question on receiver mum stamp ?

My cousin landed on the first wave at Iwo Jima and spent thirty one days there, after leaving Iwo Jima they were sent to Japan. He sent back two Type 99 rifles, one for my father and one for my uncle. I have these rifles now and have fired them using 7,7 Norma factory ammo.

My question, my uncle's Type 99 has the mum ground off but my fathers still has what appears to be a faint mum without any sign of being ground ? receiver is still round on top.
Could this have been missed or was there an attempt to remove the mum ?Attachment 120287Attachment 120288Attachment 120289Attachment 120290Attachment 120291

Looks like your father and uncle did a great job preserving those rifles. Your cousin is a special person to think of others like that while trying to serve survive in those situations.

This mum qualifies as scrubbed in my book. Any mark is considered a canceled mum. Just like the small circles on rifles sold to other countries or used for training. After the war, many different ways were used...filed, chiseled, peened but must were hit with a grinder as this was the fastest. Yours wasn’t hit too hard with a file/grinder and has since rusted and appears to look more like the receiver.

Mums were usually scrubbed after the war ended with piles of them available as war trophies for departing service members. Even if one was picked off the battlefield with a mum, the service member was usually told to remove the mum before returning to the US. This is what I’ve heard many times, ordered by Gen MacArthur to help the Japanese Emperor save face as the chrysanthemum was his symbol.

I’ve searched the interwebs to see if I can find this order but haven’t found anything concrete. Just secondhand stories from returning vets.