questions about buying an M38

hi all,
ive wanted an M38 for a little while (im looking to start hunting, and figure an M38 would be right for me), and sure enough the gun shop about 40 seconds from my house has one on the wall.
He was busy with someone else while i was there so i didnt get a chance to handle it, but it looked like it was in great shape (100% better than the 91/30 that was next to it).

my problem is that im completely new to Mosin's (and buying guns in general) and dont know what (if anything) to look for specific to Mosin Nagants.

should i expect a dark bore? (i assume so)
any way to tell if its a dog BEFORE buying it and shooting?
anything really stand out as important?
should i just shut up and buy the dang thing?

oh yeah its a laminated stock, looked like an M38 stock not an m44, not sure if it comes with any accessories. marked at $170

thanks guys

that's about average for a laminated M38.the bore is probably counterbored,and will run anywhere from .312 to .315 in diameter.

trigger will suck,and recoil will be stout with full power milsurp. 203 gr loads will kill anything you can see.accuracy will depend on the bore.if it's 314 or so,you'll only get real accuracy with cast boolits.

nice fireball around dusk tho...need to check the headspace before you do much firin.

my two M38s are both war production 1943, both are counterbored with good rifling and do have the sloppy triggers. i have used them to shoot groundhogs with but not deer. best accuracy was with 1980s czech surplus ammo, groups averaged about 3-5 inches at 100 yds.
cases sticking in chamber are a common problem on these due to cosmoline buildup so clean the chamber. remember all surplus ammo is corrosive so clean for that.
fireballs out the muzzle impress the hell out of folks at the range. most kick like a mule so get use to it or go with U.S. made replacement stock that has a pad, i did this to one and my son shoots it.

Put a AK74 brake on it. Less kick but more bitching from the guy next to you at the range. :evil:

The M44 makes a great hunting rifle and you can still find them in excellent condition from AIM for about $70. I/O, Inc. still has some M38's available for $84. I've bought about 14 of the three models and favor my blonde M44 with the bayonet screwed off the most. You can also demill the bayo with a dremil cut off tube if that what you want. With out the bayo you'll need to rest shoot a few rounds to reset the elevation if your sighting in for 100 yards and bring a rubber mallot if your using anything but brass ammo. We had about a 70 post thread last year about the sticking rounds and what to do. Sellior and Belliot (spelling sorry) make a wonderful hunting round in a couple weights and none of them stuck on me hunting last winter. These rifles took a moose and a small buck with no problems what so ever. My hunting buddy traded in his 91/30 after the moose hunt for a M44 without bayo as the weight of the 91 can start to add up over a long hike in the hills and snow. Pachmyr, a division of Lee reloading, makes a wonderful slip on leather medium sized recoil pad that I had taken off for the photo,,,,,didn't want to look too much like a wimp :small_gri . anyways with the ballistics closing in on the 30-06 they can take anything we run into in the lower 48 with ease, and speed.

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s231/jharrison58/DSC_0086.jpg