M44 Mosin Range Results & Bayonet Experiment

Travis Bickle

Travis Bickle

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Upper Lower Middle Alberta
I recently picked up an M44 Mosin after regretfully selling my last one a ways back :D

I picked it up for next to nothing, long story but in the end I have one yet again, she is a beauty and I'm happy.

I took it to the range today to zero the irons and decided to test something I had always been skeptical about.

I will admit right now that I was wrong.


I decided to do some groupings with and without the M44's bayonet folded and unfolded and document just how much of a variation there was if any.

I was more than surprised.

So the results.

Here is my new rifle :D 1944 Mosin Nagant M44 Carbine refurbished.

Overall condition is VG with a near mint bore.

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The target was a blue spray painted square the size of a standard piece of printer paper placed just a little past 100 meters by my pace (5-6 second steps past 70 by my pace).

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I fired it from the prone using an old sandbag to rest the rifle on.

The ammo was standard 147 gr light steel core Russian Ball surplus. The cartridges where dated '67.

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All holes marked "BU" were fired bayonet unfolded or "on" position for reference and all holes marked "BF" were fired bayonet folded.

The first 5 shots of the day fired with bayonet unfolded or "on"

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Not bad, the two outliers were from the barrel warming up I assume. Shooting slightly left by the 3 rounds which were close.

Next I fired 5 rounds with the bayonet folded or "off". Holy s**t! :eek:

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I couldn't believe the change and assumed it must have been something I did.

So I did the same exact thing on the clean target to the left. Adjusted the front post to the left to shift my POI right.

5 rounds fired again with the bayonet unfolded or "on"

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Again, I'm assuming the outlier was from the barrel cooling down from the last group after I walked 100 meters to the target, assessed, marked, took pictures, walked back and loaded again. Much better group.

So again 5 rounds fired at the same target same point of aim with bayonet folded or "off"

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Pretty shocking! You can see the group to the top left of the blue target, I don't even know where the 5th round went. One of them grazed the edge of the paper.

I could not believe the difference in the accuracy with the bayonet folded and unfolded! I always read and was told that it changes the point of impact slightly but it was a bit more than that :eek:

I always assumed it was just typical CGN exageration or more parrots reverberating things they heard once to sound like experts but I admit I was dead wrong!

I had a couple rounds of brass cased Yugoslavian M31 7.62 x 54mm R so I decided to shoot them off for the hell of it.

I only had 5 rounds and this was the result shooting for the middle of the blue target again same position same distance. The first one went high right again from the long time between firing and the barrel cooling down:

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All in all I love this rifle. I got lucky and picked one up that didn't shoot high as well! :rockOn:

Keep those pig stickers fixed to those 3 line rifles Comrades! :D
 
Thats the same thing i noticed with my m44. I though at first it was just my non sniper like shooting. :p But then i did a similar test as u after someone told me about it and was shocked that i started to shoot a nice group. Im very happy i did cause i found it frustrating not being able to at least get it on paper all time.
 
I once sighted a 44 carbine with the bayonet folded in preparation for a moose hunt. After getting the sights set for windage, I got the bright idea that it would be silly to carry the extra weight of the bayonet, so I removed it. Fortunately I thought to fire it just to be safe. Wow the point of impact moved almost 2ft to the left and the group opened up considerably. I put the bayonet back on and all was good. I wish now that I had of taken some pictures.
 
fwm said:
I once sighted a 44 carbine with the bayonet folded in preparation for a moose hunt. After getting the sights set for windage, I got the bright idea that it would be silly to carry the extra weight of the bayonet, so I removed it. Fortunately I thought to fire it just to be safe. Wow the point of impact moved almost 2ft to the left and the group opened up considerably. I put the bayonet back on and all was good. I wish now that I had of taken some pictures.
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lol I know I couldn't believe it myself.

Now it had me wondering though, I spent a lot of time "accurizing" one my Mosin 91/30's but never even bothered to see if the groups tightened right up with the bayonet on before I did the trigger job, the front sight, the stock sanding and cork bedding of the barrel etc :eek:

It wasn't just the point of impact though, the groups were markedly more spread out with the bayonet folded or "off" and when I put the bayo on they tightened it up into a very accurate rifle as far as milsurps go.

I would confidently take this thing out in the bush for deer seeing the results now.

Very strange........
 
In this documentary:

[youtube]EfZ39DqfMwA[/youtube]

They say that Russian troops were trained to have the bayonet affixed at all times. The rifles are obviously sighted for fixed bayonet.
 
that's pretty interesting. I've only taken my M44 out once and put 20rds through it. It was hitting 8" high with a 6 o'clock target hold, but it grouped really nice (2" group from a bench at 100yds). I never unfolded the bayo, after seeing your experiment I may have to go back out and try it again with the bayo extended.

Thanks for posting your results.

DeltaOps
F.
 
Nice work, OP. I did a similar experiment with my 91/30 just the other day, though not as thorough as yours. 5 rounds with the bayonet on and 5 with it off. Target was set up at 50 yds.

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I had always heard that these rifles shot better with the bayo fixed but I thought I'd test it for myself. I guess I'll leave it off my personal unit. :) I'd recommend that anyone who owns one of these test their individual rifles rather than relying on the internet, as they all seem to have their own personalities. YMMV.
 
webster said:
Nice work, OP. I did a similar experiment with my 91/30 just the other day, though not as thorough as yours. 5 rounds with the bayonet on and 5 with it off. Target was set up at 50 yds.

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I had always heard that these rifles shot better with the bayo fixed but I thought I'd test it for myself. I guess I'll leave it off my personal unit. :) I'd recommend that anyone who owns one of these test their individual rifles rather than relying on the internet, as they all seem to have their own personalities. YMMV.
Click to expand...

Nice!

I was pretty sure the 91/30's would get the same results.

Nice group!
 
Had my Polish M44 out today. With Hungarian heavy ball there was no discernible change in POI with the bayonet open or closed.
 
Tried this with my Lee Enfield no4. Without bayo I was able to group a bit under 2 inch at 100m, with the bayo I was not even on paper. This is with my reload, 180 Sierra Pro hunter over 41.8 of IMR4350
 
I have 3 M44's. One shoots point of aim with bayonet in or out. The other two shoot 11 inches left at 50 yards with bayo in.
 
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