WTB A cheap deer rifle in alaska. Thinking mosin nagant m44. Any other suggestions?

I think a Mosin for Alaska would be a good rifle. BUT the M44 has such a short barrel. The only issues I'd have with one would be the muzzle blast and the bayonet if you need short Mosin get an M38. If hunting (and shooting) without hearing protection I'd stay away from the M44 or M38. Maybe an M91/30 would be a better fit?

They are definitely sturdy rifles. I have a 91/30 myself. The muzzle flash on the shorter ones is well... impressive!

You could shoot the deer, run up to it, skewer it with the bayonet, then roast it with the fireball when you fire the next round! Honestly, it will do the job just fine but you need to sight it in because poa/poi changes drastically with the bayonet deployed versus folded and these guns aren't known for supreme accuracy so you'll want to take the necessary precautions. I think with soft points that round would devastate a deer. The prices are going up on M44s, approaching a Stevens 200. In which case I'd get that in .308 instead due to the wide variety of ammo available.

jpwilly said:

I think a Mosin for Alaska would be a good rifle. BUT the M44 has such a short barrel. The only issues I'd have with one would be the muzzle blast and the bayonet if you need short Mosin get an M38. If hunting (and shooting) without hearing protection I'd stay away from the M44 or M38. Maybe an M91/30 would be a better fit?

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If you can find one a better choice would be a Yugo Mauser. If you want to sporterize it there are far few issues that with a Mosin. Don't get me wrong, I love my Mosin. But in my opinion, it's purly a Mil Surp. For shooting and hunting in Alaska, the Yugo is much better. And an 8x57 is a great cartridge. And if you hand load it's even better.

Also, if you want to make a cheap sporter, you can do it for less than $300. It cost me $243 and some change. He bent the bolt(so it clears the scope) he drilled and tapped the receiver and milled down the bridge where the stripper clips feed, he installed a Timney Sporter Trigger and adjusted it for about 2 pounds pull, he installed a Beuler Safety (which like the bolt, also clears the scope). He installed an aftermarket firing pin spring (to decrease lock time, thereby improving accuracy), and also removed the rear sight assembly from the barrel (Another scope clearing issue). This price included a set of Redfield style mounts. I put it in a Boyd's Pepper laminate stock and bedded it in. I put a Vortex Diamond Back 4-12x40 scope on it and it is my go to hog rifle. I left the mil surp barrel on it in 8x57 mm Mauser cal. Like I said, less the scope and stock it cost me $243. and change. But you don't have to put it in a stock or even put a scope on it.

If you're planning on using optics I would skip the Mosin and go with an entry level 30-06 or 308 hunter. You can get a brand new Savage with glass for less than 400 bucks and it'll be a hell of a lot lighter and more pleasant to lug around the woods.

My brother and his sons use open sighted Mosin's to great effect aways away from you at Sitka.

My nephews declare they are perfect..........like I do

Nothing wrong with it, but if it was me, I would eat mac and cheese for a month and see if I could find a decent .308 in a pawn shop.

X2 on spending a few more bucks on a used hunting rifle...Optic mounting will be easier and the safety will likely be more user friendly.

I have no exp with Mosins yet but really want to get one. What I have for hunting in Maine is a Savage Axis XP .308 that came with a 3-9x40 Bushnell scope for $329 on sale at Cabela's. It holds 1" @ 100 yards no problem, is light, reliable, consistent and didn't break the bank.

Good luck in your choice, and in hunting.

My bro and his second son use M91/30's, my bro a little (bad leg) my nephews alot. His oldest son to a shine to Mosins and has an M-44,M39 and lately, and M-28. I think the M-44 is used sans Bayonett, but great sucsess has been had with both.

From the pictures I belive EVERY shot was under 100 yards







I might add that my bro and nephews are crazy about accuracy, and the oldest son, shown in the pictures has found his most accurate shooting with his M-39, its accuracy and reliability are worth the extra weight that will square your shoulders while you carry it along . Its all good.

Yeah, Mosins are cheap and all, but you could get SO MUCH of a better rifle for that purpose for just a little more. If I didn't have much money and I wanted to buy something to take deer hunting, I would get a Stevens 200 in .308 and slap a Weaver 1-3x scope on it, or something along those lines.

A good Mosin will do all you need to and then some. And no you don't need optics so long as your eyes are young or you have sufficient guile to make up for old eyes. I've carried a variety of Mosins around AK and some Mausers. The Mosins, esp. 91/30's, are easier to tote and better balanced in the hand. I also like the way they shoulder better than Mausers. And of course with 8x57JS you have the terrible SAAMI restrictions that keep domestic made rounds downloaded to .30-30 levels.

As an extra point, I love the Mosin safety for Alaska. It's a very reliable safety. I've had a C&L Mosin fly off my shoulder when I fell on a bridge, go over the railing and land on the rocks below with no ill effects and no discharge.

+1 for M31/90. I want to be able to remove the bayonet easily. The longer barrel is helpful. If you are even dreaming of tangling with a bear get at least a 300mag. President Roosevelt did kill a grizzly bear with a 30/06 but he had a guide and porters to back him up. Up close and personal with a wounded grizzly I would feel better with a 12ga Mossberg 500 loaded with 3 inch magnum slugs.

91/30 oooorrrrrrr...K31 if milsurps are the rifle of interest.

Lots.
First find something that has rounds at .18 cents each, right now. 440 rounds, 85 bucks.
It's light, it's easy to carry, and the trigger isn't great, but passable.

First, define 'cheap'.

Have a few and like them all. One is "bubba'd" up with bent bolt/etc. If you use new ammo you will greatly reduce the "fire ball" and noise level. Their ballistics are similar to the '06/308. In milsup ammo I greatly prefer the light ball. In hunting a 150 gn SP over medium powder will put 'em where you want 'em. I have a few Boxer primed brass cases that I treasure for hunting and use the "disposable" for blasting--just wear ear protection--lol.

If you do choose to hunt in Alaska with a Mosin-Magaint get decent ammo. Brown Bear 203gr soft points are $10 a box. They shoot good in my Dragoon. There is a huge difference between the hunting loads and the spam box ammo.

I am shooting with open sights. I have no problems hitting a paper plate at 150 yards. The serial numbers completely match on my gun. The gun had very little wear on it. The contact points where the bolt latches in the receiver showed no wear. It still took a lot of work to get the action real slick.

Will the Mosin Magant do every thing you want to do? Yes!! Do you want to do all the things required to get a good Mosin - Magant?

Here is a good guide to help you find a decent Mosin to start working on: Underrated Mosin Nagant

Mosin deer rifle

Get a carbine,
Remove the bayonet ect

Clean the heck out of it.

If it groups well then leave it alone.

Spend your money on High quality binoculars.

IF it doesn't:banghead:

Have the head space checked,

recrown the barrel

Up grade the trigger.

glass bed the action....

It should groups well now

Then if you want to

put a scout scope on it.

replace the stock

As much as I love my Mosins I feel that a modern rifle would be a better choice.

First off the Mosins are made thick and heavy on purpose to come out intact despite ugly conditions and wartime style rough use. So the stocks are far thicker and heavier than they need to be for any manner of sporting rifle. Do you really want to carry around about 5 or so extra pounds around ALL the time?

Second is that some of them need a serious amount of tinkering to cure the dreaded sticky bolt problems that plague them. If you need to get a second round chambered in a hurry and you happen to have one of the guns which is a bit stickier than most this could prove to be a serious issue.

So all in all I'd be looking for a lighter synthetic stocked rifle with a slick handling bolt...

Aim has chinese type 53 rifles for $120 if you want a cheap carbine but a real man would use a mosin 91/59.

I second the recommendation of going with the M-39. I've shot some 91/30's that were pretty accurate shooters but the M-39's I've owned were definitely the most accurate and most finely made military rifles I've ever owned.

lefteyedom said:

Get a carbine,
Remove the bayonet ect

Clean the heck out of it.

If it groups well then leave it alone.

Spend your money on High quality binoculars.

IF it doesn't:banghead:

Have the head space checked,

recrown the barrel

Up grade the trigger.

glass bed the action....

It should groups well now

Then if you want to

put a scout scope on it.

replace the stock

Click to expand...

If it STILL doesn't group well...put bayonet back on!

If cost was no factor in the OP's buying decision he would not be considering a Mosin Magant. He would just go order a Browning BAR II Safari Grade, semi-auto 30/06 and be done with it.