New owner of 2 nagants

[justanothergundude]

Hey everyone. I just wanted to say that i realy enjoy this place. I just bought not one but 2 M44's today. A russian and a hungarion(misspelled i know). The russian M44 has a laminated stock and is in what i think is very good condition. I bought that one yesterday today i sold a few coins from my collection and bought the hungarian one it to is in very good condition. They both need to be cleaned up some. I cant wait to get out and shoot them. I know that they do have a bit of a kick when shooting. The only thig does anyone know if all the ammo for them are steel core as the only range around were i live will not allow u to shoot any ammo that doesnt pass the magnet test. I was going to shoot my SAR1 but the ammo i had was steel core(luckely i had some wolf copper ammo in the truck). Also any tips or advise on these guns would be appreciated.

[Richard Simmons]

Congratulations. www.centerfiresystems.com has lead core match ammo @ $59.97 per 500 plus shipping. Are they matching numbers particularly the bolts? I'd suggest clean em, check the headspace and enjoy. I purchased a slip on recoil pad made out of wetsuit material. You can add or subtract little foam pads inside to change the length. Works great and really helps with the short stock at least for me. If your groups are way off extend the bayonet. Mine seems to shoot just fine either way but these were reported to have been regulated with the bayonet extended. Removing or leaving it folded can throw your group off. Have fun and enjoy the fireball.

[REDSTAR]

Hey welcome to the forum! Glad you started with one of my favorite rifles of all time.

I'm going to my playroom now with a magnet to check some ammo out. I'll be back.

[REDSTAR]

Yep, I have three different varieties of Suplus, Albanian, Russian and ?, they all fail the magnet test.

The stuff from Centerfire passed with flying colors. Plus it will probably be more accurate and it is new production.

I don't have any Wolf 54R, anyone know about it? Cheaper than dirt had it for $3.95 per 20.

[justanothergundude]

I just checked both of my rifles and darn it the bolt has different serial numbers on both. I didnt even think about that, is that a big problem. Also how do you check the headspace( i never bought surplus before always brandnew guns). I do know that my russian came from century arms do u know if they check headspace on them before they sell them( if there trained monkeys are capable) I will have to check out the ammo u suggested thanks for the help.

[REDSTAR]

This is my personal opinion, not advice-

Mosin bolts for the most part are interchangeable without safety concerns. I know some people say check the headspacing all the time, and I guess you should, however personally, I have several Mosins with mis matched bolts and they shoot fine and dandy. It's always preferable from a collecting standpoint to have matching numbers, but with a Mosin type rifle, it aint that big a deal IMO.

Hopefully the bolts are from the same country at least, although that doesn't much matter either IMO. I have a Russian rifle with a Hungarian bolt and it shoots really nice groups. The Russian rifle bolt should have an arrow in triangle proof mark, the Hungarian should have a '02' proofmark. The Russian may have something else. Tell us what the proofmarks are on the top of the bolt and I'll tell you where they're from.

See Homers thread about his Mosin bands for more info on headspacing.

PS- I still always fire off five shots away from my body on any Surplus rifle even if I have had headspacing tested and I inspect the spent shells thouroughly before I go to town with the rifle.

[whos2kno]

Originally posted by justanothergundude
Hey everyone. I just wanted to say that i realy enjoy this place. I just bought not one but 2 M44's today. A russian and a hungarion(misspelled i know). The russian M44 has a laminated stock and is in what i think is very good condition. I bought that one yesterday today i sold a few coins from my collection and bought the hungarian one it to is in very good condition. They both need to be cleaned up some. I cant wait to get out and shoot them. I know that they do have a bit of a kick when shooting. The only thig does anyone know if all the ammo for them are steel core as the only range around were i live will not allow u to shoot any ammo that doesnt pass the magnet test. I was going to shoot my SAR1 but the ammo i had was steel core(luckely i had some wolf copper ammo in the truck). Also any tips or advise on these guns would be appreciated.
another coin collector going surplus arms collector:D
ive been tempted on selling some of my collection and making my surplus bigger but it has not came to that yet.
whos2kno

[justanothergundude]

Thanks everyone. Redstar the russian M44 has the arrow in the triangle like you said. The hungarian well not sure there is what looks like a diamond with a 3 or a 0 in it. there is also the letter Y stamp in a few places. The reciever has a big 02 stamped om it and the date1953 thats about all i see on it. I will probably do like you do and shoot it until i can get a go no-go gauge to check the headspace. Thanks again

[REDSTAR]

The bolt on your Hungarian rifle is of Polish origin, they don't have the polish arsenal mark (oval 11) on their bolts, just diamonds and Y's and 'squigglies' :D.

[justanothergundude]

Thanks REDSTAR I wish i knew that before i bought it but oh well it still looks very nice i think i will just shoot it and have fun. I also think i will by a 91/30 one off these days. The place i bought the hungarian from had 2 91/30 that had matching bayonets. I think he wanted to much for them something like $190(heck he wants $500 for a SAR1) he aslo has a M38 that he wants 235 which i think is way to much. Oh well le t me stop ranting for now. Thanks again

[HomerTHX1138]

Get your C&R license for $30, then order a 91/30 from http://aimsurplus.com/acatalog/AIM_C_R_Rifles_6.html
for 39.95 + shipping and have it delivered to your door. (scroll down) :)

[breastman]

Originally posted by REDSTAR
Yep, I have three different varieties of Suplus, Albanian, Russian and ?, they all fail the magnet test.

The stuff from Centerfire passed with flying colors. Plus it will probably be more accurate and it is new production.

I don't have any Wolf 54R, anyone know about it? Cheaper than dirt had it for $3.95 per 20.

I got some of that same ammo from Cntrfire, and the headstamp is the same as the Wolf 200gr. 7.62X54R.
I tried it this weekend in my Lam. M44, and I had problems extracting this stuff (after firing). However, I had about 100rds of Albanian and worked and cycled great in my M44. Wolf is great in my M39, I think I'll try this new ammo (Centerfire's) in my M39 next time I go to the range. MNs are a great choice, enjoy.

Later.
Breastman.

[REDSTAR]

The Polish stuff is generally high quality so that's a plus.

That is weird about the ammo, some rifles can't stand the Albanian. I'd like to pin down this ammo mystery one day, this is a very common problem- difculty to extract, and I've had this on virgin rifles, It can all be due to chamber errosion.

[breastman]

I think that 200gr "mildly corrosive" ammo, is hotter than the Albanian, and maybe the cases are a little weaker. I noticed that when firing the 200gr ammo the muzzle flash was very bright and red like a flame thrower, I did not notice this with the Albanian, and yes, I have the video to prove it. However, IMO you have to buy and try different ammo to see what works best with for your gun.

Later,
Breastman.

[Schuetzenman]

Yes, the Mosin Nagant rifles are somewhat finicky on which brand of surplus they like to shoot. A good example of this is a M44 that AKDUDE owns. It shoots 8 inch groups with Russian copper washed 87 vintage ammo but with the Albanian brass cased shoots under 3 inches.

[Grayson]

The nagants are an excellent rifle to start with, but i will tell you there is a big difference and kick and sound between a m44 and a 91/30, i have both, the 91/30 kicks way less and doesnt have the cannon sound. But i love the 7.62 x 54r, it is my favortie surplus ammo. and if you like the ammo and the rifle, I suggest making your next step up a Tokerav SVT-40, semi-suto rifle also converted to a sniper, very-very awesome rifle, but the mags are really expensive, 10-rd'rs only and the are from $55 to $100 a peice. and a great reference book for the nagants is a book called Mosin-Nagant RIlfe by Terence W. Lapin, you can buy it at www.tapco.com or from centerfire, a very accurate book!

[neilwest]

1. glad to have another curio addict on the boards. Welcom aboard .:D

[justanothergundude]

Thanks everyone. I finaly have pictures of my Mosin but am at a loss as to how to post them. Any help would be appreciated