I think its a M44 ???

[fox fire]

A guy at work bought a old russian milatary rifle, the gent he bought it from told him it was a M44,but heres the good part... he dont know what ammo to buy (yea,,,I know), so if anyone has a clue or a way we can find out it would be a big help.

 I told him I dont know milatary guns at all but the gun is extremely clean, the seller told him it had never been shot, after lookin it over it seems possable, its full of (I guess) cosmoline or something like it and the internal parts are perfect, the only wear is from the bolt being worked and its just very faint rub marks in the blueing.

Thanx in advance.

[hillbill]

any chance of a pic? im not a big mil surp guy but these dudes on here know everything bout them.with a decent pic they can tell yu everything.im guessing its a 7.62x54?

[Pat/Rick]

The M-44 is carbine length with an attached folding bayonet. yes it should be 7.62x54R. Cosmoline is easily removed with WD-40. Pay particular attention to the chamber and bore. A very good web site is 7.62x54r.net to help w/ ID.  Yep, a pic or seven would help.

[fox fire]

At this time I'm not set up to do pics (but really need to get on the boat), The guy he bought it from is a ok guy, I guess he took it for granted to buyer new what caliber it was, but the buyer is kinda green and actually mite not think to ask the caliber.

 I told him to ask to be sure but ya'll's description is spot on.

[Mikey]

fox:  my brother purchased one of those thinking the '7.62' designation meant it was 308 caliber.  The other responders have given you the correct caliber designation - 7.62x54R and this ammunition is quite plentiful these days but I would have it inspected by a gunsmith to determine if it is safe to shoot and if the gunsmith says it is good to go then get a bunch of ammo and have fun.  The 7.62x54R round, is a hard hitting round that falls, ballistically, between the 308 and the 30-06 in power.  In the M44, which is carbine length, you have a great woods rifle as well as one that turns heads at the range when you start touching a few rounds off.  I can guarantee you that if you shoot one of these at dusk it will be dark before you get your night vision back (lolol).  Good luck, have fun and HTH.

[Spanky]

Sounds like a real nice M44. They're solid dependable rifles and usually shoot pretty decent. Ammo is available everywhere and it's cheap... buy a few different kinds of ammo and see what shoots best in it. If he wants to hunt with it look at some of the 203gr. Brown Bear ammo... it shoots really good in my 91/30. The 91/30 is a longer version of the 44 without the attached bayonet. Mikey is right about lighting up the sky with the 44... it'll blow about 5 feet of fire out the barrel. 
The aftermarket is pretty big for Nagant's too... you can get scope mount kits and synthetic stocks and such online for pretty cheap money. Most folks go for the ATI kits because they're readily available.
I'd say just find out what it shoots best with and have fun.



Spanky

[Pat/Rick]

Know that the M-44 was designed and sighted to shoot with the bayonet deployed. Having it stowed may change the point of impact and it may not, most of my m-44's have a different POI and a couple do not. Also, I have had good luck with Winchester metric ammo. 180 grain SP's for hunting. It is made by sellior&bellot and the S&B stuff can be had for a buck or two less. Have fun!

[godogz]

You can drift the front sight to make up for the bayonet.  I took my bayonet off, drifted the front sight over and it shot fine.  carbine was great for 200 yds hunting, w/out the bayonet - made it lighter.  I sold my romanian m-44 a couple of years ago to thin out my safe.  I do however enjoy my 91/30 much better and have kept it - its scoped and I enjoy the little longer range it provides.  7.62x54R round is a nice round that is closer to the 308 or 7mm-08 round than 06 imho.  I keep it at my property for a back-up, rainy day, or "left my gun/rounds at home" friends.  Can't go wrong w/ a Mosin.

[1911crazy]

The very first batch of these were imported around the time of the russian/chinese sks's were offered. Next to the sks's my local gun shop had the m44 russsian mosins marked $114.  These were brand new russian m44's the dates on the receiver matched the dates on the barrels so these were brand new m44's not reworks.  These do need to be sighted in when you shoot it for the first time.  Mine is way off when i shot it but they can be sighted in.  Mikey here has a lot of experience with getting these little blasters to shoot good.

We don't see that many brand new mosins and i think the m44 is the only new mosins imported.

Some sellers do get the m44 confused with the m91/59 and the m38 mosins too i been there before i got more knowledge.  I purchased what i thought was a m44 sporter(labeled/marked 44) and looking closer at the rear site that was milled on the longer site ranges it turned out to be a m91/59.  Which is ok too its a purdy one done by a good gunsmith.

[gandog56]

You can drift the front sight to make up for the bayonet.  I took my bayonet off, drifted the front sight over and it shot fine.  carbine was great for 200 yds hunting, w/out the bayonet - made it lighter.

Well if you didn't like the bayonet, why didn't you get the M38 or 91/59?

[godogz]

Gandog - when I bought my M-44, over 15 years ago, it was on sale at Dunhams for $69.00.  It was the cheapest gun there, and I didn't have any rifles (only a single shot 20 ga my grandfather gave me). Soft point ammo was cheap at $8 a box for a green box that said 7,62 x54 SP - product of Russia (I haven't seen this again probably brown bear or hot shot).  The gentleman at the counter took off the bayonet for me, showed me how to drift the front sight.  Took it to the range sighted it in and was ready to go.  At that time it wouldn't have mattered what type of rifle it was, just wanted to go to deer camp with my buddies - college poor, but too proud to borrow a rifle.

My father wasn't much of a hunter (blind in one eye - so never really learned to shoot) so I have self taught myself over the years.  Through the years of trading up and buying I have acquired what I have now - My original 20 ga, Savage 10-22, Savage 300 win mag, H&R 410, NEF 270 (which I traded/sold my M-44 to make room for), M 91/30 (my rain gun/back-up gun), CVA Bobcat side lock, and finally a CVA Buckhorn in-line.  My father-in-law has taken me under his wing in teaching me how to hunt and we are passing the information down to my kids.  I think I have everything covered for our joint 50 acres up north gun wise.

[Redneckguy77]

i own a m44 it shoots the winchester factory 180 grain soft pionts really well i can hit a gong at 200 yards everytime. you can get them at big 5 for around 20 bucks a box. it shoots the 7.62x54r