Izhevsk 1914 M1891

[vintage hunter]

Was plundering in the ''junk'' room at my buddies pawn shop last week and found this but it got trumped by a Winchester 92 I spied laying on a pile of boxes at the foot of the stairwell. Before I left I made some rubbings of the markings for later analysis and it turns out this is a well traveled old rifle so bright and early this a.m. I went back and got it. In addition to being a 1914 Izhevsk it has Austrian(AZF), Finn(SA) and I believe Bulgarian(Circle B) property markings. The handgard is missing and the bore is dark but cosmetically it's in quite good shape for a 99 yo rifle. It functions perfectly and shoots straight. All serial no.'s match and other than the bolt body all marked metal parts have the Izhevsk symbol. Most are the pre '28 stlye. The stock markings are very faint so I'm not sure whether it's of Russian or German origins. Take a look and tell me what you think.

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[HOOKED ON HISTORY]

Very nice 91 there!

[maverick0]

hahaha wow thats very nice, i am quit envious. im always looking to buy old 1891s like this and can never find them and you find it in a "junk" room haha, very nice find.

[bearrowland]

Sharp rifle!

[fernleaf]

Very nice rifle. Shame its missing its handguard.

1914 rifles from any major Great War combatant nation are hard to find...

I have its cousin from Tula of the same age...took me a lot of years to get this one.

[Aragorn243]

I don't believe the circle B is a Bulgarian mark. The Bulgarians peened out or ground off the Imperial Russian crests and typically stamped the wood with "pine cone" marks. I learned all that researching my recent purchase which is also an Austrian capture "AZF". Mine has a partially ground barrel shank and a peened receiver, a distinct pine cone on the butt stock and a round pine cone near the front sling loop. Mine also has a marking I can not figure out where it is from, a large "G" on the receiver. The Bulgarians also discarded the cleaning rods for some reason or another.

You guys are lucky, none of the pawn shops around here deal in firearms.

[HOOKED ON HISTORY]

You guys are lucky, none of the pawn shops around here deal in firearms.

The ones around here do but after a depressing gunshow I stopped by my local "pawn stars" only to leave more depressed. One butchered No 1 Ml III and a Spanish Mauser basket case.
Seems most of the Milsurps offered by dealers at shows are castoffs form their personal collections and battered if not butchered.

[fernleaf]

I don't believe the circle B is a Bulgarian mark. The Bulgarians peened out or ground off the Imperial Russian crests and typically stamped the wood with "pine cone" marks.

The peening of the Russian Imperial crest was done in Bulgaria post-WW2.

The rifle in question was in Finnish hands in WW2, so any Bulgarian use of the rifle was earlier than 1918. The pine cone and 'circle B' would have been added when the rifle came into Bulgarian hands after being captured by the Austrians during WW1.

[vintage hunter]

It's a rarity to see a pawn shop in these parts that does'nt sell guns and every once in a while something desireable and in good shape turns up but mostly it's cast off junk that even bubba could'nt do much with, and way over priced to boot. Saw a Westinghouse M91 at a shop last Christmas that appeared to be in nice condition till I peeked down the bore, nothing but caked up rust. Price: $900. Jeez

Don't know if I'll ever go to another gunshow or not. Seems all the dealers have the ''my s**t is gold and you're gold is s**t'' attitude anymore. Used to get all my powder and primers there to avoid the hazmat fees but with gas prices what they are and the closest show 65 miles away it's cheaper to just pay the dam fee and let the shipper worry bout the gas prices.

[Mag Fed]

What a great find ! Congrats.