The Russian Mosin Nagant Forum

Hey guys,
new guy here. Just bought this Mosin, my first firearm . Wanted to learn as much as I could about its story, so I'm researching the markings.

Turns out, she's a bit of a mutt. The receiver is Izhevsk, 1931. The bolt is from Tula. The stock is also from Tula--1933, I think(the fourth digit is WAY too faded).
One marking I can't find a meaning for is a massive '3' that was actually put OVER the Tula star on the stock. Far as I've looked, I can't find a meaning for it.
Can anyone help a noob identify this mark? Thanks!
[Apparently the picture I tried to upload is too big, so I can't really show you :(]

Most of the markings on these rifles cannot be explained because the Russians have never revealed their meaning.

Refurbished and non-refurbished Mosin Nagants are almost always a mix of parts.

Welcome to the board, resize the pictures to 640x480 and they will post.

Junk Yard Dog wrote:Welcome to the board, resize the pictures to 640x480 and they will post.

Glad to be here. And thanks for the tip.

djbuck1 wrote:Most of the markings on these rifles cannot be explained because the Russians have never revealed their meaning.

Refurbished and non-refurbished Mosin Nagants are almost always a mix of parts.

Ah, I see. And indeed, the Russians seem to enjoy taking guns apart and putting them back together with entirely different parts (a moment of silence for all the k98's that have suffered the same fate...). I just find it funny how we identify them by what's on the receiver. So mine would be called a 1931 Izhevsk... but every other part on the thing is from Tula.

I don't think that's a 3, I think it is a Ѡ, the archaic cyrillic character for "Omega". My 1931 Izhevsk ex dragoon has this mark as well and I've seen it on other ex dragoons too. Is your rifle an ex dragoon ? Now I have no idea why they would use this stamping on their stocks, but I believe it more closely resembles this letter than a 3.

Congratulations on your Mosin by the way ! 1931 is a good year. Check to see if she is an Ex Dragoon ! You can tell if it is or not by looking for a gap where the older Dragoon sight was updated with the new M91/30 rear sight. Your Tula marked parts are no big deal and your rifle is still 100 percent original as the Soviet arsenal last left it. She's a great piece of history and hopefully a great shooter too. Welcome aboard.

taker_1024 wrote:

Junk Yard Dog wrote:Welcome to the board, resize the pictures to 640x480 and they will post.

Glad to be here. And thanks for the tip.

djbuck1 wrote:Most of the markings on these rifles cannot be explained because the Russians have never revealed their meaning.

Refurbished and non-refurbished Mosin Nagants are almost always a mix of parts.

Ah, I see. And indeed, the Russians seem to enjoy taking guns apart and putting them back together with entirely different parts (a moment of silence for all the k98's that have suffered the same fate...). I just find it funny how we identify them by what's on the receiver. So mine would be called a 1931 Izhevsk... but every other part on the thing is from Tula.

Welcome to the forum. The reason the rifle is made up of so many differently marked arsenal parts is because it's been refurbished and the way they did that made it impossible to put the same parts back on the same rifle. It's perfectly acceptable and expected. This might explain things a bit better. http://www.russian-mosin-nagant-forum.c ... index.html

FR0STY54R wrote:I don't think that's a 3, I think it is a Ѡ, the archaic cyrillic character for "Omega".

That makes sense, it would be upright with the Tula symbol then.

FR0STY54R wrote:Congratulations on your Mosin by the way ! 1931 is a good year. Check to see if she is an Ex Dragoon ! You can tell if it is or not by looking for a gap where the older Dragoon sight was updated with the new M91/30 rear sight.

There IS a gap. Not quite as pronounced as yours, but it's there. I guess she's ex-dragoon, that's really cool! Thanks for the info.

WeldonHunter wrote: The reason the rifle is made up of so many differently marked arsenal parts is because it's been refurbished and the way they did that made it impossible to put the same parts back on the same rifle. It's perfectly acceptable and expected.

That link clears a few things up, thanks.

taker_1024 wrote:

FR0STY54R wrote:I don't think that's a 3, I think it is a Ѡ, the archaic cyrillic character for "Omega".

That makes sense, it would be upright with the Tula symbol then.

FR0STY54R wrote:Congratulations on your Mosin by the way ! 1931 is a good year. Check to see if she is an Ex Dragoon ! You can tell if it is or not by looking for a gap where the older Dragoon sight was updated with the new M91/30 rear sight.

There IS a gap. Not quite as pronounced as yours, but it's there. I guess she's ex-dragoon, that's really cool! Thanks for the info.

WeldonHunter wrote: The reason the rifle is made up of so many differently marked arsenal parts is because it's been refurbished and the way they did that made it impossible to put the same parts back on the same rifle. It's perfectly acceptable and expected.

That link clears a few things up, thanks.

No problem. There's a lot of misconceptions about serial numbers and arsenal marks on Mosin Nagants especially the refurbished ones, which make up the vast majority of what's being bought these days. That link is a lifesaver explaining it all. I use it a lot. These rifles are a blast to shoot (literally) and collect. Now the other thing you'll encounter is mosinitis. Yes the dreaded "Ok I'm only buying one more" But that isn't the way it works with these and you've walked in to a den of inequity here when it comes to enabling you to buy another one.