Mosin Nagant M-44 Carbine

Do you have a link to look at, i've never seen one before.

Here's what they all pretty much look like stock early 1900s. Most WWII shooters have them as the primary bolt weapon. There a quit a few upgrades out there to make it a mean mamma-jamma for about $200 with the rifle. I need some feedback from a non-biased party(ies). If you go on a forum dedicated to them, they are the best thing since sliced bread, but most don't believe in "sporsterizing" them. Much like paintball forums, firearm forums are very biased.



Edited by WUNgUN

Chirp, chirp, and chirp...

Alright, I own a Mosin Nagant, but being the type of shooter I am I had to go out and get what could arguably be the most refined version. I bought a Finnish M-39 that was in "new" condition. Meaning it hadn't been issued since it was turned into an M-39. Like most Finnish Mosins it started life as a Russian rifle(Tula M91 made in 1898) and was rebarreled and reworked into a superior rifle in terms of ergonomics and accuracy(it will give my 03-A3 a real run for its money). Mosin Nagants have their issues. The safety is well, a bear to work and not at all fast. If you brace the stock against the crook of your elbow you can get better leverage. Are you planning on scoping the rifle? If you're an open sight fan I'd suggest an M-38(same rifle minus bayonett) since M-44's are sighted with the bayo fixed or an M-59(shortened M-91/30, not origionally made as a carbine, but supposedly are good shooters since they have good fresh muzzle crowns). If you're going to go with a traditional type scope, you've got your work cut out for you. It's going to involve a new bolt body(or hacking up your existing one and making a less durable version) which is actually a decent deal if you get the sniper style bolt. It has a longer handle which will aid in extraction(Mosin bolt handles are short and provide crappy leverage with sticky cases). However, if I were in your shoes I'd suggest going with a scout type scope that would mount where your origional rear sight is. They're stable and allow you to use a pistol scope of long eye releif scope and shoot with both eyes open. You'd have a nice handy carbine that you could quickly get on target(to make up for the time you spend taking the safety off) and it wouldn't involve permanantly altering the rifle and reducing it's resale value if you ever get sick of it. There are also several drop-in synthetic stocks for it which would provide you with better dimensions for a larger stature and the scope, and also usually a recoil pad. My rifle ways a heck of a lot more that an M-44 and it still gives a pretty decent kick, especially with 204gr stuff. Also, somebody makes an adjustable trigger for the mosin that's supposed to be a great improvement, at least over the Russians and Chinese ones, the Finns did their own trigger jobs. There's a review on it somewhere on surplusrifle.com.
I'd say you want to get yourself an M-38, so you don't need to deal with a bayonett. Look at the crown on the barrel, the Russians wore a lot of them out cleaning from the muzzle. You might be better off with a counterbored rifle(the drill out the last few inches of the barrel to fix the crown, like a REALLY recessed crown) in terms of accuracy. Otherwise if you get a crappy one you can get the equipment to recrown it from brownell's. Then you want to put a scout scope on it and a new stock. Either go with a synthetic stock or modify the one on there(if you don't plan on reselling it)or if you're really crafty make your own to your specs. You also will probably want to do something with the trigger. The get yourself some Albanian light ball surplus and fire it in low light and watch it turn into a fire-breathing dragon.

Reb, try like $120 tops for just the rifle. I've seen em for $49.95. If you have a C&R license you're good to go. Try centuryarms.com and look for their cracked stock specials and such. Or look at the Yugo mausers. I think the M 24/some year here are decent large ring M-98 actions. The M-48's and M48a's are kind of a weird action length. Mausers probably offer more options for sporterizing than anything.