Discussion Section
As you can see, this particular rifle is in a darker colored post war laminated stock, though the top hand guard is not laminated.
The serial numbers on this rifle match with the exception of the bayonet (not pictured). The serial numbers do appear to have been re-stamped during arsenal refurbishment as the “AA” prefix fonts do not match what is on the barrel. I would assume that they should have matched at the time the rifle was completed. You can see the arsenal refurbishment stamp on the bottom of the barrel shank, to the left of the Izhevsk logo. The barrel shank also has an unknown stamp which appears to be “PF”. The “F” character however does not show up in the Russian alphabet. It appears that the barrel shank was sanded/scrubbed and it’s possible that part of the stamping were lost. The “F” character could be another “P” or possibly “Б”. The purpose of that stamp however is unknown.
Here is a closer image of the date on the barrel shank that shows more clearly that it is in fact a 1947 produced rifle.
The receiver on the rifle is a round receiver but I cannot definitively identify the date. As you can see in the image below, the final two digits of the date were either stamped over the hole, or the hole was drilled through where the remainder of the date should be. The receiver though was produced by Izhevsk.
The right side of the rifle.
The left side of the rifle.
As I mentioned, the serial number on the butt plate matches the receiver, though with a different font for the “AA”. There are also a number of interesting stamps on the top of the stock near the butt plate.
The underside of the stock, just forward of the magazine, also has a number of interesting stamps.
The numbers also match on the magazine floor plate. The magazine itself is stamped with a small Tula star.
The stock has a laminate toe splice.
The bolt also has matching numbers on it. The bolt handle is the only piece with an arsenal stamp on it and it is an Izhevsk logo. The stock has the extra reinforcement bolt at the wrist, which is standard on the post war laminate stocks.
The rear barrel band is marked with a small Tula star.
The front barrel band has no arsenal marking on it, or it is hidden underneath the thick black paint that was added during refurbishment.
The rear sight also received quite a bit of extra black paint.
The internals of the rifle are pretty much what you would expect of a late model M91\30. It has a two piece interrupter / ejector. No arsenal stamps are present on the trigger, interrupter, ejector or the sear.
The bore on the rifle is very clean, as you can see in the photo below. Other than the one spec you can see, the rest of the bore is clean and has no pitting or fouling. It doesn’t look as though this barrel really saw a lot of use.
This rifle has a nice story about how it came into my possession. You can read the original discussion thread here.
Discussion Section