Tula M44

[TheDan]

This past Saturday I went to the toy store to pickup a Ruger .44 carbine I had bought on gunbroker, and a nice looking Mosin carbine caught my eye on the shelf. When I checked it out, I noticed the star and arrow logo and asked the guy where this one was made. "I dunno... Russia," he said. Well, I didn't have a M44 yet and this one looked nice so I picked it up.

It's always a good day when you go in for one and walk out with two My day got even better when I got home and looked up info on the rifle. Apparently the M44s made at the Tula plant are rare. I don't know how "rare" any Mosin really is, but it made me feel like I had a nice find.

So are the Tula M44's actually rare, or is that just internet hype?

Pics:

 

[majormadmax]

While only a 5/10 on the Mosin Rarity Chart, they seem to be getting harder to find lately and the fact that they were only made at that factory in 1944 makes them a fairly hot ticket item to most Mosin collectors. I've been half looking for one, not putting too much effort into it but hoping one of these days to score one like you did.

Is it counterbored? If you don't know, stick a 7.62x54R cartridge in the end of the barrel, and if you can still see the bullet it hasn't been counterbored. It's no biggie if it has, just that some folks prefer them not.

If you don't mind my asking, what did you pay for it?

Cheers! M2

 

[M. Sage]

Nice find! First year of production, too.

Yes, there are some rare Mosins out there. It's just that they're... rare.

 

[Alamocity]

Nice looking M44. 1943 was actually the first year of production if you consider the 50,000 that were produced and put into the field for evaluation. I know at least one M44 was created in 1943; I own it!

Yeah, there was a time not that long ago when M44's were everywhere online. Definitely a lot fewer of them on the market for now. Probably another 200k out there somewhere in Ukraine, perhaps.

T

 

[majormadmax]

Nice looking M44. 1943 was actually the first year of production if you consider the 50,000 that were produced and put into the field for evaluation. I know at least one M44 was created in 1943; I own it!

Hey T, you ain't interested in selling that M44, are ya?!?

Cheers! M2

 

[Alamocity]

Not yet. I got it on a group buy over at gunboards a few years ago and have yet to shoot it. Love the thought of it somewhere on the eastern front in '43/'44 being "tested".

It's not likely to be anywhere near my 'WTS' list anytime soon.

T

 

[majormadmax]

No sweat, thought I'd ask just in case!

Cheers! M2

 

[TexasR.N.]

I'm envious! Great find, congrats on the buy. I love my mosin.

Craig

 

[TheDan]

Is it counterbored? If you don't know, stick a 7.62x54R cartridge in the end of the barrel, and if you can still see the bullet it hasn't been counterbored. It's no biggie if it has, just that some folks prefer them not.

If you don't mind my asking, what did you pay for it?

What the heck... Yeah the bullet is all loosey goosey in the muzzle of the M44. I checked on my 91/30 and it's nice and tight like it should be. I inspected the bore a little more closely and it looks like the rifling actually stops 1/2" or so before the muzzle. Is that what the counterboring does? Why the hell would someone do that? Seems like that would really degrade the accuracy.

I paid $99 for it, but since I was buying a gun off the shelf they did my transfer on the Ruger for next to nothing. Decent deal I think.

 

[M. Sage]

What the heck... Yeah the bullet is all loosey goosey in the muzzle of the M44. I checked on my 91/30 and it's nice and tight like it should be. I inspected the bore a little more closely and it looks like the rifling actually stops 1/2" or so before the muzzle. Is that what the counterboring does? Why the hell would someone do that? Seems like that would really degrade the accuracy.

I paid $99 for it, but since I was buying a gun off the shelf they did my transfer on the Ruger for next to nothing. Decent deal I think.

Yes, that's what counter-boring is. It was done to restore accuracy. Why? Because the rifle was used with corrosive ammo - which means it got cleaned a lot (and they're STILL sewer pipes!) and the issue cleaning rod was steel. You cleaned it from the muzzle end, and a lot of the troops either lost or forgot to use the issued cleaning rod guide to protect the crown. So that steel cleaning rod jamming back and forth wears the muzzle into a trumpet shape (not so extreme, but you get the idea). That kills accuracy, especially since that wear isn't going to be perfectly concentric to the bore. So you take a reamer and counter-bore the barrel back to where it's still good and tight. It's just a really cheap and easy way to re-crown a worn barrel.

 

[TheDan]

Interesting. Guess that makes sense, since you can't cut the barrel and re-crown due to the bayonet system. So why did they always clean from the muzzle end? Takes about 5 sec to pull the bolt on one of them.

 

[M. Sage]

Interesting. Guess that makes sense, since you can't cut the barrel and re-crown due to the bayonet system. So why did they always clean from the muzzle end? Takes about 5 sec to pull the bolt on one of them.

Because they issued a one-piece cleaning rod that was stored under the barrel. It's too short to clean from the breech.

You can also wind up with a similar issue cleaning from the breech using a steel rod. Throat erosion isn't good for accuracy either.