Finnish 1909 Cossack

[WSarchet]

20220906_195421.jpg

A close cousin of the Dragoon, the Cossack rifle is marked Каз, for Казачья (Cossack) on the shank and rear sight. Often written Ka3, this was to identify these rifles as having been zeroed without a bayonet attached, rather than with bayonet like the Dragoon. This was because the Cossacks were expected to fight on horseback, unlike the other mounted forces in Imperial Russia who were expected to use their rifles from the ground. Unfortunately, I don't know of any way to tell which Cossack host this rifle would have been originally issued to.

20220906_195437.jpg

This particular example was originally built in 1909 at Izhevsk. Either by capture or by purchase, Finland acquired the rifle. During Finnish service, the rifle was heavily rebuilt, including a 91/30 spliced stock from V. Lindholmin Puusepäntehdas and a Dragoon rear sight (marked кав, for кавалерия/cavalry). In Finnish service, the Cossack and Dragoon rifles were lumped together, as all Finnish cavalry trained as dragoons.

[Junk Yard Dog]

[Srupidhaircuts]

Thats beautiful

[SA1911a1]

That is an outstanding rifle. Congrats!

[Darryl]

Smart looking rifle!

Darryl

[djbuck1]

Beautiful example.

[WSarchet]

Thanks everyone!

[tomaustin]

reportedly, this weapon is 113 years old....perfect condition...obviously never in a war....where has it been..?.....reasonable question...it has just appeared and WSarchet has it appear in his lap....what is a reasonable explanation of the missing 112 years and its unused condition...?

[WSarchet]

reportedly, this weapon is 113 years old....perfect condition...obviously never in a war....where has it been..?.....reasonable question...it has just appeared and WSarchet has it appear in his lap....what is a reasonable explanation of the missing 112 years and its unused condition...?

It's certainly not in perfect shape, although the file size limit obscures some of the wear in these photos. And I'd wager it's been in at least two wars - once when it was captured from Imperial Russia, and likely the Continuation War, which I expect is when it picked up the Finnish stock. It's perfectly possible that it also saw combat in the Great War, the Winter War, and the Lapland War and maybe even some of the Finnish expeditions of the 1920s. I bought it from a well regarded Mosin collector I've done business with in the past who knew I was interested in Finnish examples. Off the top of my head I don't remember if or where this one is import marked but it likely came straight from Finland to the US in one of the large batches.

[yarik_jar]

Nice

[Sindone]

Outstanding rifle!

[willyj73]

reportedly, this weapon is 113 years old....perfect condition...obviously never in a war....where has it been..?.....reasonable question...it has just appeared and WSarchet has it appear in his lap....what is a reasonable explanation of the missing 112 years and its unused condition...?

Finnish refurb. Not uncommon for some rifles to look new....well, at least the bluing will look new. Almost entire rifle will look new if it was placed in a newly made stock during refurb and not used prior to import to U.S.