Soviet M44 Trainers

Russia, and later the Soviet Union, utilized training rifles dedicated to that purpose and marked as such. The most obvious indication of a training rifle is black paint on the stock. This is a common trait of training arms among communist countries and was used by Romania and China also. The second indication of a training rifle is a "YY" mark which is actually two different Cyrillic letters. They represent the "oo" and "ch" sounds and are an abbreviation for "uchebnaya" which means "training". The full Cyrillic spelling is shown below.¹

The YY mark is more commonly found on M91s, usually on the top of the tang and behind the rear sight, but can also be found on other models. This Soviet trainer is a Tula M44 which is uncommon in it's own right. The bolt is the original and stamped with the full serial number including the Cyrillic prefix.

The receiver itself was actually produced in 1943 at Tula as indicated by the date and Tula star on the bottom of the tang. The buttplate is also stamped matching.

The matching floorplate is the uncommon stamped type rather than the typical milled version. This was only in production briefly at Tula. The bayonet and front sight assembly is the typical early pattern with one ear on the bayonet lug and a narrow front sight base.

The black paint is somewhat worn but still present on the butt and in the finger grooves and other crevices.

The "YY" mark is found in three places on this M44. The first is on the bolt body near the root of the handle. The second is only partially visible on the right side of the butt midway between the sling slot and the heel.

The third "YY" mark is also found on the right side of the butt. It is much smaller, but clearer, than the other stock mark. It is "upside down" just forward of the rear sling slot.

This is a second Tula M44 training rifle as indicated by multiple "YY" marks and the black paint on the stock. It is owned by "Jimminardi" who was kind enough to furnish these pictures and allow them to be used here. Interestingly the serial number uses "YY" as the prefix which would be an unlikely coincidence. In addition to the serial number prefix, the "YY" is stamped separately on the barrel and again on the receiver, which is Izhevsk and has been remarked by Tula.

The buttplate and floorplate are matching with the same YY prefix. The floorplate is also the stamped variation just as on the carbine above. The magazine body itself is also marked YY.

The YY mark is repeated on the front sight base and the bayonet lug.

As seen here the barrel bands are also YY marked.

This third Tula M44 training rifle also has the "YY" serial number prefix and is only 53 numbers away from the one above. It is owned by Tim Kampa who was kind enough to furnish these pictures and allow them to be used here. In addition to the serial number prefix, the "YY" is stamped separately on the barrel and on the receiver just as the previous example. Again the floorplate is the uncommon stamped type with matching serial number.

The buttplate is matching with the YY prefix and the magazine body is "YY" stamped. The bayonet lug is "YY" stamped as are both barrel bands.

The similarities between these rifles are as striking as the differences. They are each the uncommon Tula M44 production with the even more uncommon stamped construction floorplate. The first two are in original matching condition with a comparable amount of wear. All stocks were painted black and the "YY" mark was placed on each carbine. However, the second and third examples seem to be in a dedicated serial number block with a prefix that matches the abbreviation for "training", while the first example is from another serial number block entirely. The first carbine only has the "YY" mark in three places yet the second and third are marked on almost every conceivable part, in the case of the barrel little more than an inch away from the "YY" serial number.

1 Karl-Heinz Wrobel, author of Drei Linien, Die Gewehre Mosin-Nagant (return to text)

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