got some ammo for my m44, got a question though

[BoomerBSG]

went to a local army surplus/gun store in my area i found. and they had the ammo for my m44, it was WWB though... did winchester buy surplus and stick them in their own boxes?

i havnt been to the range with it yet, but i loaded the magazine, and was operating the bolt, it seems to have problems, its like the cartridge doesnt seat right in the bolt by the extractor, if i slam the bolt close hard and slam down on the handle of the bolt it chambers and ejects the round fine, but if i'm gentle with it (not babying it mind you) the extractor seems to have a problem grasping the cartridge making the bolt unable to close down properly.

hope i explained this right.

so do i have to be a brute with this weapon or should i have it checked out before i attempt to fire it?

cheers

[einheit 13]

Buy Russian made ammo like Wolf, Barnual (Silver, Golden, and Brown Bear). Serb ammo like Wolf Gold, or Czech ammo like Sellor & Ballot. And it will work fine. Usually Winchesters ammo has the rim a little thick, what you are experiencing is pretty much normal. Surplus ammo, with the exception of some Albanian, will work better than all of them.

You should have all surplus weapons checked by a 'smith before you shoot them. I don't, as I know what to look out for. At least take your weapon apart (out of the stock)and check it for cracks, bulges and deep pits. Clean it as well as you can before firing. Usually the weapons are in good shooting order, but every now and then you get a 'stinker' with issues. Again, take the action out of the stock and check it out below the 'wood line' before attempting to fire it, and clean it as best as you can or you could injure yourself seriously.

Remember that if you buy surplus ammo, it is corrosive and should be cleaned in a timely manner after any shooting. Have fun, and lets see a pic of those markings on the barrel shank.......

[hacker15]

Had pretty much the same problem with my M44, and I was shooting surplus Com-Block ammo. Looking at the extractor under a 2x magnifying glass, I saw several ridges in the ramp surface that slides across the rim. I took my Drimal tool and popped on a polishing wheel with a little jewelers rouge, touched up the surface and it now runs fine. I have several of these rifles - all came in with scored up ramps on the extractor. Try this fix - it worked for me on all of them.

[Brickboy240]

The rims on Winny 54R is a tad thick.

Still...a Mosin does NOT feed like a Mauser and requires some brisk movement to cycle the action.

I stick with the com-bloc stuff in my Mosins and SKSs. It seems that these people...since they brought us thses guns and calibers...have the ammo down better.

Brickboy240

[03RangerXLT]

The Mosin needs some tough love to chamber. Its not teh smoothest chambering bolt gun I have shot. Have you shot surplus ammo beofre though it? I found that after shooting surplus ammo, that the chamber got sticker due to whatever they seal the bullets with in the com-block countries.

[Bidah]

Originally Posted by 03RangerXLT

....that the chamber got sticker due to whatever they seal the bullets with in the com-block countries.

Actually the chamber gets stickier since there is still cosmoline varnish in the chamber.

Yes, the Mosin's tend to want to be treated hard.. My wife and kids sure love the fireball though.

[orrminator]

The main thing to check on any surplus firearm is the headspacing. The distance from the bolt face to the chamber. You can get a headspace gauge from MidwayUSA or Brownells. Checkout surplusrifle.org to see how to get rid of the sticky bolt syndrome.

I can't imagine that Winchester bought surplus rounds and repackaged them without some sort of labeling so they are probably factory new.