In 1938 a 40” carbine was adopted as the M38, but did not go into production until 1939. It is essentially a shorter version of the M91/30 and was built at Izhevsk until 1945. There was limited production at Tula in 1940 and 1944 and both arsenals built some M38s on recycled round and hexagonal receivers. Tula and hex receiver M38s are uncommon at the least and sought after by collectors as are 1939 and 1945 dated examples. The M38 was not designed to accept a bayonet since it's intended use was by rear area troops.
In 1941 some minor changes were made to the receivers to speed up production. The most noticeable is known as a "high wall" which is simply the absence of the dished out area to the left of the ejection port. The degree of finish was greatly reduced at this time too, most noticeably on Izhevsk rifles and carbines with 1943 production showing the greatest haste.
In 1943 some 50,000 trials carbines were built and tested in battle. They are essentially an M38 with an attached side-folding bayonet and were adopted in 1944 as the M44. Production continued until 1948. As with the M38, most production occurred at Izhevsk with Tula and hex receiver examples being less common and more sought after. Minor changes occurred during M44 production with two (early and late) primary types of bayonet locking systems, an early and late type of front sight, and a reversion to "low wall" production in late ‘45/early ’46.
