Newest Threads

writerinmo · 03-13-2011, 12:55 AM

First off, I will have to give Don a good rating for service. He got my order and payment on Monday, and the Big Brown truck dropped this off Friday morning, so not bad at all, from AZ to eastern MO.

These pics are just as it came out of the box... 20+ years of caked on grease and dirt, this is one of those allegedly taken from soldiers during the changeout to the SKS and stored in bundles of 20 in caves for many many years. I have to say that I have NEVER EVER handled a weapon this dirty and nasty in all my years.

Initial exam... no numbers match at all, it almost looked like this was thrown together out of parts bins. Screws were loose, handguard doesnt match the stock, barrel bands fit loose. Light rust in the bolt area of the receiver, rust spots on magazine, two minor cracks in the stock, one looks like from the barbed wire that was used to bind the rifles together. The wood used in the 53's is so dang soft it's almost like working with balsa. The other crack starts near the rear of the receiver behind the bolt and is about an inch long.

All parts are there and functional, the trigger is way better than the one on my 1942 Tula 91/30.

Teardown and cleanup... after a complete teardown and cleaning, it appears this one will function, but shooting it will be like throwing a hot dog down a hallway. While the barrel slugs out at .311, there is NO VISIBLE RIFLING at all in it... I sent Don an email regarding that, since a "Fair " grading in the NRA standards defines it as "Some major parts replaced; minor replacement parts may be required; metal rusted, may be lightly pitted all over, vigorously cleaned or re-blued; rounded edges of metal and wood; principal lettering, numerals and design on metal partly obliterated; wood scratched, bruised, cracked or repaired where broken; in fair working order or can be easily repaired and placed in working order." So we will see where that one goes. I would be happy if I could get another with a good bore for half price, just saying... I would say it is safe to shoot, just not going to be accurate at all.

Now for pics... these are just as I took it out of the box, I haven't taken any after cleanup, as it really isnt done. Washing the stock with Dawn basically took what remained of the finish off, it appears that over time, the grease and oils on it basically dissolved the shellac.

Overall, if you want to stock up on spare parts for your M44, might be one way to do it!

WARNING.>>>>20 PICS>>>>>low download speed alert!!!!

bentley · 03-13-2011, 01:19 AM

Wow. She is grungy. There aren't any "after" pics in that set is there....? If the rifling is that worn you should definitely check headspace! Thanks for posting. Curious to see how Don responds.

**zombiekiller** · 03-13-2011, 01:25 AM

That's crazy rough...but a type 53 for $65? If the box arrived and it wasn't on fire I'd say a fare deal.

writerinmo · 03-13-2011, 01:57 AM

I haven't checked the headspace yet, I literally spent five hours cleaning it last night! I did check that it would chamber a round, which it did, and it felt real good. I have never ever seen even a pic of one that had the rifling shot entirely out of it, looking across the internet even. Almost like it was drilled out of it in some manner, as the bore is shiny, a few minor pits the size of the head of a pin is it... really makes me scratch my head over it. When slugging it, I did get a few short stretches where the slug pushed pretty easily for 1/4" or so but nothing that was way out of bounds. The rust cleaned up easily with Hoppes and a bore brush, it could use some re-bluing in a few spots now, but not going to put too much time into it until I hear back from Don. The main purpose behind buying it was to get one to use as a template to work up a sight adjustment tool, so it filled its purpose. I'll take the trigger and switch it over to my 91/30 for sure though!

Yeah, it was $85 total with shipping so I can't complain, everything on it is in good usable shape other than the wood... IF I ever stumble on a M44 when I have the cash to pick it up, it might come in handy there for sure.

Zer0DazE · 03-13-2011, 01:21 PM

electrolysis cleaning might help that bore out... or it might just show you how bad it really is.

**zombiekiller** · 03-13-2011, 01:52 PM

You can always part it out. People are always looking for the folding bayo to un-bubba a M44 and replace a bolt body when their ebay bent bolt kit experience didn't exactly match the picture.

writerinmo · 03-14-2011, 12:22 AM

I emailed Don about the bore, he replied that he just grabs the first one that looks good on the outside (obviously his "looks good" is open to interpretation as this one looked like ass...) and ships it. I asked him if I bought another one, could he at least look at the bore before shipping it, and he said yeah, he could try that.

writerinmo · 03-23-2011, 04:37 AM

Haven't ordered another one yet, waiting for that lottery ticket to pay off so I can pay off all these bill collectors and buy me more guns! Meanwhile, spent a little time cleaning this thing up... bore didn't get much better, but looks shootable, just not accurate at all. Ended up lightly sanding the stock to remove the rest of the shellac that didn't fall off it, and take the rough edges off the gouges and such. Rubbed in a bit of Minwax dark walnut, then after it had dried rubbed it down a few times with Johnson paste wax, which lightened it a bit and gave it that "warm" feel that I like in wood stocks. Ended up doing some spot beadblasting and rebluing to get rid of some rust that had pockmarked the mag floorplate and buttplate, but they look real nice now. So here are some pics of the thing, sorry but no bore pic, misplaced my light.

Yes, I know that's not the correct sling and the 53 didn't have dog collars, but I liked this one!

Magazine looks much better, no rust and a bit of rebluing does wonders.

Butt plate after beadblasting and Birchwood Casey cold bluing

Notice the stock repair...

Nice deep gouge here, if the story is true these rifles were banded together using concertina wire, this must have been one of the outside guns or close to it.

Another repair, if I hadn't been sanding the stock I wouldn't have noticed this one.

And what almost appears to me to be a refurb stamp like the one on my Mosin, but that wouldn't make a lot of sense to me, but who knows?

Overall, I would still have rated this one as "Poor condition" due to the bore, but I'll order another one and see if this one just slipped through the cracks, or if they are just sending whatever junk out they still have left. I get another one in what I rate as poor, and I'll have no problems warning everyone I can away from them.

kyhipoint · 03-23-2011, 05:00 AM

wow that poor thing has had a hard life

writerinmo · 03-23-2011, 05:39 AM

No doubt on that one... but it'd almost be worth the $85 alone for the trigger and parts off this thing if I had an M44 that needed anything. I'm pretty sure the trigger will eventually end up on my 91/30, it's just so much smoother, and the trigger has a better fitting curvature on the bottom.