Mosin M1944 Question

[speedracer302]

I have a mosin M1944. Date stamp on the gun is 1945. This one has definitely been in the war and the stock shows the signs. I have been looking at listing it and as I have reviewed the posts, many people are asking if all the numbers match.

How critical is it to have matching numbers? My bolt number doesnt match but the other 3 match. Any idea how this would impact the value would be appreciated.

I also have a 50 cal can full of ammo. No idea how much but most of it is still wrapped in the wax paper.

Any ideas would be appreciated. Thx

 

[Libertarian01]

To Speedracer302,

A lot of rifles from the war don't have matching numbers, so the ones that do are usually more valuable.

A lot will be based upon the rarity of the rifle itself. M1944's have gone up a bit in price but none of them are "rare" as I understand it.

You will need to check the bore! IF this rifle fired corrosive ammo, which is guaranteed IF it was fired during the war, then the bore may be totally gone. That will reduce the value to a nice wallhanger and not much more. I once saw an Italian Carcano that had been a WWII bringback. Somebody had never cleaned the bore and it was just gone. The rifling was nonexistent.

The ammo might be Russian, but if I recall I have some in wax paper that was Romanian. Pics will be useful in determining country of origin. No matter what, old military 7.62x54R is not highly collectable...yet.

Here is a great link for starting with Mosins: Mosin Nagant Rifle Years of Production

Regards,

Doug

 

[speedracer302]

To Speedracer302,

A lot of rifles from the war don't have matching numbers, so the ones that do are usually more valuable.

A lot will be based upon the rarity of the rifle itself. M1944's have gone up a bit in price but none of them are "rare" as I understand it.

You will need to check the bore! IF this rifle fired corrosive ammo, which is guaranteed IF it was fired during the war, then the bore may be totally gone. That will reduce the value to a nice wallhanger and not much more. I once saw an Italian Carcano that had been a WWII bringback. Somebody had never cleaned the bore and it was just gone. The rifling was nonexistent.

The ammo might be Russian, but if I recall I have some in wax paper that was Romanian. Pics will be useful in determining country of origin. No matter what, old military 7.62x54R is not highly collectable...yet.

Here is a great link for starting with Mosins: Mosin Nagant Rifle Years of Production

Regards,

Doug

Thanks for the response. I will take a closer look and grab a few pics. Honestly I have never even looked down the barrel. I got it as a gift and never shot it. Its been in my safe for 8 years. Looking to make room... Thanks again.

 

[jbranham5173]

Also check 7.62x54r.com

 

[johntheplinker]

The value of your rifle is going to vary depending on details. Refurb, nonrefrub, Yugoslav used, Instructie or Exercitui marked, over all condition, etc. etc. etc. Lots of things to look at. IMHO the mismatched bolt is going to be a bigger ding on value than say a mismatched buttplate, especially on a refurb.
Lots of x54r ammo is wrapped in paper, some of it is way better than others. Actually the only surplus x54r ammo I can think of that isn't in paper is Czech.You might want to open a pack and take a look at the headstamp.

 

[Mgderf]

Also check 7.62x54r.com

7.62x54r.net

 

[thecoltsman2006]

Pictures please!

 

[speedracer302]

Thanks for all of the information. I had no idea how many variants of this rifle there are. Here are a few pics:


I did take a closer look at the bore and its not clean for sure. I can see the barrel twist so it cant be totally corroded.

 

[Hoosier8]

Your's also has the billboard import mark which none of mine have. To me that would lessen the desirability.

All matching does not always mean the bolt came with the gun as sometimes they were scrubbed and stamp matched so it is hard to tell what all matching means. Electropencil matching just looks bad to me.

Other than that, an M44 is an M44 except for the above mentioned varieties. It appears M44's are now being sold for around $230 by places like AIM surplus but if you look at gunbroker, lots for sale, few sold.

 

[johntheplinker]

Interesting rifle! Has a definite Balkan/Romanian look to it.

 

[warthog]

Most Mosins of any sort that have actually fought were re-arsenaled. What this means is that they have ben completely disassembled, had all their parts thrown into bins after they were inspected to make sure they could still function well. Those that failed this inspection were thrown away. Then, they have been cleaned, and reassembled with parts as they were grabed from the bins without regard to what number was on it. Many barrels were also "counter-bored" because their crowns were destroyed by some soldier with a metal cleaning rod that could have cared less what damage he did as long as his rifle was able to function and keep him alive.

All of this leaves you with a rifle that may or may not be matching and may or may not be counter bored but it is darn sure that it works which is all the Armies of the world care about in the end. It is nie to get a matching numbered rifle that isn't counter bore, they do seem to command more money. They sure arn't likely to be one that saw any or at least much action if this is what you want to find. I do like my rifles to not be counter bored but then I tend to shoot it more if it is because I feel it isn't worth keeping pristine. So you must ask yourself if you want to become or are already a collector or a shooter who just likes to shoot collector grade stuff or maybe you are just someone looking for a rifle that works and wants to shoot it. That will determine how much the rifle is worth to you. As for the market valus, you learn this when you decide which type of person you are as well because you become a lot more knowledgeable about that which you collect.

There are some great resources available now that the web is around. There are also a lot better forums dedicated to this sort of rifle than INGO, though that doesn't make INGO a bad place either.

Gunboards is a great place that has forums dedicated to all sorts of firearms and what makes them work and collectible. People from all over the world are members and the Marketplace there is also geared towards finding your numbers so you can rebuild your rifle into a pristine machine (unless some of those parts were discarded in the re-arsenal I discussed earlier and then you aren't EVER going to make it whole again). Another has been mentioned here, 7x54r dot NET is one of the best resources to find on all the weapons of this caliber. There are many others bt these two rank higest in my opinion at least.

Anyway, I was a collector of these before I had to sell off my collection due to money issues. What I wasn't able to sell was my knowledge, I gues that is mine to keep. Hope you are able to get things where you want them and you can ask anytime and if I can I will answer, if not I will say so and help find the answer.

sorry about any typos, I can't see as well as I could back when so I don't always see my mistakes.

 

[Avec]

Check on Armslist.com to see what others are selling them for. Person to person private sales will be lower than retail, so generally what a store offers will be higher than what you can get.

 

[speedracer302]

Check on Armslist.com to see what others are selling them for. Person to person private sales will be lower than retail, so generally what a store offers will be higher than what you can get.

I did do some checking on Armslist and Gunbroker. The prices were really why I posted the question. There is a huge price range. I was unsure what options or years caused a M44 to be more valuable or desired than others. Also I wanted to know how much of an issue the lack of numbers match would be.

Looks like mine is a common version and a high production year without matching numbers.

Lots of great responses and detailed information. Thanks.

 

[JettaKnight]

I did do some checking on Armslist and Gunbroker. The prices were really why I posted the question. There is a huge price range. I was unsure what options or years caused a M44 to be more valuable or desired than others. Also I wanted to know how much of an issue the lack of numbers match would be.

Looks like mine is a common version and a high production year without matching numbers.

Lots of great responses and detailed information. Thanks.

What you've got is a plain jane Russian M44 with good blueing, nothing special; a shooter.

$230 - $260

As to the crazy Gunbroker prices, are they selling? Watch one of those; they get relisted over and over and over and...

 

[Hoosier8]

deleted