WHAT TO LOOK FOR...

[hitman13]

looking at a mosin m44. i found one that i think is pretty decent at big5 and had my buddy who works there set it aside. what do you look for when buying one? i have never bought one so i am just going off of common sense when i look a them, it does have a very nice looking bore to me though.

[guimus]

If the bore is halfway decent, it's a find. I've had very good luck with Big 5 mosins, 2 fully serviceable M38's that will shoot 4-5 MOA and a possibly unfired or at least very well maintained 91/59 that will shoot under 2 MOA which is amazing, considering.

[CA357]

Go to surplusrifles.com. It's an excellent forum loaded with information. Good luck.

[cgmoe]

As CA357 mentioned, surplusrifle.com (no s at the end). They have a ton of info there for Mosin-Nagants.
Here is a link to the Carbine section of that website

http://surplusrifle.com/mosincarbine/index.asp

And the surplusrifleforum.com is also a great place with a dedicated Mosin-Nagant section

http://www.surplusrifleforum.com/viewforum.php?f=28&sid=a555d1aca9945e83415fab5e2ea094d5

7.62X54R.net is another great site.

A few things to look for.

1. Try to find a rifle that has all matching parts (bolt, buttplate,mag floor plate) this will help you from getting a "parts gun", not to mention it will retain a little more value.

2. Look for a non-counterbored rifle, make sure it's got a nice clean crown.

3. The barrel will probably have a bunch of cosmo and other junk in there, but take a bore light with you, you'll be able to get a good idea if the bore is good or not.

If you look around, you should be able to pick up a nice M44. I picked up an all matching, never fired M44 at Big5 a few years ago. Couldn't beat the $70 sale price.