Hungarian M44, Rare or no?

Stevo

Stevo

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Saw one of these today on the table beside mine at a gunshow. Common or rare?

I suppose it may have been a Romanian, I didn't look that close or have any reference material with me.

He was asking $120 and the bore's not good at all. I've got enough M44's right now. Anyone interested?
 
I think most of them came from SIR a few years ago. They were selling them for $50 in the condition you described.
 
Oh that's right, I forgot about the SIR junkers. Disregard.;)

I did see a beautiful MAS 36/51. All original right up to the barrel band where it was chopped off. It did have a nice ramp front sight though.:)
 
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FWIW, The matching hungarians in nice shape are much more uncommon than the SIR junkers - probably about "polish" in price and quality.
 
As far as I know, Soviet Union sold M44 making machinery to Poland in 1949. Production began in 1951. Hungary never had M44 making machines. From what I heard, all Hungarian M44s are round receiver 91/30s machinned to accept the M44 bayonet lug, being essentially sawed off MNs. I was not able to confirm or disprove that.
 
I think it will be a lot of years before any M44 is considered valuable. These seem to be pretty much $100-200 guns. Once the surplus 7.62x54R ammo dries up, I'm willing to bet the price takes a dip.

Be advised too, that some exceedingly rare firearms are worth a whole lot less than some very common ones.

I have a couple of "one of 2500" guns that would likely fetch less than a garden variety K98 of which millions were produced.
 
So that you are aware, 7.62x54R is currently in service in Russia, China and some former Eastern block countries, although the later are moving towards NATO standards. I do not think that the milsurp will dry up any time soon.
 
I diagree with the ammo factor. There is not milsurp .303 or .30-06 around, but Garands and Enfields are as popular as ever. Prices are low b/c availability is high. This won't always be the case, and when that happens - prices will rise. Commercial ammo and reloads are out there too ;)

Hungary DID produce the Mosin Nagant rifle, as did China and Poland and Romania. Hungarian made guns are marked "02" and are NOT cut down M91/30's. Hungary also made a copy of the PU sniper, many of which were supplied to the North Vietnamese as war aid in the 1960's. Tula and Izhevsk had more than one assembly line running in WW2, with an output of sometimes up to hundreds of thousands of rifles in a month, so the arguement that their machines could only have gone to two other factories is erronious.
 
I should also mention, the Hungarian M44's (and 91/30's!) that I have eprsonally seen, were all "02" marked right down to the smallest pieces. They are new manufacture, not canabilized russian reworks.
 
Claven2 said:
I diagree with the ammo factor. There is not milsurp .303 or .30-06 around, but Garands and Enfields are as popular as ever. Prices are low b/c availability is high. This won't always be the case, and when that happens - prices will rise. Commercial ammo and reloads are out there too ;)
Click to expand...

We might actually be "in violent agreement". My point about milsurp ammo availability is certainly not the only factor in valuating a milsurp firearm, but I do believe it is a major factor.

My observation has been that only a small minority of shooters/collectors handload. Most folks want to shoot their milsurp and will not buy one if they can't find ammo - preferably cheap milsurp, but at least commercial. Ammo for the Enfield and Garand can be bought anywhere, as can brass and bullets.

I suggest that if millions of rounds of milsurp ammo for Carcanos, M95 Mannlichers, Berthiers and the like was available we'd see much greater demand for those collectible firearms.

Will the reverse hold true for the Mosins as the milsurp ammo supply decreases? Let's reconvene in five years.
 
I bet there will be ample supply of MN ammo in 5 years, when Russia will finally complete modernization of its light weapon park and probably will come up with a rimless cartridge. The allies will certainly follow.
 
Ample supply? 5 years? ???

There's ample supply right now. S&B and Igman ammo is ubiquitous in Canada. In the US, Winchester even loads it - only a matter of time till they do here too given the glut of Mosins hitting the market and the demand for cheap truck guns.

Also, at least a dozen countries still manufacture the ammo in quantity and maintain weapons that use it. There are BILLIONS (if nto trillions) of rounds of 54R on the world market. I don't see that being shot up very quickly ;)
 
Who questions that? Not me.
5 years from now supply should even grow.
I do not hope for that, I have a few crates that I am not going to use alot. My Mosin is not a beater, rather a safe queen, as is a SVT :)
 
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