have a scope on will shoot dime sized groups @ 50 yds as long as the ammo holds out.

Best regards,
Swampy

Garands forever