Hi All,

I found a really nice Russian M44 Mosin-Nagant at what I thought was a reasonable price. No rust was evident as I cleaned the cosmoline off.

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b191/WabashShootist/Guns/M44/Dsc00003.jpg
I'm pretty sure this is what a Russian soldier would have been issued.

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b191/WabashShootist/Guns/M44/Dsc00002.jpg
This ammo has be baffled, but I believe it's the same stuff found here: http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=80929981

This is my first centerfire rifle. Any advice would be very appreciated. I'm pretty sure this surplus ammo is corrosive; do I just run a Windex patch down the barrel after shooting it? I do not want to shoot the thing until I know exactly what I'm doing.

It'd be nice to find some stripper clips as well. Might have to go back as I think I saw some at the gunstore a while back.

So, whatcha' all think?

Josh <><

Hungarian yellow tip ammo. Windex does nothing! The ammonia can be as bad as the corrisive salts. I use boiling water and a little dish soap on a patch, then flush w/ boiling water and clean normally. Make sure you clean the bolt face also.
http://7.62x54r.net/MosinID/MosinAmmo008.htm

Nice outfit. Looks like you are in for some fun. There is non corrosive out there now if you don't want to clean the old fashion way. To me it is just fun to take the thing apart and extend the baquonet and stick it in the ground and clean away. Hose pipe, soap and scrub. What could be easier?

I decided to really lay in with the cleaning today.

I started with a regular cleaning which gave me clean patches after about five passes. I wasn't sure where the gunk came from as I had cleaned it yesterday, so I let the bore soak in Hoppes for a few hours.

When I ran another patch through it, I got green again. I kept doing this and eventually got brown, what I assume is Cosmoline. The patches eventually came through clean again.

It's been soaking for a few more hours now. I'm watching it and every half hour there is more crud that surfaces. I figure I'll just run a soaded patch through it now and again and keep it soaking.

The good news is that this thing is beginning to resemble a *new* bore. Maybe it was one that was shot a few times and then never picked up? Dunno. I'm pretty sure some of this stuff has been in there since it was issued in '44.

The chamber has begun cleaning out as well, and ya'll were right: there's brown gunk coming out of it as well. I attached a drill to a 20 gauge bore brush and went at it. I only thought it looked nice before.

I'll keep ya'll updated! This may turn out to be a nicer rifle than I first thought!

Josh <><

Russian rifles are very deceiving. I have a 1943 91/30 that looked ok, but shoot great. I can't tell you the amount of cleaning I've done. Layers of crude. It has great lands, but I can't comment on the grooves yet. I shoot it, give it a dose of boiling water, foaming cleaner, patch, CLP on a borebrush, patch and finish. I'll do the same next time. This is a miss matched build that cost me 75.00. I learned allot. It is very accurate! That is what counts, as that was the intention. Jim

Hi All,

Someone on one of the many boards I frequent asked for a picture of the bore when I got through with it. I do not remember what board it was, so I'll just post on all of them.

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b191/WabashShootist/Guns/M44/Bore2x.jpg
While this bore looks bad, remember I have it under extreme magnification and the pitting cannot be seen with the naked eye. While not target grade, I consider this to be acceptable and it certainly is accurate. The picture was taken after two days of soaking followed by "boilouts," before oiling.

It's not the "new" bore I thought it might be once I stripped it of its copper fouling, but it doesn't seem to matter with open sights. I'm playing with the idea of 'scoping it and I may have issues then. Until and unless I decide to do this however, I'm happy.

Josh <><

I had the chamber checked today as some were concerned about a loose chamber. While it is a bit loose, it is in tolerance and should shoot any quality stuff just fine. This Russian stuff is the only crap giving problems because it's short.

Josh <><