M44/T53 Info needed

[sreyemj]

I bought this in a bit of a hurry at a local shop. At the time I though it was just a rough M44 and the price was right. I also remember thinking the bolt serial looked long. Come to find out the bolt and mag floor-plate at least are Chinese. There is also some black paint like stuff under the stock. From everything I'm seeing this was probably put together as a parts rifle? If so I will sell/trade it off as it would be of little interest...

[Miller Tyme]

Hard to say but the stock has been refinished which leads me to wonder if it was done to strip the black paint off that you found on the inside of the stock. The butt plate also looks to have been painted flat black.

[Junk Yard Dog]

Damn! That stock looks like it fell into a vat of black nasty paint. Otherwise it looks like another Balkan used M44. How about an import mark? Is there one? If so were is it.

[sreyemj]

CAI M44 import mark on the side of the receiver.

[Longcolt44]

Take it out and shoot it. By the 20th round that black paint will fall right off. we actually had one of our younger members set fire by shooting I think 100 rounds without stopping. We just call him Flame now.

[qz2026]

A parts gun of sorts but definitely part brokered while in the Balkans. This is a very nice M-44. If the bore is good and headspace checks out, it will be a fine rifle. I love them like this

[Rongo]

It does indeed look as though someone got paint happy on the stock. As Jim stated... Take it out & shoot it. The paint should fail over time & it will a great reminder why we so firmly believe in preservation. Besides... Everyone needs at least one unwanted & previously abused orphan in their collection. It's not the rifles fault & they need lovin' too.

[sreyemj]

I will definitely check the headspace on this one before firing. The bore is a bit worn near the muzzle so it will be interesting to see how it shoots. Is there any chance the Chinese parts were put on in the Balkans? It seems odd that Century would import a barreled receiver on purpose.

[clayshooter2]

What am I not seeing here? I see the Chinese triangle 21 stamp on the bolt body, but what on the magazine floor plate points to Chinese property?

[clayshooter2]

Is there any chance the Chinese parts were put on in the Balkans? It seems odd that Century would import a barreled receiver on purpose.

Albania definitely had a relationship with China. Chinese parts flowing into Albania and then to other comunist block countries in the region is a possibility.

[sreyemj]

What am I not seeing here? I see the Chinese triangle 21 stamp on the bolt body, but what on the magazine floor plate points to Chinese property?

I was going off of the long 7 digit serial number, the magazine body itself is Russian.

[vblue42]

Does anyone think the X may be a capture mark, or did the Soviets only do this to captured German rifles? If so it could have been captured during the brief Sino-Soviet War.

[clayshooter2]

I was going off of the long 7 digit serial number, the magazine body itself is Russian.

Good observation. I missed that.

[clayshooter2]

I would not chalk it up to a parts rifle just yet though. More research is needed before I personally would make that call.

[clayshooter2]

Does anyone think the X may be a capture mark, or did the Soviets only do this to captured German rifles? If so it could have been captured during the brief Sino-Soviet War.

I would think Korean War part swap before I would think that. By the time of the Soviet Sino Conflicts M44's were very obsolete to the Soviets, and very far away geographically from any known Mosin refurbishment arsenals. Who knows though? We only now are seeing refurbished Mosins coming out of Russia itself.

[Rongo]

I would not chalk it up to a parts rifle just yet though. More research is needed before I personally would make that call.

It's not uncommon to see strange conglomerations of parts on a Balkan rifle. The region was fairly poor during the Cold War forcing them to get creative on a tight Military budget. Putting a functional rifle into the armory from a batch of parts was not unheard of by any means.

[qz2026]

I've got a Balkan M-44 with a Chinese bolt body. No big deal. They got their guns from Russia and from China. When things needed to be fixed, they reached into the parts bins or more likely another "parts" gun and used what worked. A refurbishment of sorts happened in Romania prior to import as well.

[sreyemj]

Oddly enough this shot fairly well. I didn't have high hopes as the muzzle end of the rifling was looking worn near the muzzle.

[qz2026]

Good shooting! Slight adjustment on the front sight and aim a little low and you are good to go. Nice groups.

Not odd at all.