Me and my buddy went to a local gunshow today and like every gunshow we've gone to lately I told him, ''Don't let me buy another Mosin". He said OK.
About a year or so ago I saw a guy walking around carrying a Mosin carbine, asked if he was selling, checked it out and bought it ( 1943 Izhevsk M-38 for $325). An hour later I see the same guy with another carbine, same routine... bought it ( 1944 Izhevsk Single-ear M-44 for $325). I asked him, jokingly,  if I was gonna see him in an hour with something else for sale. No, that was all he had. I told my buddy not to let me buy any more Mosins and that's how that running joke got started.

We're walking around and he says, "There's one of your Mosins". I turn and see a beautiful M-44 on a table. I got an uneasy feeling right away, like it wasn't right. The stock was brand new, unfinished, the cleaning rod was ''in the white'', and there wasn't even a little bit of the blueing worn off. It looked brand new. I asked the guy if I could pick it up and look at it better, that's when I saw the 11 in an oval and then I knew why it looked so nice. The only thing I knew about Polish Mosins is that they're usually found in great condition and they're very well made. I learned that in this forum but had never seen one in person. While I was looking my buddy grabbed the price tag and said ''300''. When I heard that I knew I was gonna ''Buy another Mosin''.

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1953 Dated. I also tried to show the import mark but it's so small I couldn't read it without a magnifying glass. Right above the wood line. It says, '' CDI SWAN VT MOD.44 7.62X54R MADE IN POLAND''.

This is all I could find wrong with it. The barrel bands.
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They look like dark, tarnished copper with black splotches.

Other than that it looks fantastic. Not a single scratch or nick in the stock, the bore is blindingly bright with strong rifling, all matching numbers, no counter-bore, even a really good, smooth trigger pull. I am really surprised and impressed with this rifle.
Is this is what Mosin-Nagants looked like when they were new?

I know it's not rare or extremely collectible but I just don't know if I can bring myself to shoot it. It's been shot, there's a grey ring on the bolt face right where my others have it.
I don't know why he was selling so low. Russian M-44's in OK condition go for about $340, in very good condition $370 around here. I saw another just like it about an hour later for $500, same year too.

Not knowing much about these rifles, what can you guys tell me about them ? How does this one look to you ? Any place to find more to read about them ? I've already looked at Mosin Nagant. net and 7.62x54r.net.

I'm glad the Poles were smart enough not to slather a thick, gooey mess of shellac on such beautiful wood.

I'm jealous OP.

Jealous!  Century had one on their site earlier this week.  I've been checking that site religiously around noon each day for about the last 4 months and yet to find something I wanted at a price I was willing to pay for it.  Wednesday night I forgot and decided to check it at 8pm and they had already sold the one they had, price was super good on it too.  The one day I don't look... anyway, they've really spiked in value on gunbroker lately too for mint examples like that.  That is a great score!

Great looking gun

I lucked out and found a Polish last summer as well. My barrel bands look the same as yours. Wish I could run into some decent deals on milsurps around here. Seems like everything I run across in KS in bubba'd or so high I don't take a second look.

Your barrel bands look the same as mine ? At least there's other rifles out there that are alike. I was going to swap them with ones from another gun but if I sell it later the buyer may know that there were some made like that. They're probably marked somewhere too.

I almost missed out on it. Twice.
I was looking at stuff on the right, it was behind me on the left. I would have walked by then looked at stuff on the left and just missed it. If my buddy hadn't said something I would've never knew it was there.
Then, as I was looking at it I heard an ominous voice whisper in my ear, ''If you put it down, I'm buying it''. I already knew by then I was going to buy it, so I told the guy. He told me that the seller had 2 of them and he bought one about 10 minutes ago. As he was taking it out to his car he thought at that price he should've bought them both. So, he came back in to buy it but I was already holding it.

If my buddy didn't bring it to my attention or if I was 1 minute later arriving on that spot...

They are beautiful guns.  I bought my also 53' Polish Radom manufactured M44 while in West Germany in 88'.  Picked it up from Frankonia Jagd. in Munich for 188DM which was about $88 USD (easy to remember with all the 8's)  Didn't pay the VAT (Value Added Tax).  Got a set of Lee 7.62x54R dies and was reloading for it back then too.  Ended up selling here on EE in 14' as need the money for my MIL surgery.  Had only fired it less then 100 rds in those yrs.  Tula had over 1000 rds fired.

You can see the West German proofs

1953 Radom with 1904 Tula/Scout Rifle (Bubba'd before I got it)



CD

How did that rifle travel from East to West Germany in 1988?

Yeah, that was a steal....good job OP!

Frankonia Jagd is a German sporting/hunting goods chain.  Don't think it was ever in East Germany.  Rifle was purchased on the international gun market from Poland to West Germany and I imported it.  No ATF Form 6 needed at the time as US/West Germany had an agreement that a US service member could bring 3 long guns home without Form 6s at the time.  Now I had a dozen Form 6s approved for handguns.

Still in business

Frankonia

Forty5Cal-Enjoy that rifle!

CD

Thanks for the compliments, guys. I'm already enjoying this rifle and I haven't even fired it yet. I probably won't.

I just can't believe how well made it is. The machining is flawless, there's no tooling marks. I was a machinist for 30+ years and know how much work it takes to do this. Unbelievable ! I've been comparing it to the best M-44 I have, a 1946, and there's a few tooling marks here and there but the workmanship is far better on the Polish one.

The war years production 38's and 44's I have show a rush job, understandably, but in '53 the Poles had time and used it well with these guns. I wasn't planning to add one of these to my small collection but I couldn't pass it up and I'm glad I didn't. It sure is a beauty.

I'm going to hang it on the wall in my reloading/computer room.

ETA: I bought a brand new sling for it, since it looks new it should have it, it looks like it belongs on it. Really nice.

I had a 53 dated Polish. Damn nice rifles but sold it for stupid money. I do and don't miss it. Fun shooter. Enjoy.

Ive never seen one of those.

Nice!

'53 must have been a high production year for the Poles. Everyone who's had one had a 53 and an hour after I bought this I saw another 1953 dated one. I've never seen a polish one in person before but there were 3 at the same show, I didn't get to see the other so I don't know what its' date was.

I have a '52 Polish M44 I bought quite a few years ago.  It does have the best finish and workmanship of all my Mosins. 

Everyone loves it when the flame thrower comes out.

Great rifles

Good deal! I would like to have one sometime to go with my Polish WZ-48.
I was wondering if the bands were meant to be that color. I've noticed Polish firearms before that have metal parts with a purplish tint. My MAG98 has some. I could be wrong, though. I'm no Mosin expert.