Hungarian M44 Bolt Issue

The rear part of the bolt is usually a pretty sloppy fit. With most Mosins you can see the up and down movement of the bolt as you squeeze the trigger. They don't come anywhere close to a Mauser action.

This is normal.

You have to understand what you have. Mosins were not made to any great fit or finish, and sloppiness like this is to be expected. How could you expect any pride in manufacture when the builders were oppressed drones?

The sloppiness is by design. If they were made to extremely tight tolerances, especially at the back-end of the bolt, it wouldn't be nearly as reliable under adverse conditions. Is it possible to tighten the tolerances and still keep it reliable? Yes, but it isn't really necessary for a gun designed as a battle rifle. There is some upward pressure on the back of the bolt from the sear/bolt-stop AND from the interrupter. Most of it is from the sear, so if you close the bolt with the trigger pulled, you'll find that the bolt sits all the way against the receiver. Or if you dry fire it (make sure it's unloaded first, twice) you'll see it drop the rest of the way. I've got 2 Hun M44s that are both good shooters.

And no, they're not Mausers, but they weren't designed to be. I've got many examples of both of them in my collection. (And there were lots of Mausers built by oppressed drones and they're no better than oppressed-drone mosins.) Lots of the Mosins, especially those of inter-war manufacture and post-war Eastern Block examples have great fit and finish. I'm still searching for a Romanian M44, Polish M44 (and Polish Wz-29 Mauser, but that's a different story.)

Matt

Usually the rear lug applys some of the tension on the firing spring during cocking....you might have a weak spring or the front lugs are engaging sooner than the rear.

If you feel inclined u could measure it against a diffrent bolt and see if there is a difference.

Might just try a different bolt assembly and see if the wiggle still exists.

Hrrm perhaps rear bridge is a little out of spec, or the bolts a little smaller od than nominal?

Dosent sound like its a real issue as long as the front lugs are headspacing ok.

OP, there is nothing wrong. It's all in the slop. Does the gun lock up? Does it work correctly? Have you even fired it?

Remember comrade:

"Is Mosin!"

Mine would all but pop open when there wast a cartridge in the chamber to push against. Id inspect lugs and recesses as much as possible, but if all checks out i wouldnt be overy concerned.