Tonight, I finished cleaning up the Mossberg 44 U.S. (a) rifle that I bought recently. While the rifle is in pretty nice condition, there were some disappointments I found when stripping it for cleaning but I'll hold off on that for another post. What I really want to post about now is a little info on my other Mossberg 44 U.S., the one marked U.S Property that I got from the CMP several years ago.
I took it out this evening to compare it to the newer one. There are some marked differences between them. Regarding the bolt assemblies, it was especially notable that there were different firing pins and different cuts in the bolt. The trigger assemblies were also different. The newer one, the 44 U.S. (a), which is a civilian market gun, has an adjustable trigger pull. The older military trainer, 44 U.S. marked U.S. Property does not have an adjustable trigger. The military trainer also has a serial number while the civilian or commercial version does not; Mossberg reportedly only started putting serial numbers on all of their guns in the 1960's, prior to that they only put serial numbers on military versions of the Mossberg 44 U.S. rifles.
I took a good look at the serial number on my 44 U.S.. It is a difficult to read because of the Parkerized finish of the rifle; however it is plain enough to see if your eyes are good. I had to double up two pairs of reading glasses to see it okay. The serial number is 101911. The neat thing about that is that as far as I can determine, that number means my 44 U.S. was manufactured in the first year of production for these rifles - 1943. Not only was it made in the first year of production but it was among those in the first contract for these rifles. The serial number rage in that first military contract for the 44 U.S. was 100,001-114,500 (source) which also means that my rifle was within the first 2,000 produced. I have no clue if it being manufactured with the first contract run, in the first year of production, makes it more valuable but I am guessing that to a diehard collector such might be the case. That really does not matter, I do not plan to sell it, it is a tack driver.
I can only hope that those in our military who trained with this rifle became deadeye shots because of it and that their shooting skills helped them survive WWII.
All the best,
Glenn B
I took it out this evening to compare it to the newer one. There are some marked differences between them. Regarding the bolt assemblies, it was especially notable that there were different firing pins and different cuts in the bolt. The trigger assemblies were also different. The newer one, the 44 U.S. (a), which is a civilian market gun, has an adjustable trigger pull. The older military trainer, 44 U.S. marked U.S. Property does not have an adjustable trigger. The military trainer also has a serial number while the civilian or commercial version does not; Mossberg reportedly only started putting serial numbers on all of their guns in the 1960's, prior to that they only put serial numbers on military versions of the Mossberg 44 U.S. rifles.
I took a good look at the serial number on my 44 U.S.. It is a difficult to read because of the Parkerized finish of the rifle; however it is plain enough to see if your eyes are good. I had to double up two pairs of reading glasses to see it okay. The serial number is 101911. The neat thing about that is that as far as I can determine, that number means my 44 U.S. was manufactured in the first year of production for these rifles - 1943. Not only was it made in the first year of production but it was among those in the first contract for these rifles. The serial number rage in that first military contract for the 44 U.S. was 100,001-114,500 (source) which also means that my rifle was within the first 2,000 produced. I have no clue if it being manufactured with the first contract run, in the first year of production, makes it more valuable but I am guessing that to a diehard collector such might be the case. That really does not matter, I do not plan to sell it, it is a tack driver.
I can only hope that those in our military who trained with this rifle became deadeye shots because of it and that their shooting skills helped them survive WWII.
All the best,
Glenn B
