Who says the M44 is not accurate?

[mosinitis man]

I went to the range today and shot my new M44 that was purchased in January at Classic Arms. I thought I would share the results. I shot Barnaul 203gr. SP from 75yds. open sights, with no rest. The shot to the upper right corner was the first round fired. I find that my rifle shoots better when it's a little dirty. The next two was closer but it isn't until I hit the fourth round that my groups tighten up. I will take this out for deer and bear this comming hunting season and I will have to fire 2 or 3 rounds right before opening day so I dont have to worry about the flyers.

[R5CYA]

good shootin! good luck when hunting season opens!

[ArkansasHunter]

Not a bad shooter at all !!! Say feller what condition are Classic Arm M44 in ?
Thats the company I want to buy my M44 from, they claim to have the nicest available.
The one I want has a laminate stock, please let us know about the quality, do numbers match, barrel look good ?
Thank You A.H

[Full MeTal Jack]

Very Good!
Hope you shoot it many times between now and hunting season.
The first round out of a cold barrel should (sorta) group the same each time.

personally, have a case of Garanditis here.

[GlockMeister]

It's always A.H. that says that about the M44s and Mosins in general. LMAO JK A.H. lol

[Geo M44]

Originally Posted by mosinitis man

I went to the range today and shot my new M44 that was purchased in January at Classic Arms. I thought I would share the results. I shot Barnaul 203gr. SP from 75yds. open sights, with no rest. The shot to the upper right corner was the first round fired. I find that my rifle shoots better when it's a little dirty. The next two was closer but it isn't until I hit the fourth round that my groups tighten up. I will take this out for deer and bear this comming hunting season and I will have to fire 2 or 3 rounds right before opening day so I dont have to worry about the flyers.

I dunno... both of my M44's have been on paper at 50 yards first shot (up and to the left) then pretty darned accurate and consistant once I compensate (down and to the right). Even better now with hand loaded 174gr Sierra match HP BT and a scout scope at 100 yards.

[Big Dog]

I've been very pleased with my little M44 - it shoots best with the bayo extended. That is one myth that has proven true. YMMV.
My Finn M39 shoots lousy - UNLESS I use the heavy 203 grain SP hunting ammo! I guess it's a hunter at heart!

[texnmidwest]

Funny you should say that about the M39. I found that my first group at 50 yards was more of a full choke pattern out of my 12 gauge. But after the barrel got dirty it settled down some and put up a nice group.

I wonder if the bore diameter causes some of that. I believe that the M39 is more of a .308 diameter bullet as opposed to the .311 diameter. Bullet test sure shows that the diameter is smaller as compared to my 91/30s. My m38 and M44s are all counterbored so I can't tell about them.

[mosinitis man]

To answer Arkansas Hunters question, The M44 I ordered off of classic arms in January, Turned out to be like a new rifle ( after a very good cleaning ). It is a Izhevik made M44 with a date of 1944. It has a laminated stock ( it looks new ) and the blueing is 100%. All numbers match. When classic arms says these are like new, they are not kidding. I have owned and seen quite a few of these rifles but I have not found anything to beat their quality.

P.S. I fired the above groups with the bayonet folded in. I was surprised I didn't have to adjust the sights more. I made one small adjustment to the windage ( moved the front sight about a quarter inch to the left ).

[SwedeSteve]

Good shooting dude! Looks like you've got a deerslaye.
Tex- Have you slugged your barrel?

[texnmidwest]

Hmm. That is some good shootin'. Thanks for the adjustment info.

[mosinitis man]

I have not slugged my barrel yet but it is something I think I am going to try. I am just recently getting into reloading and I think it would be a good idea to do it. From what I understand though, the Russian M44 should have a .310 barrel and according to 7.62x54r.net the ammo I am using is also .310
I dont know if it will help explain the flyers or not. It shoots this way on a clean barrel regardless if the barrel is hot or cold. As you saw in the photo, after 1-3 rounds its accuracy really improves. The bore and rifling looks new, I think it saw very little use. Maybe it was issued to a ( as they used to call them in the Army ) R.E.M.F.

[SwedeSteve]

You really should slug it to get the most accuracy:

"Groove diameters vary and Russian/Soviet rifles tend to run larger than the nominal size of .311" to as much as .314". Slugging the bore is the only way to be sure of the exact measurement."

"A bullet larger than the groove diameter can cause dangerously high pressure when the rifle is fired. A bullet significantly smaller than the groove diameter might not stabilize properly and be inaccurate. Ideally the bullet should be slightly smaller than the groove diameter. Because of the wide variation in groove diameter between models and even within models the only way to be sure is to slug the "bore", or inside of the barrel."

[at4rxj]

You could drive a nail with that one

a big nail

[texnmidwest]

I should be getting the stuff to slug the barrels this weekend. Should be fun. Need to keep a book on which one slugged out to which diameter. Dang things look so much alike!

[SwedeSteve]

Print this and make a copy for each Mosin. Is a pain but has helped me answer a lot of my own, and other's questions! Mosin Nagant Data Sheet

[texnmidwest]

Thanks Swede! I will print that off....as soon as I can get that stupid new printer I bought working.

[SwedeSteve]

What are your prblems? PM me...

[texnmidwest]

Swede I will when I get to that point. LOL! I plan to dive into it tomorrow. I think it is just me needing to download a driver from the web.

[SwedeSteve]

Let me know!