This Mosin-Nagant M44 carbine is Hungarian, built at Femaru Fegyver es Gepgyar in Budapest and dated 1953, and is chambered in 7.62x54R. It carries the Hungarian factory code 02, the Warsaw Pact code assigned to FEG, which was applied across the rifle rather than to the receiver alone. Serial BD92xx. The carbine is matching apart from the bolt, and is mechanically excellent. The bore is mostly bright with strong rifling. It retains most of its factory bluing, a good deal more than these carbines usually carry after service, while the stock shows the handling and storage wear expected of an issued arm. Like all M44 carbines it mounts the cruciform side bayonet permanently hinged to the right of the front sight, which folds back alongside the stock when not in use. The carbine is offered as it is shown.
The M44 was the Soviet Union's last service Mosin-Nagant, a short carbine with an integral folding bayonet adopted in 1944, and after the war the design was passed to the Warsaw Pact states along with the tooling and drawings to build it. Hungary's production at FEG ran only briefly in the early 1950s and in small numbers set against Soviet output, which is why Hungarian examples turn up far less often than the Izhevsk carbines that make up most of what reached the United States. They follow the postwar Soviet pattern closely, using the same later-type sights, and are identified by the 02 factory code stamped throughout, the Hungarian national crest, and a front sling slot set roughly an inch closer to the butt than on other variations. Even the cleaning rods were marked 02. Hungarian M44s are generally regarded as well-made carbines.
Specifications
Manufacturer: Femaru Fegyver es Gepgyar, FEG, Budapest, Hungary
Model: M44 carbine
Caliber: 7.62x54R
Year: 1953
Serial: BD92xx
Factory code: 02
Capacity: 5 rounds
Bayonet: Integral folding cruciform side bayonet
Matching: All matching other than the bolt
Finish: Retains most of the factory bluing
Stock: Service and storage wear
Bore: Mostly bright with strong rifling
Mechanical condition: Excellent
