Which Mosin M44

[Zundfolge]

So whats the general consensus on Mosin Nagant M44s, which country made the "best" ... or more importantly which (if any) countries should be avoided?

Russian, Romanian, Hungarian, Polish ... are there others?

 

[GigaBuist]

Pretty sure only the Ruskies made the M44. Now, the 91/30 design is a different matter, or even the M38 maybe, but the M44 was so late in the bolt-action game that nobody else really picked it up.

I know there's a FInish version out there, but I think that's the M49 and is just a better 91/30. If I'm wrong, I'm sure somebody will correct me.

There's entire sites dedicated to the topic, but i haven't hit them in a while.

 

[steelhead]

Usually, the collectabilty of the rifles is more from what factory they were made in, what year, and how many produced. There are a lot of M44 shooters but people usually collect the M38's and M91 variations. Of the M44's, I've heard that the Hungarian and Polish versions are nicer than the Russian.

 

[Sylvilagus Aquaticus]

I've got a Hungarian M44 and a Polski M44. I think the Polish model is a little nicer than my Hunky. Both are nicer than 90% of the Russians I've seen. I have less than a hundred bucks in each...yeah, I know, I overpaid, but they're just so nice and I like the guy I bought them from.

Regards,
Rabbit.

 

[cracked butt]

Poland.
They made a bunch of them, but put them in storage as the Warsaw pact countries switched to the sks and AK.
Most of the Polish M44s were never used.


Romanians- I've seen alot of them and even own one, but I've never seen one that impressed me much.

 

[Zeke Menuar]

Out of the four Mosin's I have. The one with the best fit, finish and overall best quality is my '53 Hungarian M44.

ZM

 

[foghornl]

Aw, dang it, now I gotta dig mine out and take a look. IIRC, mine is a 1954 Romanian? Hungarian? vintage M-44

 

[mountaindrew]

Mine was a '54 Romanian. the metal was just fine, but the wood looked like somthing the cat dragged in. dinged very bad, someone really used this rifle. also the re-arsenaling left laquer/shelak all over the metal and everywhere.

 

[Slater]

The Chinese also made the M44. They called it the Type 53 (after the year of introduction), and it's the same as the others with the exception being the type of wood used and the cleaning rod is slightly different. They can still be found on occasion at guns shows, etc. although importation ceased in the early 1990's. The importer of mine was Navy Arms.

I would agree that the Polish M44's (if you can find one in decent shape) are about the best-made of the lot.

 

[DMK]

I'd go with a Polish M44 with everything else being equal. They do seem to be more refined (relatively, it's still an M44 after all) and have nicer wood. On the other hand, I really like that big Russian star on top of the recievers of M44s made at the Tula arsenal.

However, you'd probably be best off just getting whichever one is in the best condition with the lowest use. A refurbed, unissued Hungarian would probably be a better shooter than a "good condition" Russian.

Watch for wear on the muzzle, bore and especially the chamber throat. Also keep an eye out for rough or pitted chambers which can make extraction difficult. (this is mostly true for semi-auto milsurps, but a lot of folks complain about extraction issues in Mosins when shooting some ammo)

None of them should be avoided just because of who made them. The M44 is a simple and robust rifle no matter where it was manufactured.

 

[Okiecruffler]

My best shooter is a Hungarian, but the best looking in my collection are my Polish rifles. But some of those lamenated stock Ruskies come close.