I just bought a Russian M44 (The Stamp on the reciever says 1946) from a pawn shop and the guy who sold says its Korean bring back. Near the muzzle the is stamped in English: Russian M44 7.62x54r CAI ST.ALB VT.
So Im guessing that it was brought back and looked over in a factory to see if it was safe to shoot and then the army sold it a US citizen.
If any one knows what CAI St. ALB VT means I would be grateful.
Im guessing that “St. ALB VT” means " St. Albany Vermont "
That is an importers mark, when the guns were originally brought into the U.S. the company handling the deal was the importer, and had to impress their mark on each weapon they brought in. There is one such outfit in St. Albans Vt., Century Arms Inc… If you have questions about the rifle, give them a call perhaps they have some useful info about it.
I agree with Tankgeezer, it’s an import mark put on it by the company that imported this rifle. Unfortunatly that also means that your rifle is NOT a Korean War bring back.
Buy the rifle, not the story.
I bought the rifle for deer hunting and blowing away the occasional coyote. The war bring back bit was just a plus.
Is it common to get one with all the serial numbers matching and in orriginal finnish?
I shot it today and it doesn’t kick that much:o. Almost like a 20gauge really.
It probibly helps that Im a 6ft 2in tall and weigh 225 pounds:D
Im very happy with the accuracy. (3 inches at 100yrds off hand)
Chances are your rifle will have been re-furbished before going into storage as a reserve rifle in case the WWIII ever happens. Most of these rifles will be matching or force matching numbers.
Certainly not rare to find that type of weapon, sometimes even unissued weapons will show up in the market.Usually, returned issue weapons are put through a reconditioning process, then warehoused till needed again, or in this case sold en mass for export. Yours may be an older arsenal refinish, as they didnt always scramble the parts when doing that. If it does what you want it to, and looks really nice, you’re ahead of the game. Its rewarding just to own them.
I take it back about not kicking that much I was shooting standing up.:oops: Its a whole different story when shooting of the bench. The first ten rounds were OK but by the time I had fired about thirty my shoulder was hurting each time I shot.:lol:
Nothing to be embarrassed about, especially with a a steel butt plate. There is a nerve that runs right through the area where the butt sits in the shoulder, so that will get some irritation, You might consider a slip on rubber pad for it. Less distress. The 7.62x54R is not known for being a gentle round, so I would recommend it.