Supposedly a couple crates of these were spotted by the importer in the early 2000s in Bulgaria as you mentioned, when I asked about them the importer guess they were either not purchased or got mixed in with other M44L(M1945) rifles as you mentioned. It's something very easily overlooked and I'm hoping this video will have folks running to check their M44 rifles just to see. Maybe more will be found!
Alden, thank you for sharing this with you... been a long time follow of The Mosin Crate, in fact, you pretty much started my addiction with the Mosin (never had a chance to buy from you, but your information has been beyond helpful.
Um this video had me scrambling to look at mine and its m44l after looking at all the markings and cues the only thing is mine has production year 1946 . And the funny thing is i bought it off my cousin 3 years ago for $75 and its still in mint condition its only had about 150 rounds put through it
I was gifted one of these, less than 100 rounds down the barrel, fresh from the original factory sleeve. I had NO IDEA the history and value of it until now! so cool!
Hi Ian! Just wanted to say thank you for making firearms history so accessible, and for providing detailed explanations of the actual mechanics behind a broad array of firearms. Your videos remind me of some of the better college lectures I had, and those were classes that cost quite a bit of money to attend, so it's pretty amazing that all of your content is available for free, online. Hope you're doing well and staying safe!
I like that every other country figured out the short rifle 10-30 years earlier and the soviets decided to get into it right before semi automatics became the norm
Interesting rifle. My M44 throws HUGE fireballs; I can see where their thinking was going. I'd like to shoot a mid-length Mosin, see how much it changes / tames the flamethrower effect.
The big fireball is due to gunpowder which is burning right outside the muzzle due to the short length, there is less room inside the rifle for the burn off.
i most definitely had one of these, it also said M44 and i thought it was a bit long for it to be an m44 but eventually just accepted it was just some error in length...now I'm really sad i sold it a few years back and mine had probably the smoothest bolt id ever felt on a mosin, didn't stick even a little...
Seeing this rifle makes you wonder why this 24" barrel MN model was not adopted in the later 1920's, early 1930's, as the replacement the M1891 and Dragoon; esp. since most other major powers were already using universal rifles, like the SMLE, M1903 and K98. Certainly experitmental models were tested at that time.
I've recently found a mosin with the date marked 1932/48/50. The search number is 36515, and it's a Tula rifle. I've never seen a mosin marked with three dates.
There are double dates, triple dates and I've even seen some quadruple dated Mosins before. You'll also see this on 1895 Nagant revolvers and perhaps other weapon types(I believe I've even seen it on an RC k98k before too.) Usually accompanied by an MO. They used to be more common back when 91/30s were still being imported, now collectors have snatched them up and they tend to bring a premium even though we are unsure of the exact reasoning behind the dates. Congrats.
I had an M44 that was marked 43 and 48 with an MO and a lot of other marks I didnt understand. It was my first Mosin as a teen in the 90s but was stolen by an illegal from Mexico that was my friend but had turned to Meth and eventually fled back to Mexico after a crime spree of ripping off everyone he knew
Now I'm gonna have to dig in my safe and examine my 91/30, M44, and M 38 and rewatch all your Mosin videos. And I just thought they were just fun inexpensive shooters. They are in fact quite accurate rifles well suited for hunting as much as my more expensive hunting rifles are.
Had one about 15 years ago. Bought it for around $60. Released a huge fireball at every shot because the barrel was still much too short for the 7.62x54R, which was equivalent to a .30-06.
Ian, you damn tease. I have a 1945 m44 carbine imported by Century. Upon seeing this I ran to where I have it locked up only to find that it is, in fact, just an m44 carbine.
"As we know all tactical Soviet soldiers are right-handed." Also I had a non-matching slightly bubbaed mosin that I wish I could of restomodded into something like this. (Better trigger, bent bolt etc)
@@Hansengineering Back in the mid-50s my elementary school teacher started to make me switch to writing with my right hand. Dad found out, and was at the classroom the next morning telling the teacher to "leave the kid alone". And she did. (Like him, I'm "mixed dominance"; right-eyed, mostly left-handed except for throwing and kicking stuff. It all comes in a package with some free psychological quirks.)
@@Hansengineering Remember a story of a US Teacher observing a Soviet class room late 70s abouts , something odd about it then it hit her in this large group no left handers ..Her Soviet guide responded with pride there are no left handed people in USSR ..
'Germany had the nerve to surrender". Lol. Well said. Interesting variation. Anyone sporterizing it will have a small head start- no need to shorten the barrel. The guys at Iraq Veteran 8888 sporterized a full length rifle several years ago. They had the barrel cut to 22" and recrowned with a target crown, put on a modern synthetic stock with a scope mount built in, aftermarket trigger etc. The sweet spot must be 22" because the accuracy with Winchester factory ammo (180 gr i think) was almost astounding. Looked suitable for any normal hunting, and probably respectable for target shooting out to 300 yds or more. So the Mosin can do it. Thanks for showing more of the fascinating history. I have a full length one with a scout style scope installed (came that way from a gunsmith). Looking forward to trying it out finally. Got off 1 round then the bolt stuck. Had to tap it open with a mallet. Rsearched the problem and cleaned any hardened cosmoline out of the chamber with a small gauge shotgun brush. Should be good to go.
What a cool mosin wish I could find one that was being sold at the m44 price lol! Thank you mosin crate "awesome shop" for loaning this m44L to forgotten weapons for a review/history lesson! It was very interesting. Thank you forgotten weapons for a great video! 😁👍
Never disqualify the Mosin-Nagant rifle as it has such a great and diverse history. Love them and have a place in my heart and in my collection. The Mosin Crate is a great channel and vendor. Thanks Ian!
On top of that, the Red Army really never issued any kind of scabbard for the Mosin bayonet. You were just expected to have it fixed at all times, made more apparent by the fact that they were sighted in at the factory with the bayonets fixed.
I picked one of these up at a flee market in the middle of nowhere Ohio. The seller didn’t know what it was and sold it for about $160 thinking it was a standard run of the mill, mass produced Mosin. Now it sets comfortably in my collectibles safe.
I have two of these beautiful weapons one is torn to hell looks like it's been through battle. And one is all matching serial numbers with factory grease still down the barrel
Just got mine last week its a m44 variant made in 1943 I didn't know if it meant anything until I did some research and its was the test batch before they massed produced them they only made 50,000 of the 1943 test variant
Given the carbine's muzzle blast, it was definitely a good idea to lenghten the gun. It's a pity that it lacks any other significant improvements in design though, even just the simple ones like longer bolt handle, since it would serve as a basis for the sniper rifle anyway.
Absolutely one of my all time favorite rifles, the 91-30 is also really nice but about 200 feet longer. Mine was more accurate with the bayonet extended
I might just have one of these but my stock was busted and repaired. What is the total length of the m44 l? You were vague abut all the sizes. Edit terns out I just have a carbene. Made in the same plant and timeframe. overall length 40'' the m44l 43 3/4.'' but plate to barrel tip.
Imagine if they took the sniper versions. they didn’t get fitted with a scope and crated them with these and when they where revived they just put bayonet fittings on them
Yes, the best time to ask a Mosin question since the comments will be loaded folks with some who may know and may not know...and some who will just say to use it as a club. Also...Gun Jesus...if you want to help, please jump in! For Christmas, I want to say roughly 9 years ago, right before my dad passed away. He bought me a outstanding condition in the crate Mosin. Came with all shoulder straps, bayonets, stripper clips, and pouches. The wood stock on it was pristine, with no marks on it from being beat up. I know, they used to cover them in this coating that would prevent them from rusting for travel, and they would need to be cleaned really well. I scrubbed that thing like I was 16 and just found my first playboy. Well, first outing to the range, after firing the first round, it would it would eject and load the next cartridge, then click...nothing... cartridge was jammed. I thought I did a piss poor job cleaning the weapon, broke it down, did a "better" job. Got my hopes up (My dad never bought me any thing, at this point in life, I just turned 30 and this was the first time he put effort into a gift) and pulled the trigger, first round went off like normal, and the procedure went as expected moving forward and then...and click...nothing...Jammed...back to the drawing board. Some online forums were saying it is the bolt, others are saying it's because of the wax spray still on it, and the list goes on. Anyone have some points? Other than the normal Mosin hater "use it as a club" or "it's Garbage" normal shyte?
I can't figure mine out. Bought it years ago, and it's missing several of the standard M44 features you point out, but matches the lengths of the standard. Maybe it's because it is an early enough model (1944) that some of them weren't yet implemented.
Hey ian, whats a realistic price for one of those that regular m44 you held up with the folding bayonet? I bought one years ago for about 90 bucks but now im wondering if it might be worth some money. I looked at some sellers online but the price range was quite large, as low as 300 but as high as 1200.
Why did they not blue the muzzle face on a lot of old military rifles? Seems strange to me considering it’s so close to the crown, one of the most essential places to maintain to keep a rifle accurate...
The 91/30 was cut down from longer 1891 dragoon rifles, right? Based on markings, I believe I have a cut down dragoon. But I wonder if there are existing examples of the full-length rifle? EDIT oh I found lots of vids of this EDIT EDIT I should say I don't "know" mine is a dragoon. it was a Big 5 buy back when you could get them for less than $100. It's a hex receiver marked 1929.
There are a plenty of this in italy (don't tell me why.....) they are just a little more expensive than a normal mosin, like a 100€ more than a normal mosin which is 350~450€ depends on model and conditions.
You're confusing them with the stock M44, we indeed have a shitton of overpriced examples in Italy. And the Soviet folding bayonet development is unrelated to the Carcano.
It seems like the perfect length. If it didn’t mean having to change the machinery in the factories, if they had adopted this earlier, perhaps they would have fairer a lot better in the many urban combat scenarios far better than the awkwardly long 91/30s
Even the Soviets figured out the "universal short/intermediate rifle"....eventually. Took them until most of the way through their second World War, and about the fourth war with Sergei Mosin's rifle design, to get around to that point.
huh just realized that i might actually have one these m44l's the M44 in the background has a bladed front sight but the M44l has that round guarded front sight. Which my M44 has..Being the only M44 i have i have nothing to compare its length to.
In 62 I was in USMC infantry training. At bayonet training, the instructors had great joy telling us that we had a 6 inch bayonet and the Ruskies had a 24 inch switchblade bayonet.
"put into storage, and eventually distributed with other *Rosins* as" I think there was a typo for the bold word, I think that's supposed to be an "M" rather than an "R".
Just a minor technical back-end question for you. My browser recently updated or something, and I'm starting to see ads in videos and on channels that I haven't had before. Are your videos monetized?
RU-vid itself changed their ad system, if you pay attention they look different in layout and style of buttons. Haven't seen an ad in ages, so I was very confused.
You mentioned the matching serial numbers: I've always heard the Russians would mark any replacement components with the same serial # when refurbishing. Is this incorrect?
The bayonet locking system is very close to the SKS. Hey, whatever works. Who I am to judge? I've owned a Polish M44 and let's just say the muzzle blast was ahhh, errrmmm forcefull. Especially with the ummm "questionable" surplus ammo. I believe it was Yugoslavian heavy ball for the PKM. So it was probably not the best for shooting. And yes, it smelled like cat piss.
The M44 carbine was created by adapting the folding bayonet assembly to the carbine that preceeded it, the M38, which is apparently the model you own. The M38 carbine was never meant to mount a bayonet, nor were any ever made for it.
