1897 full matching Dragoon and a mystery device

[RicCollectingMosin]

Hello everyone! This is my second post here on the forum and basically the first after introducing myself, so i would like to show you something really special...i hope. I had the possibility to acquire this 1897 full matching Dragoon rifle recently. It has been found under a roof of an old house in Northern Italy years ago and it has a really fantastic patina. The stock is also beaten like it should be on a rifle that saw the WW1 trenches. The only sign of an Austro-Hungarian connection is the classic "W" close to the butt plate. No other markings outside the original made at Izhevsk. I will publish pictures of the entire rifle soon but the mystery is the device that apparently was originally found attached to it (on the receiver). You can see it in the pictures. It is not permanently attached to the rifle, just in place with a spring clamp, so you can easily but obviously always carefully remove it leaving no signs on the rifle. The idea is that it could be a sort of WW1 trench periscope or a same era training device. Anyway, i spent days on books...nothing. So i hope you will enjoy this Mosin mystery and in case you have any information on this device and this weird original configuration, please feel free to share. Thank you!!

[willyj73]

Google Russian to English translator using provided Google keyboard:

captain s.k. rnkovskiy yidna

Looks like an aiming training device. If it's Russian military, it probably should have the factory marking on it somewhere.

[Junk Yard Dog]

Definitely a training device, very cool find !

[CavemanSteve]

I'm curious if it has a second angled interior wall similar to the end furthest from the rifle? Could it have held mirrors for indirect aiming? Confused by the flag pole..

[racerguy00]

Looks like an aim corrector used in training.

[RicCollectingMosin]

Hello everyone! First of all thank you very much for all your comments and info about this device! Yes, as you said, this is an aiming training device. After searching more, I found also some pictures of this object in use on the excellent book by Alexander Yuschenko “Model 1891/1930 rifle and its variations”, pag.495 and followings. It is described as the "orthoscope designed by Yankovskiy”, so the officer name on the plate you can see on the initial pictures, who designed this device during the Tsarist era. This was in use also after, in the ’20 and ’30. With the two angled mirrors it was possible for trainee and instructor to aim at the same target. As you can see in the picture below, for example, the rear sight leaf is visible in the mirror on the right side.

[RicCollectingMosin]

And now some additional pictures of the 1897 Dragoon, as i promised :

[Junk Yard Dog]

By the look of the markings on the stock someone was in one hell of a fight against an edged weapon. Sword, blade bayonet, or E-tool maybe. Cool

[willyj73]

Nice

[ded321]

What a great find! Lot's of history in that one!

[kenbow]

Looking good, some kind of sighting deice, have you found out exactly what it is yet?

[Sindone]

I love seeing rarities like this. Thank you for sharing

[RicCollectingMosin]

Thank you! I will try to post some other specials in the next days. To answer to Kenbow, yes it is an aiming training device. You will find some more details above in the post number 7 from the beginning.

[Insignificant Git]

Very cool find! Not just the training device, but unless I am seeing it wrong, the rear sight itself is extremely rare to find still attached to a weapon. That looks like an original sight that would have been replaced after spitzer bullets were adopted.

[Insignificant Git]

And maybe not a Type 1 rear sight, now that I am viewing it on a larger screen than my old phone...