Israeli proof marks?

[imarangemaster]

While tearing down the Underwood for the carbine sheet, I came up with another interesting find. The proof on the top of the barrel under the top handguard is two Hebrew characters; "Lamed" (like a 7 with a serif sticking up from the tip of the horizontal piece, and "Mem" (almost a triangle with a small serif almost at the tip of the left side of the triangle). I knew they were probably Hebrew characters when I saw them, but they are so small I had to use a magnifying glass to see them clearly. I know someone out there has some experience with Israeli weapons. Could they be inspector's initials?

After a google search, I just found the "Mem" is a common Israeli proof mark. Not sure about the Lamed, though.

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[jls77]

I have run across similar markings on my SG bolt & in front of the sight on my NPM. I only recognized them because I used to collect foreign coins. But like you say the marks are very small. I know nothing about them though.

JLS

[imarangemaster]

I have researched a little since my first post, and the "Mem" character is used in several Israeli proofs. I also found one with a small Lamed on both side of the larger Mem. This Lamed and Mem could be an abbreviated form of that.

[jonnyc]

Can you post pics of the characters?

[imarangemaster]

Way to small, I had to use a magnifying glass, and my macro lens is not good enough. I forgot to book mark the page that shows the Israeli proofs. Here is a picture from another page. The proofs on my Underwood and in the proof page resemble the handwritten version of these characters. These are the formal versions. I can't even find the page that compared formal and handwritten. Ugh! I hate computers!

I found one proof that was a small lamed on each side of a larger Mem.

[jonnyc]

OK, let me clarify. I'm a fluent Hebrew speaker, no problem recognizing the letters, and I'd like to see the stamps on your rifle.

[imarangemaster]

I will try to get a picture with the macro and blow it up and tweek the contrast. I will see what I can do.

[jls77]

The marks on mine are different .Here is the marks on my bolt. . The one on my receiver looks like a wavy top 7 followed by two dots. (Very small)
Managed to take pics of bolt but had problems getting pics of the other.

JLS

[imarangemaster]

tiny wavey 7 top sounds like "lamed". It is so tiny I am having trouble photographing it. I will try a higher res camera tomorrow and blow it up. Does yours have a century import stamp on the bottom of the barrel?

[jls77]

Food for thought - I researched numerals - In Israel numerics Lamed = 30 , & Mem = 40, Compared mine to arabic & looks like 30. Possibly caliber markings ?.

JLS