Discussion Section
Sometime following the Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913, and possibly during or shortly following WWI, the Romanians adopted use of the Three Line Rifle, Mosin Nagant. Some of these rifles may have come from capture when Romania briefly sided with Greece and Serbia against Bulgaria in the Second Balkan War, and others were later purchased or supplied as aid from Russia.
Romania re-stocked many examples with beech buttstocks and handguards, and/or employed a unique fore-end splice to original stocks. My example below is of a 1916 Izhevsk, Peter The Great, in Dragoon configuration. The buttstock is still Russian birch, but the zig-zagged spliced forestock is of Romanian workmanship, utilizing beech wood. The handguard is also Romanian made from beech, and follows the second generation Russian Dragoon pattern that partially wraps around the rear sight base, and is reinforced with an underside steel band with copper rivets in the rear, and a steel end and copper rivets on the front
Also found on the stock are some cartouches of Romanian origin.
The barreled receiver is an original Izhevsk pairing from 1916. As is typical from the Balkan region, the Imperial Eagles are peened on both the receiver and barrel shank. The rear sight is graduated in Arshins, and not restamped as can be found on Finnish reworks. The Konovalov rear sight leaf is intact. Buttplate and magazine floorplate are scrubbed and force matched, and the bolt was scrubbed but not renumbered. This rifle shows evidence of a Post-WWII refurbishment, as the bolt has an obvious Hungarian marked (02) connector.
One intriguing point to ponder is the appearance of two different sized circle-B stamps on the shank. Long thought to be a Bulgarian stamp, this is now better listed as a Soviet "unknown" mark, as specific connections to Bulgaria are clouded by this stamp also appearing on strictly Russian and even Finn refurbished guns.
The rifle overall is in what appears to be excellent serviceable condition, though I have not fired it myself. As part of the collection, it is a fine representative example of the Balkan area Mosin Nagant history. Thanks for listening an looking.
Discussion Section