Anyone ever use an M44 Mosin Nagant for hunting?

[MMA1991]

I took mine to the camp this year hoping to take a feral hog...no joy.

Purchased some 180 grain Winchester soft point bullets to do the job.

Curious if anyone has taken a hog (or anything else) with the M44?

 

[LAGS]

I have taken the MN's out several times hunting both the 1891 for Coyotes in California, and a Chinese M-53 for wild boar.
I see no reason why they will not perform well, and I have a Finnish M-28 that I wouldn't mind using on Elk sometime.
The Finn is customized with a scope, but the others were as issued, so they were heavy and cumbersom.

 

[jason41987]

theres absolutely no reason a mosin nagant couldnt take hog and just about anything else you point it at.. is your concern with accuracy because with surplus ammo its not that great.. even with good ammo they tend to match semi automatics for accuracy but i dont know anyone who hunts beyond 100-150 yards anyway and it and ballistically its about the same as a .308.. sure its longer than a 308 by a tad, but also operates at lower pressures, so it can be treated much like a 308

i was thinking of deer hunting next year using my M38

 

[AethelstanAegen]

I've used my M91/30 before, but never used my M44. While slightly shorter, the M44 weighs more than the M91/30, so I didn't really see the point. I later on sold my M44. If I ever see an M38, I'd like to pick up one of those but the M44 was too front heavy. The length of the M91/30 didn't bug me wince I frequently hunt/shoot with long, musket-like firearms.

 

[LAGS]

@ MMA1991
Back in the 70's when I hunted with the Mosin Nagants, you could not Buy Soft Point Hunting ammo for them except for Norma at $45.00 a box
So I pulled the bullets off surplus ammo , downloaded them a bit and shot either Hornady 123 .311 AK bullets or Soft point 150 -.311 that were intended for the .303
I still have the Lee Classic Reloader Kit that I used to reload them back then.
Norma was the only one who made the Berdan cases at the time, so it was cheaper to Dink with reloading surplus stuff.
The 123 gr gave suprising accuracy out of the 1891 long barrel for poping at the coyotes.
The M-44 should shoot Minute of Pig for your hunt, and I would use it.

 

[jason41987]

I've used my M91/30 before, but never used my M44. While slightly shorter, the M44 weighs more than the M91/30, so I didn't really see the point. I later on sold my M44. If I ever see an M38, I'd like to pick up one of those but the M44 was too front heavy. The length of the M91/30 didn't bug me wince I frequently hunt/shoot with long, musket-like firearms.

thats why i bought the M38, it has the same barrel length as the M44 but without the bayonet, so its the lightest of all the mosin nagants, and since very few M38s were actually used it seems you can get them with pretty good bores

 

[jason41987]

anyway, i use the lee classic loader too.. i love those things, and ive been working on trying to perfect a load designed for the shorter barrels of the M38/M44 rifles, as most your off the shelf stuff performs well with 91/30s, youll notice firing them at night through the 20 inch nagants will leave quite a large fireball out the end.. so you could load them with less powder and not take any kind of performance loss.. in fact, may get better accuracy and be much easier on the brass too to down-load 7.62x54R specifically for those 20 inches

 

[Fiv3r]

I haven't but I keep my Type 53 as a camp rifle. For me, it's a rugged cost effective rifle that I don't mind getting knocked around in the truck. On top of that, there isn't much that a proper round of 54r can't take of in the lower 48. While not something I would find ideal for a dedicated hunting rifle, it would do the trick if you do your part.

 

[jason41987]

about the only negative marks im going to give mosin nagants is that they are VERY uncomfortable, i hate straight comb stocks, and im really not in love with 7.62x54R in the least bit.. ballistically about identicle to a 308, but with more difficult to find .311 bullets and that rim that can cause loading and feeding issues.. in fact im amazed the russians havent created a rimless version yet but then again if you modernize 7.62x54R by going rimless, shortening it, and increasing pressure youd have a .308.. so it is what it is and im not very fond of it

 

[primalmu]

As long as you load the ammo correctly you won't get rim lock. I shot over 500 rounds through my old 91/30 before I sold it and never had a problem. Honestly, I think you'd have to purposefully try to load the magazine incorrectly for rim lock to be a problem.

 

[Ian]

The Mosin-Nagant magazine/action has an interrupter built in to prevent rimlock.

 

[jason41987]

M38s were rarely used, so still in the rough and needing some breaking in.. i noticed the spring on the side way say too tight and some of the interior surfaces needed polishing.. there was way too much pressure to overcome, and it doesnt matter how i load my clips, theres so much play in them the rims will get messed up anyway.. theyre awful clips so im open to recommendations for better stripper clips too

 

[AethelstanAegen]

The Mosin-Nagant magazine/action has an interrupter built in to prevent rimlock.

+1, if your interrupter is working properly, there should be no problems. My M91/30 has never has a rimlock problem, but my M44 had some intermittently; I swapped the M44's interrupter and didn't have any more problems.

 

[jason41987]

my rimlock only occurs when loading the mags from a stripper clip

 

[Slamfire]

Shot a deer at close range with a M27 Finnish. It worked.

 

[LAGS]

I very rarely use the stripper clips to load my rifles, especially when hunting.
The M-27 with my side mounted scope base will not let you use the strippers anyway, because the scope is high over the center of bore, and I can still use the iron sights if I put the low ones back on the rifle.
But the high ones I put on are good for shooting out to 300 + yards if the scope and mount are removed.

 

[jason41987]

im going to get some higher quality clips that maybe hold the rounds a bit more securely so the rims dont get all tangled, the really cheap ones i have really suck.. that coupled with some of the internal work ive been doing polishing surfaces, lightening springs, etc has already been working wonders.. with the right clips it should be able to feed as well as any clip fed bolt action out there. im likely to carry it unloaded until i get to where im hunting and then load a clip of 5 in.. and i just use iron sights, no scope

 

[LAGS]

@ Jason 41987
I have the steel ones that came in the Spam can, and some really cheap brass ones that come on the chinese ammo, and they break in two as soon as the shells come out of them.
A also have some that are totally different on the side ends that look like chrome and are probably Finnish Mfg.
But on the Steel ones from the spam can.
If you load from one end, and stack the rounds on over the top of each other, then they tend to stay that way.
You just have to mark them as to what direction you load them into the gun so the rims are interlocked to come off in the right order.
I dont use them much like I said, but I do use them to hold ammo in my pockets.

 

[Uncle Mike]

I shot several hogs with one of mine, using some third world spam-can corrosive ammo, did the trick just fine.

 

[Dolph92]

My m38 is my backup deer gun friend of mine uses his all the time for deer.

 

[jason41987]

as i said, my clips hold the ammo way too loose that if they get shaken even a bit, all the rims will mess up.. and they wobble like crazy

 

[nathan]

Siberian eskimos used them to hunt grizzley bears . Ive seen pics in National Geographics . The M44s even looked like beat up Chicom M53s.

 

[krupparms]

It will do fine as long as you do yours! Shot a nice buck right after I got mine. They make good extra rifles for a backup at hunting camp.

 

[mgkdrgn]

The M44 & 91/30 Mosin Nagants are FINE hunting rifles. Many many of my customers have used them for hunting. Just don't use the milsurp ammo ... get some expanding soft points. (but at 180 grain sounds like you already have). The Nagant does seem to favor the 180 grain bullet a bit.
That rifle will knock down anything that walks in North America, and most other places as well.
Good luck!

 

[jason41987]

for hunting, may want to consider saving some weight and losing the bayonet though