Just bought an Mosin-Nagant (M44)

I just got mine Monday. Welcome to the club! Hopefully if the weather is good, I can go shoot it tomorrow.

yep, the ganger up on 45 n . here in Houston , has a bunch of 44's that look brand new, for 109 , I think.

I have a M91 (Russian- Tula 1897) myself. You'll love the M44, tough as nails and should be reasonably accurate.

get an m39!

they are beautiful.

Congratulations. Head on over to mosinnagant.net, surplusrifle.com and 7.62x54R.com and find out just how fascinating these things really are!

To start you out, here's a guide to the common (and not-so-common) markings you'll find are stamped all over the gun.

Buy yourself some 10-cents-a-round surplus and bang away - just watch out for the fireball and have the cleaning kit handy afterwards.

You're going to love it.
Mauserguy

Isn't it amazing how much fun a hundred dollar Mosin can provide? Essex

Mosin/nagant collecting is addictive I started out 2 years ago with an m/38...now I have a WHOLE gun safe dedicated to them! At first I said I just wanted one representative of each type (m/38, m/44, 91/59 and 91/30). Now it seems every gun show I attend I find something new (hex head, laminated stock, Izzy or tula manufacture, ex snipers). I love it I have less than $800 invensted in ~dozen pieces of history that are a blast to shoot!

I got a few myself...

wnycollector, don't forget Finns.

Slater, would you be so kind as to PM me directions to your house? When the apocalypse comes, I know where I'm falling back to...

I have a M91 (Russian- Tula 1891) myself. You'll love the M44, tough as nails and should be reasonably accurate.

Click to expand...

Check your tang date again. The numbers and symbols are often hard to read. There were no Tulas from 1891. Chatellerault made the first few years production, starting in 1892.

http://www.mosinnagant.net/USSR/mosinfrench.asp

Big tip for shooting the M44. If you fire it with corrosive ammo and with the bayonet extended, be sure to clean the bayo just like you clean the bore. Most people forget that the bayonet is exposed to the muzzle blast of the corrosive ammo. They don't clean the bayo and end up with a rusty pig sticker in no time. Trust me, it happens.....

Also, be sure to check the firing pin protrustion, don't wany any accidents.

Slater...my hat is off to you...THAT IS AN IMPRESSIVE COLLECTION!

Also I have not forgotten the Finn's...I just haven't finished with the russin's yet! Or the Pols or chinese or albanians.............

Holy cow, Slater... are you a dealer?!

LOL I dont think he is a dealer...just a typical nagant freak with a VERY VERY reasonable wife Seriously, If I had the time and space I would love a collection like that! Nagants are VERY addictive!

dont forget, go get you a SMALL SIZE slip on pad, and put on the butt. will tame that kick for you.

I've accumulated all these over a 5 or 6 year period (thank God that Big 5 used to have, until recently, a layaway program).

If I'm at a gun show (or Big 5, or wherever), and I have the cash I'll buy a nice Mosin if I happen across one. That tends to add up over time

Slater, can you post some more pictures of the rifle on the left closest to the camera on the first pic? That laminated birch stock looks so pretty.

I have a 91/30 I purchased at the brown convention center gun show in Houston three weeks ago and I have been just shooting the snot out of it (almost 400 rds so far).

Vzenmn;

This is the rifle in question, although it's not a laminate but a normal birch stock. The original finish was peeling badly so I stripped it and applied a couple coats of shellac:

It still looks good man, the grain is wonderful.

Is there a good site to get good/cheap surplus rifles...mosin/mauser/sks?

Define "good" and "cheap."

Check your local chain sporting goods store; Big 5 is what we have here, and the three basic Mosins go on sale for $89 all the time. They also carry Turkish and Yugo Mausers and (up until a while ago, at least ) K-31s.

There are several sites specializing in surplus firearms, some I can think of off the top of my head are:

classicarms.us
empirearms.com
southernohiogun.com
samcoglobal.com
aimsurplus.com

Places like centerfiresystems.com and jgsales.com sell a bunch of everything, but do have surplus rifles. Empire sells high-dollar, high-quality collectible rifles.

Mosins are pretty much universal these days since they can be wholesaled for so cheap - M91/30s, for example, can be bought for around $69 online, but then you have to factor in shipping and FFL transfer (unless you have a C&R license).

Speaking of which - if you're looking to start a collection, get yourself a type 03 FFL (aka C&R). You should just about recover the cost of the license ($30) on your first C&R gun assuming your local places charge $25 for transfers like mine do.

Mosins tend to have wonderful grain in general, for whatever reason. They must have had access to reasonably high quality birch blanks. When I bought my M38, I had to choose between five M38s and five M44s at a table that only sells high-quality milsurps. All ten guns had exceptional grain patterns. I ended up having my wife help my choose, it was impossible otherwise.