I had planned on taking my M44 to the range on Saturday, but got an unexpected call from a friend asking if I’d like to go to a local gun show today. I picked up a M44 last weekend, so I thought this might be an opportunity to pick up a M38 also. While walking through the show, I saw a number of M38 & 44's in the $80-$140 range depending on stock & numbers. All of the M-38's that I saw had M44 stocks, no original stocks. I decided to hold off on the purchase, but when walking out of the show, I noticed a man carrying a Mosin carbine on his shoulder with a for sale sign. It happened to be a M38 with original stock and dog collar sling. Being the weak person that my wife believes me to be, I couldn’t resist & now my M44 has a companion. It is dated 1943 and has triangle/arrow markings. Machining marks are noticeably more rough than on my M44 (1944), but that is the norm from what I understand. Also the stampings are not as straight & as distinct. The stock is covered in a thick reddish lacquer, & has no metal insert in the rear and only the lower metal piece in the front slot. The bore is nice. The numbers mostly match (on the receiver, bolt, buttplate), but the floorplate has a lined out number and then a matching stamped number next to it. I think I’m done buying Mosin carbines for now (at least that’s what I told the wife. I just hope I don’t stumble onto one of the 91-59's any time soon. I again paid a little more than I had hoped ($100), but I liked the idea of original stock. Here is a picture of the happy couple. Maybe I’ll actually get to shoot them next weekend.