A friend of mine has an M44 carbine as well as a full size Nagant rifle. I' ve fired both of these and find them to be a lot of fun and reasonably accurate. I' m considering picking one up (you can' t beat the price) and decking it out with a new stock and scope for use as kind of knock around plinking rifle and possible deer rifle. The only thing I' m apprehensive about is the safety. It seems that it could be a hangup in the deer woods on a cold morning. Does anyone know if there is a way to have the safety modified to be a little more manageable? Does anyone have first hand experience with a Nagant as a deer rifle?

What' s wrong with the safety? Its probably the simplest, most foolproof safety ever put on a rifle. What can it hand up on?

I think what he' s talking about is the fact that the Mosin-Nagant M44 safety is difficult to operate, especially with gloved hands, and especially when the rifle is already shouldered. Taking the safety off without the deer spotting the movement would also be difficult, since it requires that your hand be completely removed from the grip rather than simply flipping a lever on the tang, or pushing a crossbolt.

Otherwise, the N44 Carbine would make, I think, a great 100yard brush gun for whitetails. It' s small, lightweight, and packs a heck of a lot more punch than the most popular brush gun out there, the lever action .30-30, being closer to a .308Win with the right bullet. Mine always shot 3-4" groups over the (what I consider crappy) iron sights. Only problem with the carbine is the muzzleblast is pretty severe, and in low-light conditions the muzzle-flash is a real fireworks show. The inability to install a practical scope mount is also another drawback, because of the straight, 90 degree, bolt handle.

I' m actually going to trade off my Mosin-Nagant M44 carbine when I buy the Savage 12BVSS .243Win I' m saving for. I' m getting to the point where just shooting to blow off cheap ammo isn' t that fun anymore, and I' d rather have a few high quality guns than a bunch of imported el-cheapo plinkers.

Mike

Whar' s wrong with the safety is exactly what driftrider said! They are a tremendous pain in the __ to put on and off! They' re worse than the Arisaka safeties!