Collectors Source M44 (arrival)

EL34/6L6

EL34/6L6

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WPG
Ordered one on a whim and got a 1945 Izhevsk. Rifle was caked in grease, numbers matching, unrefurb as described. Pretty much rode hard and put away wet. Price reflective at $297 I suppose.

Grease didn't stop the rust, as it has some bad pitting on the top of the bolt, side of receiver, bayo, under side of the barrel and on the rear sight elevator. Stock is rough as well.

I wanted a dirty crusty Walking Dead inspired M44 so that's alright, but I could have done with less rust. Although it does look to be old pitting. The bore is frosted with mid level rifling, typical milsurp condition. The bolt operates quite smoothly as well.
We'll see how it shoots. I just may surprise me! The ugly ones can often be real performer's!

BEFORE...







AFTER...





 
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Sweet! I bought one off them like that a couple years ago, great character rifle. Mine came with a Chinese bolt.
 
You did a good job on the old girl, congrats. Take her out for a spin and tell us how she did, she'll probably be a great shooter. I was looking at getting one but I hesitated, any left do you know?
 
You did a good job. I got one from cs. It rusted out so badly. Worst purchase I be made.
 
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Character rifle is a great description. She's pitted more than any rifle I own, but I think it'll be a good shooter. A bore snake was the only solution to getting to crud out of the barrel. I initially thought it was a lost cause, but a few pulls of the snake and things looked better.
The one edge of the bayo that sits against the stock near completely rusted away. Seems most rusting occurred were metal rested against the wood stock for long period s of time.
I'm going to give it some more attention with steel wool after its first range trip.
I removed most of the shellac on the stock and gave it a light sand too.
 
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The op did a really really good job. To all honesty you have not missed anything. Their m44 are generally in the worst possible condition.look on EE as you may find way better ones for a bit more money. Just my two cents.
wbaad said:
Cool! Do they have more? I missed the boat last year. Love the character
Click to expand...
 
Yeah, they take a lot of time and work. Better condition M44s can definitely be had. This is just a fun gun, that can get tossed around. Funny thing is, it'll likely preform just as well or better than nicer looking examples.
 
Mine is in similar condition from CS, there was minor pitting all over from storage. Front sight was bent to hell but fixed it with some quick hammering :p The bore is in fair condition but for a cheap(ish) M44, I can't complain.

I've yet to shoot mine as well, I can only hope it gets decent groups lol
 
More pics.....had it sweating out in the noon day sun...




A word or letters appear scratched in the stock



Matching buttplate



Rust on the bayo





Pitting on top of bolt, whole thing needs more work still...



Rust on top of tang



Matching floor plate



Rust on magazine tab where screw inserts



Forend underside. Note the blue loss on the entire cleaning rod



Pitting on rear sight



Blotches of rust and pitting on side of receiver



 
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Before:
M44a0001_zpsad4ec28d.jpg


The one I got from CS was fugly out of the box (think it was $195 in early 2014)... took all the cosmo off and the metal work was in great shape, no rust. It was the stock that was gross (a scrape, gouge and scratch on every square inch) - so I refinished it and it came out nice. I kept 80% of the blemishes and still had the 'I've been through a war' look. Ended up selling it on the EE for more than I paid - but I put a lot of work into it. It had a well used Chinese bolt and the people in the old thread agreed to the educated guess that the batch was from Albania or the nearby area.

After:
M44800x6000001_zps9a9ce138.jpg


All metal was in awesome shape!

SaleM44c0001_zps991da11f.jpg


SaleM44f0001_1_zps34dd0929.jpg
 
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No idea where they are from. I suppose I could inquire, but not sure how friendly or forthcoming CS is.
Although I would gather they are different batches throughout the past 3-4 years. The quality and price difference between them reflect that much at least.

This rifle has no export markings. Looks like it was used hard for 10-15 years then hastly slapped with grease and shoved in storage for 30 years until landing in Canada.
 
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ive got a similar one.1945 worn almost to no bluing stock has dark and worn even the leather of the sling wore the wood away a bit. hungarian sling on it, pitting in places that look like it had acid dumped on it. bore is worn and the bolt is mismatched but it sure is a cool looking rifle. i assumed it was somewhere tropical. i dont know if it came from CS
 
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