Aim had less than 200 of these last week.. went in about 3 hrs.. for me it was $180ish delivered (free s/h but i had to pay tax)

1945 Izhevsk on a  1944 receiver (i know odd right?)

Sports its original blue, and original bolt finish. Only  part matches is the floor plate.

Stock is a post war hard wood, bore is not countered and was a bit frosty but some EB bore compound and TLC and its moved up to G+ border line VG. Mirror Lands with some minor debris/dark grooves.

The import mark is one of the best ive seen in recent years on mosin nagants. Under the barrel. Action was smooth during the 20-30rd test fire.. and was a joy to throw fireballs down range.

That importer deserves a thank you email.

That should be the standard, at least as long as we have the GCA.

Agreed. The only one similar to this  in recent years in-regards to mosin nagants was the imports by group west. Also they have the required ATF serial # on the receiver.. where it should be -



which is hidden when the bolt is closed.

some additional pics:

Nice, now lets see it split that log...  

i am taking that log to my grave :).

Cool, I have two in front of me still in the box. I just got home from picking them up at the UPS facility.

Cant beat the price of $169.99 shipped. I ordered two just incase they were really nice, if not I could easily sell them for what I paid.

I guess I need to open it to see what I have.

yea.. just don't expect them to be Like new refurbs.. these will be a little rough or a lot of rough around the edges; but thats what i wanted.

Darn it. I knew I should have bought one...

Just opened mine, both 1945 Izhevsk, war time stocks, missing cleaning rods, numbers match except bolts but are Izhevsk.

Nice honest used condition rifles.

yep, mine was missing its cleaning rod to. Don't hesitate to throw some pics up.

Looks like previously refurbished rifle to me, tho not standard refurb.

i guess you could call the part swappage over time as a form of refurbishment.. but it looks like its sporting its original blue and finish.

Yeah blue looks good, unless they did some funky chemical stripping of the old bluing. The typical rebluing we are use to seeing always wipe out the matching small diamond stamps on the line where the barrel and receiver meets.  

Do you have picture of the bolt S/N sure looks like that one was force matched at one point.  Which has been seen on few of these guns, among with other line-outs, grinding, etc.  But all factory matched gun has been documented as well.

I pulled one apart, had a heck of a time getting the rear band off because it sat in a grove worn in the handguard.

Packed in a lot of grease, stock has the serial scratched in the barrel channel. This one will come to work and get washed in the parts washer.

Bore looks good and not counter bored.

Leave it to me!


Very nice M44. Love the placement of the import marks.

Lee-online

If you want to sell one of those pathetic, miserable, abused, improperly stored rifles, let me know

When I saw those available I just wasnt able to make the order

Looks like its been reblued spax, but the pics dont get close enough for me to say for sure. And is that a chinese buttplate? Interesting rifles, i was working a 12 hour shift and missed the boat when these went for sale, bummer.

ive owned / own and seen many a refurbished m44. Russian Dip is dark - almost black.

Comparison:

Refurb m44s







From rifle in the op:



From the pictures this is a much lighter shade of blue.. reminds me of unrefurbished m91/30s blueing that i have seen.



Either way i am happy with the purchase and at the price point it was almost a no brainer (accounting for the sweet import mark)

I just got mine today and I'm going to have to do a detailed strip and clean of it. It has some small spots with heavy rust, but for the most part looks pretty good. Worst spots are the stock recoil bolt head, rear hand guard spring, the end of the magazine tang, and a couple spots on the bayonet. The bayonet spots are bad enough that they have eaten away a portion of the cruciform edge. Bore is shiny and rifling looks pretty good. It should be a good shooter once I get it cleaned up.

Nice rifles at a good price. I have always been partial to the looks of the early bayonet mount. That's the way import marks should be done. Except if they could put them out of sight, below the handguard would be nice.

I miss the days of the $79 M-44. I'm still hunting for a 1943 date to round out the collection. Good thing I didn't see them. It would have been tempting at that price and condition.

here is my brothers i photographed. This one does look like its been redipped. All matching except bolt. Had rust under the woodline.. almost no cosmoline other than bore. Bore is like new with great crown/muzzle  - mirror lands/grooves.

By time I got on a computer these were gone. . I missed out

I got one of the project grades.
With a nice clean job it came out ok minus the hand sized chunk of the stock on the left side where your hand belongs (will need repair). Some pitting but great bore and bolt is smooth.
I found a tag under the butt plate k31 style. It was soaked in oil , see through and I could only make out the numbers 65 on it. Anyone seen something like that?

I cleaned all the grease off my two at work in the parts washer and used compressed air to get in the nooks and crannies. Today I cleaned, oiled, and ran a dozen patches through the barrels. Plenty of paper towels, Q-tips and lemon oil cleaned up the stock.

Here they are, both early 1945s, both in war time stocks, both are all matching except the bolts but both passed a head space check.

Those came out good looking.

Project Grade

Stock needs repair...

lol i see what you did there. Clyde would be proud.

Me too

Looks like aim just got some more in

probably a return :

 We're sorry, only 1 of 'Surplus Russian M44 7.62X54R Mosin Nagant Carbine' (F3M44S) currently available.

Dang.. Hope its not a return.. I just ordered one... Maybe just someone who cancelled order? or maybe cancelled a few...

possible.

I wouldn't worry about it. Even if it was a return.. if it was too far gone to warrant it they would have desclaimed it (think B grade pus a year ago)

Plenty of then are being offloaded on gunbroker for pretty much the same price for those interested in picking up a shooter

From all of you who bought 2 or 3 to do their own "hand pick"?

Keep in mind the gun market is way down (except in Ferguson). Everyone spent all their money on $1500 ARs last year.. cant afford cheap C&Rs. hehe

Entered hunting season so lot of buyers are in woods instead of bidding against you. Just picked up Polish Wz91/98/26 8mm Mosin for $700.

HAHA!!! Good. I am desperately looking for a deal on a collectible WWII Enfield....

Ok... I am beyond disappointed in my M44. It must have been a return.. NOT a cancelled order. It has got to be the ugliest M44 I have ever seen. The shellac is over half gone and the gouges in the wood is beyond the images in the pic. The cleaning rod is missing. The metal looks re-finished.

Essentially, I was looking for a rifle that may have had original finish which is what I thought they were advertising. Instead, I got a rifle that was at some point refinished and then beat to hell.

First question, I thought the shellac came from Russian refurbishing? If this one was never refinished, then why the partial shellac?

Second question, should I ask for a return? This is nothing like the pics in this thread or the pics in Aims website...

Before you ask, I have a C&R so I didn't know condition until I got home from UPS to open box.

pictures?

FYI - non of these came with cleaning rods.

I will try to get some pics Thursday night. Away for the evening. I am ok with missing cleaning rod but if anyone can tell me if Shellac was used during WWII, I would love to know. I didn't think that happened until they were refinished. Their ad is misleading.

shellac was used during wartime/post war. I don't think it was misleading.. these were not Russian refurbs. You knew going in these could be rougher than expected. Given they are from Albania.

Heck mine is in a Chinese stock.

Disagree.. the pictures are extremely misleading. Mine looks about half as nice as the pics in ad.

Edit: Also, keep in mind they specifically say they were not part of a refurbished program. My metal is nearly flawless. There is no way the metal could be this flawless while the stock is beat to crap. My guess is the Albanians or whoever sold them to Aim sold them a story along with it.. Then Aim sold it to us. The real story is these are rifles that probably had broken stocks or missing parts so they put whatever they could together and exported them to us. These have absolutely no collector value IMHO.

Greetings comrades..

Having for me Model 44 carbine making by good Polish comrades factory 11 of Radom.  Perfect gun never better of making.  Mirror blue and bore perfect too.


Horray for socialism

They didn't go through the Russian refurbishment program . These are Albanian so who knows. Mine shows finish wear on the the rear sight, magazine , butt plate. YMMV . I strongly disagree about having no collector value.



That feeling isn't felt here nor on gunboards. http://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?376680-M44-s-at-AIM-Surplus-for-cheeeeeaapp

These have their own unique history - IE- cold war history.



Also at $169... what does one expect? I knew going in condition would be a toss up. Other than your stock being sub par how is the rest of the rifle?

People forget how rough some of those type 53s that came in - stock wise.

M44s have a rough life when it comes to stocks

A true non import mark - non refurb 1945 Izhevsk - Bore is minit and non-CB - stock has a myriad of repairs - finish nearly gone.

Again, my metal is too perfect to be in such a junk stock. It was refurbed. I only got through half the gunboards link but will read rest later. Seems a lot of posts indicate my same sentiment. Aim was "tricksy" with their wording. Never again.

Well there is a reason AIM called these "shooters" in their description, as in they are worth only that.  

But yes AIM already stated they got burner by purchasing 700 of these and are loosing money on 2/3s of that lot.

I can also tell you there are lot of other people pissed off about these and also lot of other people on other forums trying to ratilonalize blowing $170 on old beat up refurbs by saying they has historic relevance....

These are about as collectible as the worn, previous-refurbed, sanded and force match mix-master M44s that were coming out of Romanian in the early 2000s

i am not going to loose any sleep over a rifle that was only 169 (OTD for most). If the bore is decent and shoots well .


Now if i was paying 400+ (which is normally what Russian non refurbs go for) this would be on its way back to aim. But 169.. no;



i took a gamble based on the description (shooter grade - not through russian refurbishment program; which they weren't) . I got lucky with a nice stock over all, non-redipped metal, nice action decent bore. Brother on the other hand had rust, a banged up stock, but a like new bore.


Aims description:

Original Surplus Russian M44 7.62X54R Mosin Nagant Carbines.

True

This is a very small lot of carbines imported from a country where they were not a part of the Russian refurbish program.


True- perhaps folks were reading too much into what that exactly means. They NEVER   said it was not refurbished. They just said it was not through the typical Russian program - which they sure were not.


Its how milsurp collecting goes sometimes - you take a gamble when its cheap. Sometimes it pays.. and sometimes it doesn't. Just like life


These guns show honest metal finish and wood stock wear as the pictures show.

True on both counts - a sound stock can have dings.


WWII era bolt action rifles that actually show their History!

True; especially regarding the stocks



Please allow for the possibility of very minor rust/pitting if any.

True again

Great shooters for your collection...each come with a bayonet.

Advertised as shooters - and they came with the bayonet.


As for gunboards - most feel like i do. We took a gamble hoping they were not refurbished at all - some were in Albania .  How do i know this - well the diverse of parts is a big clue (chinese parts mixed with russian), the lack of any Russian refurbishment facility marks; etc. This is the same stuff we have been getting out of Albania for over a year (Chinese sks - with Russian stocks , parts, entire russian sks marked as chinese etc). After the initial shock over at gunboards people began to realize what they are and enjoy them for what they are.

I still believe they have some type of collector value. That has not been realized yet. Is this question of value ready to start a controversy? - perhaps.

I have bought items from aim for well over a decade and will continue to do so.. nothing in their description was misleading and i feel that it was honest. We as enthusiast and collectors have to be careful not to read too much into a description. Its a good learning experience.

So far you metal is like new - and your stock is banged up. Ok.. how is the rest of the rifle?

I understand what you are feeling - but to say aim was dishonest and trisky.. i can't agree. Re-read the above description.

I also have gotten a ton of C&Rs from Aim and this is honestly the first one that makes me sick.  Sometimes lies are not what you say but what you leave out. Saying that the rifle never went through the Russian refurb and is a WWII era rifle that shows wear implies to many of us that it has original finish but just worn. That is not at all the case. They left out a lot so that we could be easily mislead. Buyer beware. I have sent Aim an email with my complaint. Depending on their response will determine if I ever buy from them again.

Also, you can't say "most feel like I do". There is no way to take an honest poll since most people are not even on these forums. My point is there are many who feel cheated (even if only for a few bucks).
And yes, I have read and re-read the description. I have learned a little about what to look for in an ad. So, if nothing else, this is a learning experience.

Ok, well Aim is coming through. They are accepting the return. Not sure yet if I will eat the shipping. In any case, I do want to say the pictures posted on gun boards and here look nothing like the stock I got so perhaps there are a number of happy customers. I was not one of them. I did try to get around the need for a return by offering to sell it to two friends. Both said it looked like garbage. I even told one I would refinish stock for free(he doesnt care about collector value) and he just laughed.  So, let's see how Aim handles the return. Hopefully, my faith will be restored cause I am hopeful they will get a batch of something new someday... maybe even some Garands from Korea when we finally have a reasonable president.

statistics. You are the first person i came across as being out raged by a shooter grade rifle.  Most were initially disappointed it was not a 400$ Russian issued nonrefurb.  Instead they were cold war satellite nation issued reworked m44s. This resulted in the majority of us (myself included) sitting back and weighing all the variables. Many of us after weighing the variables believed it was a fair/good deal.

Thus the statement "most feel like i do". You would get that sense if you read the entire 4 page thread on gunboards.

Any way back to this..

My suggestion to you.. and its just that .. a suggestion- which is highlighted by my perceived interpretation from your posts:

1. Only buy finely refurbished rifles from places like aim so you don't get a shock when a shooter grade comes in as a shooter grade

2. Don't buy blind - make sure you see a rifle you want full photographed and inspected. I know many a collector that will only buy inperson so he/she can inspect it before purchasing. There is nothing wrong in this. Different strokes for different folks.

3. Aim is a class act; and they will probably bend over backward for you. Most places will say @&^k you - its what it was advertised as being.

To clarify- i am not dumbfounded that you are not happy with the rifle -this can happen and you as a consumer have a right to try to return it.

I am just dumbfounded that you thought aim misrepresented them and tried to cheat people.


PS-

I can get a shit bore with a refurb or a non-refurb as easily as you can get a busted up stock from a shooter grade. These are sold in huge lots for a reason; at this price for a reason. Live and learn. Individual/specified rifles are more for a reason. The phrase - "Roll the dice" comes to mind with regards to shooter grade.

One last thing - the pictures in this thread showed the wide range of what you may receive .. i am surprised by your overall reaction

I have puchased a ton of C&R rifles. I know what to look for. Many have come from Aim because in all previous cases the description was spot on. In this case the deacription is completely misleading. Yes, they say it was not Russian refurb'ed but we should not have to guess or ask if it was refurbed somewhere else since the ad also states they "actually show their history". Mine was refurbed at least once god only knows where. If refurb'ing is history, I guess I got what I paid for.

might as well have gotten a russian refurb (again) since I would need to piss away more money for cleaning rod and sling and a nicer stock. Again, I am not saying they out right lied but you have to admit based on my results, the ad is misleading.

FWIW, Aim says they hand picked these from a large batch. Their email implies the $169 ones are the nicer ones. They have hundreds more to go through. Guessing they will have some real "cheap shooters" posted soon.

haaaa AIM just dropped the price of these to $129.99 shipped and calling them shooter grade outright