The Mosin M44 Scout Project
One of the last incarnations of the Mosin was the humble M44, was a cut down version designed to be carried by Soviet Frontoviki in the last years of World War Two. These were made in Polish, Hungarian, Rumanian, and Russian M44 versions, as well as by the Chinese 53.
I had acquired a few Russian M44’s back when they ran for about $79 a couple years ago. Now they are pretty hard to find except from individual sellers. However, Aim Surplus and J&G are still selling the Chinese version for about $149.
The worst of my M44s has a dark but serviceable bore with acceptable rifling. Its stock is ugly, with lots of scuffs and a few light splits and gouges. It’s a 91/30 cut down job with mismatched serials that mainly came from Tula Arsenal. It’s not a collector so let’s not pretend I ruined something here by doing this build. With this in mind, I spent a weekend making a Mosin 44 Scout. For more of a challenge, the all-in price for this was set as low as possible.
Read the rest at my column at Firearms Talk http://www.firearmstalk.com/entries/The-Mosin-M44-Scout-Project.html
