had a finnish m39 for cheap c/f rifle practice. great rifle, fantastic trigger (if you like 2 stage pulls and i do) and was far more accurate than it had any right to be. but was just too big. sold it and got an m44 carbine and accuracy is dismal w/ the same surplus ammo. on the order of 5" at 50 yds. even w/ bead/buckhorn sights i can usually run 2" or so.

is this typical of these or do they generally have some preference of bullet weight/diameter?

roger

Have you tried with bayonet extended. Alot of guys claim the harmonics kill accuracy with it closed. My m-38 took alot of cleaning to get out the krud even though it was a refurb. With action screws tight and recoil lug contacting I can shoot 2" at 50 yds and 3-4" at 100, wih S&B ammo, not surplus. This is with iron sights.

An M44 is the only Russian Nagant variant I don't own.

I cannot say that I was overly impressed with the accuracy of either of the other variants I have. The long rifle shot OK, but my short rifle is merely for historical significance. I'm not sure you could hit the barn wall from inside with that thing...