M44 Bent Front Sight

[phillyd2]

Originally Posted by PA Rifleman

Easy fix, and wouldn't have been a dealbreaker had I been in your shoes. On a 91/30, the front sight dovetails out of the mount, and the front sight pin slides in from underneath. It has a tapered base that prevents it from falling out, but despite being captured in place when assembled some posts were welded in place. On M38s & M44s I recall the posts may require drilling out. Note that 91/30 sights are not interchangeable with M44 sight parts.

Try it at the range. If the elevation's right, carefully bend the front sight post straight. Since this will affect the windage, you may need to drift the sight base to correct for this. If the post breaks, read on...

What I've done is buy a spare front sight base and drilled or driven the post out, depending on how it was installed. I turned down a replacement post from a common housenail and made it overlength. At the range, I trimmed it down until the sight alignment agreed with the range. Later, I removed the pin, blued it and reinstalled it. Since it's soft steel, it will bend quite a bit before breaking.

Other folks have come up with creative solutions like slipping tubing over the post, installing set screws, threading the post, etc.

My first impulse is to try to get "bang" it back into shape as it looks like the elevation may be ok. The center post also seems ok so the damage may just be cosmetic.

The more I think of it, a ammo box must have fell on it during the drive home. No way I would missed this at the show.

[Holleta]

That does look mostly cosmetic and minor. If I were you, I would drop a box a shells on it from the opposite direction. A rubber mallet and/or block of wood and hammer should have your girl looking prom pretty in no time!!

[phillyd2]

LOL, well I didn't go with the ammo box from a different direction route and a rubber mallet I thought would be insulting to a 50+ year old battle rifle but here is where I am now. Since there is a hole on top of the sight I put bit in and "lovingly banged" that a bit. She may not yet be ready for the prom but she now has personality. What the Soviet army could not do in decades was accomplished in the back of a 4Runner.

[PA Rifleman]

I get it, I was under the impression the post was bent. I've seen this before, although I haven't seen a 91/30 with a distorted hood yet. The hood on M1938s and M44s is built very different from 91/30s. The 91/30 hood is machined from a block or blank, the M38 sight base is machined without the hood. When done, it's just a square base with a dovetail on the bottom. They bend a steel strap to the shape of the hood and weld it to the sides of the base. They performed the final machining with the hood attached, and that's how they get it so clean. If you look closely at your picture, you can see a faint seam where the hood's attached to the base.

The last 1938 carbine I fixed with a hood problem actually had hood separation on one side. I fixed it by straightening & aligning the parts, and silver soldering the joint. I chose silver solder instead of rewelding since welding would have been much more disruptive and alse required refinishing, assuming nothing went wrong. The weld did hold on one side, so it was more cosmetic than anything else.

Here's my current Aztec 1938. 1944 dated, all matching, original laminated 38 stock (not M44 stock). It needed some work. When I received it, the firing pin threads were nearly stripped. This means it could have fired at random, and possibly out of battery. The seller had just given me a lengthy run-around about a more serious issue with another Mosin, so I just replaced the firing pin & cocking piece and called it a day. I'm glad I did, as it gave a very pleasant surprise on the range.

It's finished in polyurethane over stain. The original finish had more contrast between the laminations, but literally fell off the gun under the lightest touch.

I waited until the last flake of the original finish settled to the floor before refinishing.