Questions about an 1891 Russian rifle captured by the Germans/Austrians

[Aragorn243]

I was looking at an 1898 dated rifle this morning with capture markings of either Austria or Germany. I don't recall the third letter in the arsenal rework to determine which. The stock appears to have a small German eagle stamp but I haven't been able to confirm this through known markings.

In that these rifles went through German or Austrian arsenals are they going to remain matching numbers or not? This rifle has no numbers matching on any of the parts. It has a stock produced after 1910 with the dog collar slots with the screw in metal plates. I believe it has the earlier barrel bands but I'll have to look at it again to confirm. What makes no sense to me is that it has what appears to be a 91/30 front sight with hood that has been bashed into an oval. The stock has a really bad shellac type finish. I didn't look at it close enough to determine if it is import marked and as I didn't have my book with me there didn't know what other specific markings to check for. I saw nothing to indicate it was in Finnish service at any time other than possibly the front sight. The sight looks like it slides into the groove rather than fitting over the barrel fitting which looks like the Finnish practice. The nose cap is intact and stamped with the bow and arrow symbol.

I don't have one of these and the price is not extreme (under $200) and it is intriguing that it has the capture markings. Bore did not look all that great but I didn't have a scope with me either. It almost seems like it may have been recaptured and reworked by the Soviets but the rear sight is original. The imperial stamps were peened out on the receiver.

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[Aragorn243]

I went back knowing a bit more what to look for.

It is a Tula made rifle, 1898. Has a mix of Tula and Izhevsk parts on it. The bore has strong rifling but is pitted and looks to have either rust or dirt in it now. It is an Austrian capture "AZF" marked on the receiver. The imperial crest on the receiver has been peened out, the imperial crest on the barrel is still present but an effort was made to grind it off although smoothly. It has been re-blued after all of this. The barrel bands are not the first type as I said earlier but the second type, without the spacing for sling swivels. The barrel is also stamped "AZ" top center where it meets the receiver and there is an "R" just to the left of it. There are serial numbers on the barrel, bolt, charging handle, buttplate and magazine base, none match each other. I believe the rear sight may be a Type I Finnish sight as it is not flat but curved. The adjustable portion has the bow and arrow stamp on it which would be Russian made. The stock was heavily sanded then coated with the shellac. The marking on the stock was not a German eagle but more like a leaf of some sort. It is small, about 3/8's of an inch tall and 1/4 inch wide.

I found reference to the "R" being seen on Finnish M28's only which this is not.

Web research: An "R" was used to indicate an arsenal rework in Bulgaria although it is marked on the barrel, not the receiver. The symbol on the stock could be the Bulgarian pinecone, on this, I'm not pretty sure that's what it is.

[Homer2]

If it's scrubbed, likely a Balkan import and not Finn. The leaf mark on the stock is a tell tale Bulgarian pine cone mark. Finn rear sights also had the arshins crossed out or shaved off and new meter marks applied. Finns used standard Russian curved rear sight leafs and only made their own flat rear sights starting with the 28/30.

[Aragorn243]

I made a deal for $150 on the rifle today, it is not import marked. I put a bullet in the muzzle and it stops 1/4 inch before the mouth of the casing:





Here's the receiver/barrel. The AZF is the Austrian capture mark. I believe the AZ is simply a shorter version of that. Not sure what the R stamped over the AZ means but I did find a reference to R stamped barrels being Finnish.



Here's the front sight, obviously a 91/30 sight. It is marked with the Tula star. I was told these have been seen on Romanian rifles and Finnish rifles. Nice bow and arrow symbol stamped in the nose cap.



Here is a G stamped on the receiver. My book says this also is a Finnish mark. The rifle does not appear like any other Finn rifle I've seen and with the Bulgarian acorn, I doubt these marks are Finn.







This I believe is a Bulgarian acorn. It was done after the shellac was applied:



And lastly, what appears to be writing of some sort that was sanded off during the refurb, no idea what any of the symbols/letters are. Too Faint.

[Promo]

AZF means ArtillerieZeugsFabrik. If there are no Finnish markings on it, make sure the rifle is not one of those converted to 8x50R. Some of the conversions even still had the 7.62 diameter barrel, while being chambered for the Austrian caliber!

[Aragorn243]

I need to check the caliber. I was aware of that. It would bump up the collector value quite a bit but I doubt it was done being accepted into Bulgarian service.

I ordered a new front sight from Numrich and have a cleaning rod coming from another location. Have not located an appropriate sling for it yet. I need to work on the bayonet as it doesn't fit past the front sight.

I found that the R stamped over the AZ on the barrel is most likely a Bulgarian arsenal rework mark. The G on the receiver is still a mystery. Only reference to that is Finnish but I really doubt this ever found it's way to Finland.

[Aragorn243]

I took it out and shot it today. A first for me, shooting one of my rifles within a week of getting it. Talk about trouble finding the paper. I fired 1 shot off the sled to ensure it wasn't going to blow up in my face and then five more off the bench. Forgot to take a spotting scope so I'm blissfully unaware I'm not hitting anything. Walked up and looked, no fresh holes on the paper or through the backstop. Looked at the ground behind the target and guess that I'm hitting at least 12 inches low.

Second group, no hits again, I was aiming at the top of the paper this time. Third round, I put the front post bottom in the bottom of the V in the rear sight and put the top of the post at the top of the paper. This time I'm about 3 inches low from the bull so I fire a five shot group. Extremely awkward shooting this way but I produced a three inch group with one flyer that I knew was going off and even with that had a 5 inch group. Not bad for a 115 year old rifle.

Can't wait to get the proper front sight for it. That 91/30 sight is just bad news.

[Aragorn243]

I now see why the rifle was shooting so low. The front sight of an 1891 is about 1/4 shorter than the pin on a 91/30. Multiply 1/4 by 100 and that's 25 inches.

New sight arrived today and is now in place. Still waiting on the cleaning rod. Tried to get a sling today but lost the bidding war.