What does s/n 2080 really mean?

[raindog]

I have a 1930 1891/30 hex receiver Mosin-Nagant, made in Tula. It's a typical FrankenNagant - barrel/receiver was forged in 1929, but assembled in 1930 in Tula, however it has a Izvesk post-1928 bolt, and an Izvehsk pre-1928 firing pin ;-)

The serial number is 2080 (in 3 out of 4 places, mag bottom was replaced).

Is it really the case that out of 37-odd million of these rifles made, mine was one of the first few thousands to roll off the line? I find this hard to believe.

(2080 is the original Russian number...there's a modern importer's serial number on the barrel and that's not what I'm referring to).

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[Patrick Chadwick]

Is it really the case that out of 37-odd million of these rifles made, mine was one of the first few thousands to roll off the line?

Hardly. There is probably a Cyrillic letter in front of the serial number, at least on the receiver. And there do not appear to be any records of which series was made when. Plus, of course, in blocks of 10,000 it would not have taken long to go right through the alphabet. Probably several times a year during peak production. If every Mosin-Nagant rifle had been numbered serially from start to finish that would have required 8-figure numbers, which have not been observed. "Go figure" is the appropriate remark in this case - both the numbers and the letters were repeated over the years.

Of course, it may have been No. 2080 of that year and that factory. But look for the series letter on the receiver, in front of or above the number.

[raindog]

Yep, there's a "C", though it looks like it was written in considerably rougher font than the 2080.



Thanks for the info.

I imagine that the only real purpose of these serial numbers was to keep track of guns while in production/repair and to associate a gun with a particular soldier while he was in his unit - as long as the unit, the soldier, and the gun lasted. The Russians probably did not have any use for a global unique identifier.

[fernleaf]

Your rifle was the 2080th rifle made at Tula that year.

With the exception of Westinghouse Production, all Russian/Soviet Mosin serial numbers started at '1' each year. Cyrillic Prefixes were introduced by Tula in 1937, and Izhevsk in 1938.

[raindog]

Hmmm...I've now been informed that the Cyrillic alphabet prefixes didn't come into use until 1937. Lapin's book, in Appendix B, page 11. So that's not a C.

[fernleaf]

No, its a poorly struck refurb 'box' marking - if you and I are looking at the same thing?