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Polish M44 with paper in barrel
Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2018 8:51 am
by B24
Picked up a Polish M44 Saturday and found something I've never seen before. When I checked the bore I could
tell there was some paper in it. The shop owner handed me a cleaning rod and I pushed out a strip of paper
twisted into a spiral about 6 inches long. I thought it was very strange and the shop owner commented that
he had never seen anything like it before. Went ahead and made the deal on the gun and it hits me as to what
this probably was. Corriosion inhibiting paper to keep the bore from rusting. Have any here seen this before?
Moving on to the M44, it is nothing special. Polish M44 with matching magazine\trigger guard with almost
no blueing left, a Romanian bolt and a Hungarian stock. It is an early Century import with the stamps at the
end of the barrel. The trigger on this thing is as good as it gets on a Mosin. Any thoughts as to where this
may have been imported from?
Re: Polish M44 with paper in barrel
Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2018 4:29 pm
by Brdm2
Romania did that to a bunch of mosins, are there any markings on it?
Re: Polish M44 with paper in barrel
Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2018 4:46 pm
by SA1911a1
A fellow could get a face full of rifle if, like some yahoos, they bought it and a box of boolits and took it out for a spin. The lawyers would be on the FFL like stink on shit.
Re: Polish M44 with paper in barrel
Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2018 6:04 pm
by racerguy00
I've had a few Romanian import M91s with paper like that. No carbines though.
Re: Polish M44 with paper in barrel
Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2018 7:03 pm
by Brdm2
I have one with a Russian bolt. Shoots fine.
Re: Polish M44 with paper in barrel
Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2018 7:03 pm
by Brdm2
You already get a face full of rifle each time you fire it, that’s one of the beauties of it:)
Re: Polish M44 with paper in barrel
Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2018 3:23 am
by Junk Yard Dog
Nice, an FFL ( or anyone else selling any firearm) who doesn't check over a weapon before putting it out for sale. I don't know if that's laziness or stupidity, maybe both.
Re: Polish M44 with paper in barrel
Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2018 8:37 am
by B24
Junk Yard Dog wrote:Nice, an FFL ( or anyone else selling any firearm) who doesn't check over a weapon before putting it out for sale. I don't know if that's laziness or stupidity, maybe both.
He had these on consignment so I guess there would be two layers of stupidity. One can assume the original
owner never shot it. There was a Finn M91 Remington and 3 Finn M91 NEWs sitting in the rack beside it but
they were asking too much in my opinion. The bore was nasty but cleaned up nicely, haven't shot it yet.
Re: Polish M44 with paper in barrel
Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2018 4:22 pm
by zeebill
racerguy00 wrote:I've had a few Romanian import M91s with paper like that. No carbines though.
Yeah and I know where they came from too. Many of Kevin Carneys M91's came with that twirl of paper from Century. They came from multiple places not Romania or Poland or any special country but from Century. So who did it? Haven't a guess other than they all came from Century. Do I think they did it? Yeah maybe? I think that would be a good guess which is all anybody else would have after they get done their posturing and guesses. I have had multiple M91's I sold that were out of the first lots Kevin got from Century and before I sold them I cleaned long twirled pieces of grease soaked paper out of them. Some had nice bores and some didn't. A couple were SA marked too and only one Polish M44 had that paper too. Were they anything special? I didn't sell them any higher than any other ones! I told the new owners about what I found and most, like me, bought the rifle and not the story. The paper twist is worth remembering but little else I am afraid and yes I do highly suspect Century may have done this. Regardless of what n ex-century worker might now say all the ones I saw were Century rifles from different countries. Most of Kevin's rifles came right from Century straight to him as a licensed dealer. In those days he got pallets at a time and yes even by the pound too. This included barrels with saw cut receivers too. He had a great dealer rep in those days he often told me that.
How has the bore cleaned up on that rifle? Bill
Re: Polish M44 with paper in barrel
Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2018 7:52 am
by B24
zeebill wrote:racerguy00 wrote:I've had a few Romanian import M91s with paper like that. No carbines though.
Yeah and I know where they came from too. Many of Kevin Carneys M91's came with that twirl of paper from Century. They came from multiple places not Romania or Poland or any special country but from Century. So who did it? Haven't a guess other than they all came from Century. Do I think they did it? Yeah maybe? I think that would be a good guess which is all anybody else would have after they get done their posturing and guesses. I have had multiple M91's I sold that were out of the first lots Kevin got from Century and before I sold them I cleaned long twirled pieces of grease soaked paper out of them. Some had nice bores and some didn't. A couple were SA marked too and only one Polish M44 had that paper too. Were they anything special? I didn't sell them any higher than any other ones! I told the new owners about what I found and most, like me, bought the rifle and not the story. The paper twist is worth remembering but little else I am afraid and yes I do highly suspect Century may have done this. Regardless of what n ex-century worker might now say all the ones I saw were Century rifles from different countries. Most of Kevin's rifles came right from Century straight to him as a licensed dealer. In those days he got pallets at a time and yes even by the pound too. This included barrels with saw cut receivers too. He had a great dealer rep in those days he often told me that.
How has the bore cleaned up on that rifle? Bill
I have done a couple of overnight soaks with Hoppes number 9 and I'm getting quite a bit of shine but still
pulling a lot of copper out. The bore really looks much better than the rest of the rifle. This thing must have been
carried for a long time, the cocking piece has wore a little notch on the back of the receiver while being carried
with the safety in the on position. The bayonet is somewhat loose and shows wear. I think I was mistaken
about the stock being Hungarian but the butt plate is 02 marked. I'm going to try to shoot it this weekend.
Re: Polish M44 with paper in barrel
Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2018 9:23 am
by zeebill
Sounds like a neat rifle. Remember you really want a certain amount of copper to remain in place. Yeah I know most people don't say that but they are used to dealing with Remchesters fresh from the dealer most times. We are dealing with old war horses and they are years removed from manufacture and are worn a bit. I often clean what I now think to have been too far and then after I start shooting a rifle for a year or so they begin to shoot better for me.
Sold a rifle to a local and he keeps coming around for different types of ammo like a pack at a time. He has sort of been sticking to light ball Bulgarian here of late and seems pleased with his results. You almost got to be a tinkerer sometimes to find what a rifle likes. Good Luck shooting and be patient! Bill
