M38 vs m44

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SVT-4054-R

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Looking to purchase a Mosin carbine. I want an m39.
However I'm more in the budget for a 38 or 44. I'm assuming an m38 would have seen service in WW2. Besides the folding bayo what other differences are there? I enjoy collecting but also plan on shooting it!

Thanks
 
I own multiple M38s and M44s, the M38 is better balanced due to not having the fixed bayo.

My main shooter is a M44 though, but that's just because it's a beaten up, non refurb with some rust and bluing loss. So I don't have worry too much about that rifle getting banged around or wet on rainy days.
 
get whatever is cheaper at the time. both saw service with rear echilon troops. personally id go for broke and pick up a polish m44. They are the Rolls Royce of mosins.

You can punch out the pin for the bayo and keep it safely stashed for later if you dont like the balance with it on.
 
I have both. M38 is lighter and better balanced, but also kicks just slightly harder (because of the weight). I do enjoy shooting it more.

Most M38's are in great shape and very lightly used. They were given to support troops (in the rear with the gear), and not many of them saw a lot of action.

Even though the M44's came late in the war, they remained in inventory after the war and were used for training and were also loaned around as aide for various client states. On the whole, more M44's are in rough shape than M38's, in my experience, though it is very possible to get either in near pristine condition.
 
For fun factor the SVT-40 is the best. Then after that it goes:

SKS
PU SNIPER 91/30
M39
M38
M44
91/30

But if your into modding a 91/30 then you put a Tunney trigger in, muzzle brake, accuratizing kit with cork and shims, rubber butt pad for length of pull and take the rear sight off and install a scope on the dove tail. Then your slightly modded 91/30 jumps up the list to #2 behind the svt-40. Just my opinion not of the rest of the members.
 
Both have great history. M38s were used throughout the war by artillerymen and other second line troops, while the M44 didn't fully replace the M91/30 as a standard issue arm until after the war but still saw heavy combat. The M44s once they became available were handed out for street fighting in the Battle of Berlin, Battle of Budapest and other urban environments.

Handling wise the M38 is better since there is no bayonet. The M44 is still pretty handy. Both shoot about the same.

Cream of the crop is probably the Polish and Hungarian M44s that were license produced in the early 1950s.
 
If you are just looking for a plinker, get an M38.
M44s were sighted in with bayonets extended. If you shoot with bayonet extended, you will loose bluing on the bayonet itself, due to accumulation of powder residue, and cleaning thereof. One of mine came with a rust spot there from the previous owner likely shooting corrosive ammo. If you shoot with bayonet collapsed your point of impact will be off (just like with a 91/30) from how it was sighted in at the factory/refurb.
 
My old rusted non refurb M44 is lazer accurate without the bayo extended. I seldom shoot it past 50-60 yrds though...
 
Thanks for the response everyone! Ended up going with an all matching m44 built in 1945. Izzy of course.
Looks to be a referb an gonna be a blast to shoot. Still have a few hundred rounds of circle 10 left !
 
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