These are actually very well made, especially compared to modern bolt .22s. I have owned both U.S. marked and commercial 44US rifles. The 42m(b) was also used by the British government for training purposes. On a side note - if you ever want to do a video on a Ross trainer, let me know Ian.....I can lend you mine.
I'm actually working as a riflery instructor at a boy's camp right now and Mossberg 44s are our primary rifles. Excellent guns, and I always take pride in teaching kids marksmanship with such a historical gun.
That was my rifle in high school. Jeez I can't believe it had some history. To this day i don't know how it came into the family. I found it under a spare bed encased in dust bunnies and dad didn't say anything when I adopted it. That thing accounted for some of my very few fun times in high school- we had a rifle team.
Yeah and that's not the best part. I didn't have any kind of carrying case for it so I pretty much just carried the thing into school. Looking back I guess that calls for a "no shit" but it really is true. I got to school at an ungodly early hour and just droped it off at the principles office. I think he locked the bolt up with petty cash till after school. The only grief I got was being informed that ya can't walk home with a rifle on ur shoulder which I thought was not unreasonable at the time.
Pretty much all the Mossberg .22 bolt actions of that era were made basically the same. They are incredible rifles. Accurate and just a pleasure to shoot.
I own a Model 44 US. I can tell you it's very accurate. Very notable is how really good the trigger is. It breaks like a thin glass rod and very smooth. One of my favorite .22's . I also have a Mossberg Model 46 M with manlicher stock and is tube fed.
Thanks so much for posting this video. My grandfather - a WWII & Korea vet - taught me to shoot on a Mossberg .22 almost identical to that one (I think it was purchased new on the civilian market though). It brings back a lot of great memories to see this video, and gives me a little context to a rifle I've always loved to shoot.
For firearms safety training I bought one of these my grandpa had. I had a few more modern guns to choose from but I shot that one really well. The first five round group was a jagged hole. The one instructor thought I'd missed 4 times until we went and looked at it. We only shot at 10yards but it was pretty neat for an 11year old. Ended up having a 100yd compilation between 2 of the instructors. The older one with grampas barn gun and the younger man with a heavily modified 10/22. The old man with the barn gun won by a landslide. He said the lesson here is how pretty a gun is isn't how accurate a gun is. Think he just wanted to prove the old bull/young bull argument.
I have a Mossberg model 42 M(b) .22 that was sent over to England, it was within the first 2000(?) or so rifles as it has no serial number. It has a full Enfield-style stock and still has specks of yellow paint and the brass US cap on the pistol grip. This particular rifle has a long story behind it. Edit: forgot to mention it was sent to Britain as part of the lend-lease program.
Almost the only thing different between these rifles are the sights. The 42m(b) has a 3-blade type front sight adjustable for elevation, and it used to have a Parker Hale rear peep sight but it was damaged and replaced with a factory rear sight. Everything else beside the stock looks the same.
Someone may have mentioned this already, but the trigger guard is a newer replacement part. the "saw" marks on the end are a dead giveaway. The magazine probably is also. To me, it doesn't matter. I have six of these and they are all excellent shooters!
I really like the old Mossberg .22 rifles. I have a mint early model Mossberg model 42M(b) and it is such an accurate rifle. It has the Parker-Hale peep sights and the standard sights. It can fire .22Short,Long and LongRifle. The 7-round magazines have a screw in it that can be taken out so the rifle will reliably cycle the different length .22 rounds. I has a very light and crisp trigger. Keep up the great job Ian, your videos are awesome.
I had the same experience back in the late '40s. Got my Marksmanship medal, with bars, from the NRA with it. Had the civilian model with the swinging rear sight. Lots of fond memories.
Mossberg was always trying new things with their rifles. They were using that plastic triggerguard well before WW2. They do shrink after all these years, and the "tail" of the guard pulls away from the stock. The correct way to remedy this is to remove the small screw at the rear of the triggerguard, gently push the guard back into the stock inlet, and drill a new hole for the screw. Yes, there will be a slight gap at the end of the triggerguard, but If you try to just push it back in without removing the screw, you can easily break the triggerguard, and finding a good original replacement is difficult and expensive.
My father competed with a 44US, in the seventies. Any model 44 Mossberg you find that hasn't been totally abused is a tack driver. You just have to find the loading it likes. Fantastic rifles, bad news, they will set you back over $400, as opposed to $1200 + for its Winchester competitor or and Anshutz off the CMP.
cool! my wife's grandfather gave me one, he bought it at Eatons in Montreal in 1947. He kept it disassembled in the camper for "bear defence", which made me chuckle. His(mine) has the mossberg rear sight, but an elaborate front sight, with multiple folding posts.
My father had a Mossberg 44 US that he said was Army surplus, but I understand that there were civilian versions made after the war and his might have been one of those. His had the Mossberg rear sight shown on this video, but had a hooded front sight with interchangeable leaves. The receiver was drilled and tapped for a scope mount, as well. The strap mounts were quick-release type and it had the original leather strap. As I became a young adult, I asked if I could disassemble the action and clean it. That’s when I discovered that this rifle had an adjustable trigger pull. I had always known the gun to have a hard and abrupt pull, growing up. Finding the adjustment screw allowed me to bring it to a hair-trigger pull, then back it away until the pull was very predictable, yet light. I took it to a rifle range and was able to shoot quarter size groupings hand held from a standing bench at what I think was 30 yards or 100’. The gun was sold about 13 years ago. I wish I had been able to keep it.
The side folding sight was to facilitate bolt removal. Rotate the sight out of the way, open the bolt, deprrss the trigger and pull bolt back out of the gun. Also, the knurled knob on the front of the magazine is a piece that allows .22 shorts to feed from the mag. A nail-like prjection stands up in the forward part of the mag, going through the hole in the mag follower, taking up the space of the loaded. 22 long rifle cartridge. An elegant solution for the cheapskate like me, as in the day shorts were considerably cheaper than long rifle cartridges.
I have a Stevens Model 44 single-shot, with a Mossberg 44US barrel. I removed a crudely-mounted scope mounting block and installed a tang sight. With its Micro-Groove-style rifling, it is a tack driver.
bakelite = plastic polymer = plastic poly-carbonate = plastic They're all just different names for the same thing. A lot of people just don't like hearing or thinking that their guns are made out of plastic, when in reality it's totally fine to make a lot of components out of it.
Actually, bakelite is a resin and chemicaly anything but a polymere as it is a thermo hardening material. Polymere gets soft when heated, bakelite doesn't.
Bakelite (/ˈbeɪkəlaɪt/ BAY-kə-lyt, sometimes spelled Baekelite[3]), or polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride, is an early plastic. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakelite Plastic is an umbrella term that encompasses many composites, resins, and polymers
What a mess. Polymers are anything made out of a repeating molecule (a monomer), usually based on carbon. Polymers can be divided into thermosets and thermoplastics, depending on its thermal behavior (e.g. as noted bakelite does not get soft when heated up; it is a thermoset made from resin and not a thermoplastic, but it very much is a polymer). "Thermoplastics" are where we get "plastics" from. Firearms tend not to use plastics because they become structurally unsound when heated and are much easier to destroy. However, they do tend to use polymers. TL;DR: All plastics are polymers but not all polymers are plastics.
Dirt Road Grocery Store back then one of the ideas was to train all soldiers regardless if they’re left handed or not and for factories to make them right handed friendly disregarding left handed versions
I bought a 42b from my buddy for 100 bucks my sophomore year. It sometimes has problems with rim lock but I still use it to take out chippys and squirrels around my house all the time.
Yes finally one I too own (well gave to my youngest son but still in the family. The one we have is a 46M, very similar but has a 2 piece manlicher stock, a tube magazine, a peep site, a ramp site and 4 different front sites that fold like a pocket knife (2 size blades, blade with brass bead and ghost ring). From what I've gathered on it was they sent them over through lend/lease to train the Brit's. It was supposedly brought back by a friends father after the war. It has no serial numbers or US property stamps. It is also a tack driver that my youngest learned marksmanship with so I naturally gave it to him when he moved out.
I have a model 42b. Very similar. I got the rifle and two original magazines in a trade for a cheap red dot. Anyone that knows these guns will tell you I got a steal as the mags are expensive. The sling mounts alone arre more than the $50 I have in the trade. The bore is mirror which is crazy for a gun made in 1936. The 42b has diffetent front sight posts that you can choose from. I had to buy a trigger guard and I got a weaver scope mount from Havlins. Had to track down a rear sight elevation screw and some parts for the peep sight but the elevation screw for the rear sight was the real challenge. I got another bolt in the deal but it doesnt fit the 42b. Anyway,great rifles. Even without the elevation screw in the rear sight I was hitting everything. Great rifles and there is a bunch of people that collect these mossbergs. Crazy how the rifles can be had cheap but you could at least triple your money by parting them out. If you can get your hands on any of these old mossys dont pass them up. Great .22s
I have one that looks similar except it has a full length stock, tube fed. A mossberg 46 M (b) serial # 110750. Still shoots well, and very heavy for a 22 cal.. Still looking for the rear peep sight though. Cool site to visit, my family has been through the Civil War, WW 1&2, Korea, and Vietnam. So old military weapons are a big interest to me.
I own 44b. The sights and also has a really old Mossberg variable power scope that I think is brass? Also, the front doing has three different places.to mount the strap sling. Those are a removable type. Different even in the bolt itself. Interesting, mine.is not a government property marked. Shoots like a laser beam!
I inherited one of the 42m’s. As others have said, they are incredibly accurate. The trigger is the crispest I’ve ever used. It’s a ton of fun. I only wish I could find a second mag for it. If you find one of these, I highly recommend it.
Nice. The size and contour of the stock imnediately struck me. Looks pretty useful. I would prefer the Lyman sight because of the scales- easier to see where u are. I have a #62 on a Marlin 336, and it works great. The military was pretty sensible to adopt these at a lower cost. Great video as always. Thank you
when my grandfather joined in 1960, he said he never had a training rifle, they just dropped an M1 in his hands, and halfway through basic, they switched to the M14, and at the same time delta force got theirs, his task force got the M16 (pre A1, obviously)
They are a lot of fun as a pllnker :-) Following WW2 I know a lot of them went home to the US and Mossberg 'Sporterised' them by removing the front half of the woodwork.
Just worked it out. I paid £30 Sterling for mine about ten years back, roughly what it would have cost allowing for inflation in WW2. Good deal I think!
The pivoting sight is probably mostly intended to clear the bolt so it can be removed for cleaning or maintenance, the Parker-Hale on my BSA Sportsman does the same (although it's much closer to the Lyman sight in terms of... well, poshness). The most interesting take I've seen was on a Mannlicher-Schönauer 1903 sporter - the sight was overhanging the usual bolt travel and so it was spring loaded to pivot out of the way and then click back into place each time the bolt was cycled. For something made to be pretty cheap, this looks like a nice little rifle.
I didn't hear Ian mention that screw pin in the bottom of the magazine that allows you to use .22 short ammunition without hanging up and racking too far forward in the mag. Makes the short ammo feed much easier. I inherited mine from my great uncle stan who passed away at 94. He serviced B24 liberators stateside during WWII.
I am quite familiar with that particular model Mossberg 22lr rifle. Mine was the model 144 b-b with the Lyman rear peep on it but it was tubular feed instead of box magazine. It was in BEAUTIFUL CONDITION, COLLECTOR CONDITION (safe QUEEN)! Considering its age pre-WW2 it was 95%+ condition. First time I've got something that OLD in "LIKE NEW" condition! 👍😁
In the early 1940's the MB42a was costing the British Goverment $10 less sights. Mine serial 38759 dates to a batch deliverd in February 194i, one of 11,000 the last of lot. . It has a full two piece forend, and the adjustable 7 shot magazine. Parker Hale sights were fitted. It stayed in military service till it came to me. One oddity of UK law, it had no proof marks. Before I could own it it had to go to the London Proof house to be proofed and marked. The barrel is marked US GOVERMENT PROPERTY and the palstic handgaurd is perfect and fits well.
i have a similar model withe the exception that it has a full mannlicker stock adjustable notch site and a dust cover and it was marketed under westernfield of Montgomery ward. i believe it a model 14m-499A
I saw one of these at a pawn shop, I was not expecting the weight and was very surprised, then I looked at a shotgun that apparently had a fiberglass barrel so it was super light.
I have a 44b, and a 40. They both suffer from weak firing pin springs and a terribly designed flat steel firing pin. They also have a tubular magazine. I wonder why the Army went with a detachable, as neither the 1903a3 nor the Garand used one. Also a magazine with either 5 (1903) or 8 (M1) would have made more sense. A single use trainer (marksmanship only), wouldn't fly today. Besides the awful primer actuation mechanism they are great rifles. Accurate and smooth shooting. The folding peep works very well. Also interesting to note the civilian version had standard rifle sights that were used when the peep was folded out of the way, they must have been left off the us version for the mentioned cost cutting. Great video as usual!!
I think the original Lyman rear sight also has a quick elevation adjustment to shift between various yardages which is the silver button thingy protruding out the back. Ian- was this used concurrently during the war with the Remington 513t Matchmaster (one of my favorite 22 target rifles)?
I remember watching a video showing ROTC and in their first year they were shown firing rifles and these looked like the type of rifles they were firing. This was an old video for a show the Army produced back in the fifties and sixties.
I got my 44US from the CMP. A smoking deal for only $150 before the supply ran out. I also have a 44 US (c), a 144LS and a 144 LSA. All similar to the war time version and all are excellent shooters. Please do a video on the H&R M65/MC-58 semi-auto Marine Corps .22lr training rifle.
I have one really similar, but it has a full wood stock, like a regular ww2 rifle, looks like a mini Enfield but in 22 lr , But the funnest thing, Ty always great vids!
For those who don't understand the training you take a recruit and get he/She to understand fire discipline then you move them up to a larger caliber cartridge ending in a full powered round! Those of us who've been shooting since our youth get this you start with a 22.long rifle,then a 44.carbine then 30/30 then 30/06 progressive power and if you are successful you end up with a competent rifleman/sportsman who puts the round where it belongs!
With the Mossberg sight that folds away, I suspect the bolt could be removed without taking off the sight? I have a 144LSA with Mossberg S331 and I need to remove the sight to remove the bolt.
I would imagine it's weight of around 8 lbs. would also be close to the weight of the Garands the recruits would later train on, and actually carry in the field.
I have one of those with the latter rear sight. It's a civilian model so it's not as special but I think the rear sight flipped to allow removal of the bolt or if you have a scope mounted. I think that's the idea because I find that you can't remove the bolt unless it's flipped outta the way.
I owned one of those Mossberg's, Mine was a 44US, but it didn't have the US Property stamp and it had the Mossberg rear sight. I think I paid a couple of hundred for it.
I would love this for bird and rabbit hunting. I usually only hunt partridge and Ginny hens but once in awhile I don't mind rabbit but they are just too cute to shoot.
Good review, I would be interested in your thoughts comparing the Mossberg 44US compared to the Mossberg 144LSA. Especially with respect to the match-grade quality of the 144LSA. From what I saw in your review they would be almost identical. Thanks for the info.
I purchased 2 of these from the cmp in the early 2000s. I believe they were under $100. One has the early Lyman site, the other was the mossy site and parkerized Grey. These came with no mags, which was strange. There must be a bunch of barrels of us44 mags out there, they haven't showed up yet. After market parts are pretty much available.
I had something very similar to that it's a model 146b - A it's for short long and long rifle 28 inch Barrel hell of a target rifle very similar to what you guys have but it's a civilian model obviously there's a hell of a hunting rifle though it doesn't have sites like yours but it has three different front sights
it looks like fiield stripping with the lyman sight would be a bit of a pain, I wonder if the side folding mossberg sight helped with that issue, it certainly looked like the bolt would have clearance with the mossberg sight
These are actually very well made, especially compared to modern bolt .22s. I have owned both U.S. marked and commercial 44US rifles. The 42m(b) was also used by the British government for training purposes.
On a side note - if you ever want to do a video on a Ross trainer, let me know Ian.....I can lend you mine.
And the 42a, I have one.
The reason modern media is great, things like this where someone can just offer to lend a channel something interesting for a video.
And I have the 42M(C)
I'm actually working as a riflery instructor at a boy's camp right now and Mossberg 44s are our primary rifles. Excellent guns, and I always take pride in teaching kids marksmanship with such a historical gun.
That was my rifle in high school. Jeez I can't believe it had some history. To this day i don't know how it came into the family. I found it under a spare bed encased in dust bunnies and dad didn't say anything when I adopted it. That thing accounted for some of my very few fun times in high school- we had a rifle team.
Yeah and that's not the best part. I didn't have any kind of carrying case for it so I pretty much just carried the thing into school. Looking back I guess that calls for a "no shit" but it really is true. I got to school at an ungodly early hour and just droped it off at the principles office. I think he locked the bolt up with petty cash till after school. The only grief I got was being informed that ya can't walk home with a rifle on ur shoulder which I thought was not unreasonable at the time.
Mooooooh we shot this rifle in the basement of my Jr. hi 8th grade , after school early "60" the good old day's
Pretty much all the Mossberg .22 bolt actions of that era were made basically the same. They are incredible rifles. Accurate and just a pleasure to shoot.
I own a Model 44 US. I can tell you it's very accurate. Very notable is how really good the trigger is. It breaks like a thin glass rod and very smooth. One of my favorite .22's . I also have a Mossberg Model 46 M with manlicher stock and is tube fed.
Thanks so much for posting this video. My grandfather - a WWII & Korea vet - taught me to shoot on a Mossberg .22 almost identical to that one (I think it was purchased new on the civilian market though). It brings back a lot of great memories to see this video, and gives me a little context to a rifle I've always loved to shoot.
For firearms safety training I bought one of these my grandpa had. I had a few more modern guns to choose from but I shot that one really well.
The first five round group was a jagged hole. The one instructor thought I'd missed 4 times until we went and looked at it. We only shot at 10yards but it was pretty neat for an 11year old.
Ended up having a 100yd compilation between 2 of the instructors. The older one with grampas barn gun and the younger man with a heavily modified 10/22. The old man with the barn gun won by a landslide. He said the lesson here is how pretty a gun is isn't how accurate a gun is. Think he just wanted to prove the old bull/young bull argument.
I have a Mossberg model 42 M(b) .22 that was sent over to England, it was within the first 2000(?) or so rifles as it has no serial number. It has a full Enfield-style stock and still has specks of yellow paint and the brass US cap on the pistol grip. This particular rifle has a long story behind it. Edit: forgot to mention it was sent to Britain as part of the lend-lease program.
Almost the only thing different between these rifles are the sights. The 42m(b) has a 3-blade type front sight adjustable for elevation, and it used to have a Parker Hale rear peep sight but it was damaged and replaced with a factory rear sight. Everything else beside the stock looks the same.
I still have the Parker Hale sights on mine, it ended it's military carrer in a Sea Cadet Unit.
I have 44 MB with no serial #. So no idea of its history. But it will have to hold me over until I can find a Lee Enfield #7.
Someone may have mentioned this already, but the trigger guard is a newer replacement part. the "saw" marks on the end are a dead giveaway. The magazine probably is also. To me, it doesn't matter. I have six of these and they are all excellent shooters!
Jeff seem's like all of the original mag have gone away , an the plastic hand gards have been replaced. got mine from Moss berg collectors society.
I really like the old Mossberg .22 rifles. I have a mint early model Mossberg model 42M(b) and it is such an accurate rifle. It has the Parker-Hale peep sights and the standard sights. It can fire .22Short,Long and LongRifle. The 7-round magazines have a screw in it that can be taken out so the rifle will reliably cycle the different length .22 rounds. I has a very light and crisp trigger. Keep up the great job Ian, your videos are awesome.
These hold a special place for me. I started shooting competition in NRA small bore 4 position with one of these. Damn fine rifles IMO
I had the same experience back in the late '40s. Got my Marksmanship medal, with bars, from the NRA with it. Had the civilian model with the swinging rear sight. Lots of fond memories.
Mossberg was always trying new things with their rifles. They were using that plastic triggerguard well before WW2. They do shrink after all these years, and the "tail" of the guard pulls away from the stock. The correct way to remedy this is to remove the small screw at the rear of the triggerguard, gently push the guard back into the stock inlet, and drill a new hole for the screw. Yes, there will be a slight gap at the end of the triggerguard, but If you try to just push it back in without removing the screw, you can easily break the triggerguard, and finding a good original replacement is difficult and expensive.
My father competed with a 44US, in the seventies. Any model 44 Mossberg you find that hasn't been totally abused is a tack driver. You just have to find the loading it likes. Fantastic rifles, bad news, they will set you back over $400, as opposed to $1200 + for its Winchester competitor or and Anshutz off the CMP.
cool! my wife's grandfather gave me one, he bought it at Eatons in Montreal in 1947. He kept it disassembled in the camper for "bear defence", which made me chuckle. His(mine) has the mossberg rear sight, but an elaborate front sight, with multiple folding posts.
My father had a Mossberg 44 US that he said was Army surplus, but I understand that there were civilian versions made after the war and his might have been one of those.
His had the Mossberg rear sight shown on this video, but had a hooded front sight with interchangeable leaves. The receiver was drilled and tapped for a scope mount, as well. The strap mounts were quick-release type and it had the original leather strap.
As I became a young adult, I asked if I could disassemble the action and clean it. That’s when I discovered that this rifle had an adjustable trigger pull. I had always known the gun to have a hard and abrupt pull, growing up. Finding the adjustment screw allowed me to bring it to a hair-trigger pull, then back it away until the pull was very predictable, yet light.
I took it to a rifle range and was able to shoot quarter size groupings hand held from a standing bench at what I think was 30 yards or 100’.
The gun was sold about 13 years ago. I wish I had been able to keep it.
These are great videos, not at all knowledgable on guns but these are really interesting! Love the 19th century revolvers and all most
I remember shooting this when I first shot a M1 Carbine, M1903 Springfield, and M1 Garand and remember it being really pleasant to shoot.
My favorite, mossberg rear sight and hooded multi format front sight.
The side folding sight was to facilitate bolt removal. Rotate the sight out of the way, open the bolt, deprrss the trigger and pull bolt back out of the gun. Also, the knurled knob on the front of the magazine is a piece that allows .22 shorts to feed from the mag. A nail-like prjection stands up in the forward part of the mag, going through the hole in the mag follower, taking up the space of the loaded. 22 long rifle cartridge. An elegant solution for the cheapskate like me, as in the day shorts were considerably cheaper than long rifle cartridges.
I have a Stevens Model 44 single-shot, with a Mossberg 44US barrel. I removed a crudely-mounted scope mounting block and installed a tang sight. With its Micro-Groove-style rifling, it is a tack driver.
Love those old Mossbergs.
My dad has a collection of these little guns 5 of which are mint condition.
This is what i was giving for my first rifle. Iv run so many bricks of ammo through it. Great rifle to learn on an have fun
I recently inherited one from grandfather and would've never known what this was, thanks Ian.
no no no you can't say plastic around gun people, it's polymer!
More of a Bakerlite really. Though not in the case of mine prone to the cracking Bakerlite is .
bakelite = plastic
polymer = plastic
poly-carbonate = plastic
They're all just different names for the same thing. A lot of people just don't like hearing or thinking that their guns are made out of plastic, when in reality it's totally fine to make a lot of components out of it.
Actually, bakelite is a resin and chemicaly anything but a polymere as it is a thermo hardening material. Polymere gets soft when heated, bakelite doesn't.
Bakelite (/ˈbeɪkəlaɪt/ BAY-kə-lyt, sometimes spelled Baekelite[3]), or polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride, is an early plastic.
Source:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakelite
Plastic is an umbrella term that encompasses many composites, resins, and polymers
What a mess. Polymers are anything made out of a repeating molecule (a monomer), usually based on carbon. Polymers can be divided into thermosets and thermoplastics, depending on its thermal behavior (e.g. as noted bakelite does not get soft when heated up; it is a thermoset made from resin and not a thermoplastic, but it very much is a polymer). "Thermoplastics" are where we get "plastics" from. Firearms tend not to use plastics because they become structurally unsound when heated and are much easier to destroy. However, they do tend to use polymers.
TL;DR: All plastics are polymers but not all polymers are plastics.
Now find us the lefthand version!
Dirt Road Grocery Store back then one of the ideas was to train all soldiers regardless if they’re left handed or not and for factories to make them right handed friendly disregarding left handed versions
I've had 2. Still have one.. They are as accurate as you are. Very nice rifle.
I bought a 42b from my buddy for 100 bucks my sophomore year. It sometimes has problems with rim lock but I still use it to take out chippys and squirrels around my house all the time.
Yes finally one I too own (well gave to my youngest son but still in the family. The one we have is a 46M, very similar but has a 2 piece manlicher stock, a tube magazine, a peep site, a ramp site and 4 different front sites that fold like a pocket knife (2 size blades, blade with brass bead and ghost ring). From what I've gathered on it was they sent them over through lend/lease to train the Brit's. It was supposedly brought back by a friends father after the war. It has no serial numbers or US property stamps. It is also a tack driver that my youngest learned marksmanship with so I naturally gave it to him when he moved out.
The 46M was never sent to England on the Lend-Lease program. It would be marked U. S. Property and have the return mark on the barrel as mine does.
Good shooting little .22. I have one and the Model 44 US :)
I have a model 42b. Very similar. I got the rifle and two original magazines in a trade for a cheap red dot. Anyone that knows these guns will tell you I got a steal as the mags are expensive. The sling mounts alone arre more than the $50 I have in the trade. The bore is mirror which is crazy for a gun made in 1936. The 42b has diffetent front sight posts that you can choose from. I had to buy a trigger guard and I got a weaver scope mount from Havlins. Had to track down a rear sight elevation screw and some parts for the peep sight but the elevation screw for the rear sight was the real challenge. I got another bolt in the deal but it doesnt fit the 42b. Anyway,great rifles. Even without the elevation screw in the rear sight I was hitting everything. Great rifles and there is a bunch of people that collect these mossbergs. Crazy how the rifles can be had cheap but you could at least triple your money by parting them out. If you can get your hands on any of these old mossys dont pass them up. Great .22s
oh hey we found one of these at my Great Uncle's house from when he was in the Marine Corps.
No you didn't, why would you lie?
That looks a lot like the rifle(s) I used to qualify as "sharp shooter" in ROTC in high school, in the early 70's.
I suspect the folding sight has more to do with cleaning than storage. it gets it out of the way for removing the bolt. Looks like fun range gun.
I have one that looks similar except it has a full length stock, tube fed. A mossberg 46 M (b) serial # 110750. Still shoots well, and very heavy for a 22 cal.. Still looking for the rear peep sight though. Cool site to visit, my family has been through the Civil War, WW 1&2, Korea, and Vietnam. So old military weapons are a big interest to me.
I have 22 m isu withno s no. A b. Shoots all itack peep sight huded frunt sit military isu for the brits
I've got a simple question, how is called the wooden piece that is used to display the rifle ? As I'm french, I lack a bit of vocabulary :) Thanks !
Ok thanks !
Xavier Israel Merci ! :) I still didn't find this precise item, but I'm probably going to build one myself. Thanks again for your answers !
It is called a gun rack.
In English it's called "a chunk of wood"😑
I own 44b. The sights and also has a really old Mossberg variable power scope that I think is brass? Also, the front doing has three different places.to mount the strap sling. Those are a removable type. Different even in the bolt itself. Interesting, mine.is not a government property marked. Shoots like a laser beam!
I inherited one of the 42m’s. As others have said, they are incredibly accurate.
The trigger is the crispest I’ve ever used. It’s a ton of fun. I only wish I could find a second mag for it. If you find one of these, I highly recommend it.
Triple k used to make them, but l don't know if they still do. $30 each in the early 2000's.
Nice. The size and contour of the stock imnediately struck me. Looks pretty useful. I would prefer the Lyman sight because of the scales- easier to see where u are. I have a #62 on a Marlin 336, and it works great. The military was pretty sensible to adopt these at a lower cost. Great video as always. Thank you
when my grandfather joined in 1960, he said he never had a training rifle, they just dropped an M1 in his hands, and halfway through basic, they switched to the M14, and at the same time delta force got theirs, his task force got the M16 (pre A1, obviously)
I have a 144 LSA its really cool to see the differences between the two!
Our ranges junior rifle team uses several of these. I actually even have one. They are quite nice for what they are.
My first medal in 1958, Mossberg M44, heavy barrell.
So cool! I just found one here down under at a good price, something i will add to my collection for sure!
They are a lot of fun as a pllnker :-) Following WW2 I know a lot of them went home to the US and Mossberg 'Sporterised' them by removing the front half of the woodwork.
Just worked it out. I paid £30 Sterling for mine about ten years back, roughly what it would have cost allowing for inflation in WW2. Good deal I think!
This gun is my favorite of all I’ve shot! Accurate and fabulous gun, Love these sights! Beautiful gun, can’t say enough good about it. I’m a Fan 100%.
The pivoting sight is probably mostly intended to clear the bolt so it can be removed for cleaning or maintenance, the Parker-Hale on my BSA Sportsman does the same (although it's much closer to the Lyman sight in terms of... well, poshness). The most interesting take I've seen was on a Mannlicher-Schönauer 1903 sporter - the sight was overhanging the usual bolt travel and so it was spring loaded to pivot out of the way and then click back into place each time the bolt was cycled.
For something made to be pretty cheap, this looks like a nice little rifle.
I didn't hear Ian mention that screw pin in the bottom of the magazine that allows you to use
.22 short ammunition without hanging up and racking too far forward in the mag. Makes the short ammo feed much easier.
I inherited mine from my great uncle stan who passed away at 94.
He serviced B24 liberators stateside during WWII.
That $2 savings is like $30 today, pretty good actually.
I am quite familiar with that particular model Mossberg 22lr rifle. Mine was the model 144 b-b with the Lyman rear peep on it but it was tubular feed instead of box magazine. It was in BEAUTIFUL CONDITION, COLLECTOR CONDITION (safe QUEEN)! Considering its age pre-WW2 it was 95%+ condition. First time I've got something that OLD in "LIKE NEW" condition! 👍😁
They shoot lights out. Very smooth bolt draw. If you want a 22 bolt gun to enjoy you better bid on this.
OK that's is I am going to make a video on my Mossberg 44us collection , look for it here on Y T soon
Another fine rifle from Connecticut
Which was right down the road from Marlin and is still there in north haven
In the early 1940's the MB42a was costing the British Goverment $10 less sights. Mine serial 38759 dates to a batch deliverd in February 194i, one of 11,000 the last of lot. . It has a full two piece forend, and the adjustable 7 shot magazine. Parker Hale sights were fitted. It stayed in military service till it came to me. One oddity of UK law, it had no proof marks. Before I could own it it had to go to the London Proof house to be proofed and marked. The barrel is marked US GOVERMENT PROPERTY and the palstic handgaurd is perfect and fits well.
We used these for the ROTC Rifle Team practice at SJSU in the 1980's
they were 2 of these in the rack at My Boy Scout Camp out of 10 every body knew the guns with funny sight on the bolt shot the best
i have a similar model withe the exception that it has a full mannlicker stock adjustable notch site and a dust cover and it was marketed under westernfield of Montgomery ward. i believe it a model 14m-499A
Looks like another good squirrel rifle to me! I love these rugged guns.
Most accurate rifle I've owned for 60 years now.
I saw one of these at a pawn shop, I was not expecting the weight and was very surprised, then I looked at a shotgun that apparently had a fiberglass barrel so it was super light.
I'm not 100% sure but I think this is what we used at Boy Scout camp on the shooting range.
I have a 44b, and a 40. They both suffer from weak firing pin springs and a terribly designed flat steel firing pin. They also have a tubular magazine. I wonder why the Army went with a detachable, as neither the 1903a3 nor the Garand used one. Also a magazine with either 5 (1903) or 8 (M1) would have made more sense. A single use trainer (marksmanship only), wouldn't fly today.
Besides the awful primer actuation mechanism they are great rifles. Accurate and smooth shooting. The folding peep works very well. Also interesting to note the civilian version had standard rifle sights that were used when the peep was folded out of the way, they must have been left off the us version for the mentioned cost cutting.
Great video as usual!!
amazing rifles I inherited one and its the best 22 I have
Dave my M44 Us is the sweetest gun i own !!!!
Same here my favorite rifle, cycles every .22lr I’ve put through it
Im 63 years old owned a 44us(A) since I was 14
I think the original Lyman rear sight also has a quick elevation adjustment to shift between various yardages which is the silver button thingy protruding out the back. Ian- was this used concurrently during the war with the Remington 513t Matchmaster (one of my favorite 22 target rifles)?
I remember watching a video showing ROTC and in their first year they were shown firing rifles and these looked like the type of rifles they were firing. This was an old video for a show the Army produced back in the fifties and sixties.
Bluing quality looks very good.
I got my 44US from the CMP. A smoking deal for only $150 before the supply ran out. I also have a 44 US (c), a 144LS and a 144 LSA. All similar to the war time version and all are excellent shooters. Please do a video on the H&R M65/MC-58 semi-auto Marine Corps .22lr training rifle.
MY 1ST BOLT ACTION REPEATER WAS A MOSSY 44 US!!!
I have the exact same rifle and I LOVE it
This magazine has the screw on its bottom for the use of .22 short cartridges. Unscrew this screw and remove and you convert the magazine for .22 lr.
...found a 'new' magazine on e-Bay...jumpen on it after making sure it was the same as the one in my rifle...they're deucedly hard to find!!!
would like to see the Remington 513T and it's sporter counterparts
I have one really similar, but it has a full wood stock, like a regular ww2 rifle, looks like a mini Enfield but in 22 lr , But the funnest thing, Ty always great vids!
For those who don't understand the training you take a recruit and get he/She to understand fire discipline then you move them up to a larger caliber cartridge ending in a full powered round! Those of us who've been shooting since our youth get this you start with a 22.long rifle,then a 44.carbine then 30/30 then 30/06 progressive power and if you are successful you end up with a competent rifleman/sportsman who puts the round where it belongs!
I'm slightly surprised that the sights weren't copied from an M1 Garand, considering that was the rifle issued to the majority of the US military.
The M1 had a peep sight. The Mossburg had a peep sight. Perfect training rifle for the M1 and the 1903A3 Springfield .30-06.
With the Mossberg sight that folds away, I suspect the bolt could be removed without taking off the sight? I have a 144LSA with Mossberg S331 and I need to remove the sight to remove the bolt.
Ian, any plans to do a video on a Polish WZ-48?
I would imagine it's weight of around 8 lbs. would also be close to the weight of the Garands the recruits would later train on, and actually carry in the field.
I have one of those with the latter rear sight. It's a civilian model so it's not as special but I think the rear sight flipped to allow removal of the bolt or if you have a scope mounted. I think that's the idea because I find that you can't remove the bolt unless it's flipped outta the way.
I had a Springfield Armoury rifle like this minus the magazine.
I owned one of those Mossberg's, Mine was a 44US, but it didn't have the US Property stamp and it had the Mossberg rear sight. I think I paid a couple of hundred for it.
I totally want one of these.
I have a sporterized (by my grandfather for varmints) 42m, so it's essentially this
I would love this for bird and rabbit hunting. I usually only hunt partridge and Ginny hens but once in awhile I don't mind rabbit but they are just too cute to shoot.
Morning breakfast for my brain.
Good review, I would be interested in your thoughts comparing the Mossberg 44US compared to the Mossberg 144LSA. Especially with respect to the match-grade quality of the 144LSA. From what I saw in your review they would be almost identical. Thanks for the info.
I purchased 2 of these from the cmp in the early 2000s. I believe they were under $100. One has the early Lyman site, the other was the mossy site and parkerized Grey. These came with no mags, which was strange. There must be a bunch of barrels of us44 mags out there, they haven't showed up yet. After market parts are pretty much available.
I had something very similar to that it's a model 146b - A it's for short long and long rifle 28 inch Barrel hell of a target rifle very similar to what you guys have but it's a civilian model obviously there's a hell of a hunting rifle though it doesn't have sites like yours but it has three different front sights
Maybe someone already commented regarding serial numbers, but I have a CMP Model 44US with Lyman 57 rear sight numbered 1024XX.
it looks like fiield stripping with the lyman sight would be a bit of a pain, I wonder if the side folding mossberg sight helped with that issue, it certainly looked like the bolt would have clearance with the mossberg sight
I'm pretty sure that's what I shot in Navy Bootcamp fire arms familiarization in 1974.
im curious what it brought at auction. i have one and it out shoots all the custom 10-22s ive ever built.
This looks quite a lot like the Mossberg 183D-b "garden gun" that I have
Are you doing a video on the other rifle in that lot with the cool scope on it?
Can you do an episode on a Mauser-Vergueiro rifle?
used one JROTC rifle team 1957 in hays, kan.
Can you tell me about the 42BS version of this rifle?
Correct me if im wrong, but it appars as though thr mossberg sights do not follow the right hand rule as is fairly standard today
Mine has a bolt on Weaver/dovetail scope rail. I’m still looking for the original rear sight.
He forgot to mention that the screw on the bottom of the magazine can be adjusted to be used as a single shot adapter
Wrong. It allows the use of .22 Shorts. 7 rounds in the magazine. The rifle is marked "S-L-LR".
I found the bent bolt more reminiscent of the M1917 than the M1903. Any ideas why?
Holy shit I have one of these! Sweet!