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qz2026 wrote:Well, I would say that everything lines up here. Cossack=Imperial Izhevsk. The bolt might not be from a Cossack but it is appropriate for and could have been from a Cossack, i.e., it's an Imperial Izhevsk bolt. Although I will admit that the bolts for these guns came from a bin of bolts much the same as those in any of the other refurbishment programs. The only difference being that the 91/38 program was using exclusively Imperial rifles so an Imperial bolt at least stood a 50/50 chance of being added to this build (vs. a Tula bolt). I' will admit also that there are cases of post 1928 bolts on these rifles too but the overwhelming number of bolts were Imperial. Izhevsk made the Cossacks beginning in 1894. Your receiver is dated 1895 and is stamped Izhevsk. To my knowledge a Cossack receiver would have no Ka3 identifying stampings, only an Izhevsk stamp with the date. I am not an expert on Ka3 rifles and I've not seen the tang on one with the exception of the scrubbed tang on my 91/38. One thing for sure with these rifles. I have not seen a 91/38 whose barrel does not match the receiver. Whenever I say such a thing, someone always chimes in and says "mine doesn't...". But, that's good too. I'll take the heat though because I've fondled a large number of them and none of them were mismatched, i.e., armory and year.
The Serbian stamp, especially it's location on the shank on yours along with the other circumstantial things I have pointed out clearly indicates to me that there is a high probability that this is a Cossack 91/38. Of course, the proof would be in the pudding. This shank has been scrubbed so will will never be 100% certain. But, i'd spend a lot of time with a lighted magnifying glass on that shank.
Got no clue what the "5" is on the bolt. I've got a few rifles with bolts like this but never thought too much about it other than they were different, thus an added cool factor.
I have tried to find a connection between the Serbian crown and this rifle being a Cossack and I can’t find any info. I tried doing some forum searches and google searches for Serbian crown Cossack and then Serbian crown Mosin plus a few other similar searches. In about 20 minutes I was able to find I believe 7 or 8 pictures of Mosins with this same crown and they were all full length m91s. I couldn’t find a Cossack picture that also had the crown (I am absolutely not doubting they exist but every picture I found of one didn’t have a crown so it can’t be the norm).
There is a lengthy article on mosinnagant.net that talks about Serbian and Montenegrin mosins and it says that there two versions of the crown, one was probably in 1913 when the first shipment of m91s was sent and a different one later on. It also states that only m91s were known to be sent and no Cossacks or dragoons were known to be sent.
qz2026 wrote:Well, I would say that everything lines up here. Cossack=Imperial Izhevsk. The bolt might not be from a Cossack but it is appropriate for and could have been from a Cossack, i.e., it's an Imperial Izhevsk bolt. Although I will admit that the bolts for these guns came from a bin of bolts much the same as those in any of the other refurbishment programs. The only difference being that the 91/38 program was using exclusively Imperial rifles so an Imperial bolt at least stood a 50/50 chance of being added to this build (vs. a Tula bolt). I' will admit also that there are cases of post 1928 bolts on these rifles too but the overwhelming number of bolts were Imperial. Izhevsk made the Cossacks beginning in 1894. Your receiver is dated 1895 and is stamped Izhevsk. To my knowledge a Cossack receiver would have no Ka3 identifying stampings, only an Izhevsk stamp with the date. I am not an expert on Ka3 rifles and I've not seen the tang on one with the exception of the scrubbed tang on my 91/38. One thing for sure with these rifles. I have not seen a 91/38 whose barrel does not match the receiver. Whenever I say such a thing, someone always chimes in and says "mine doesn't...". But, that's good too. I'll take the heat though because I've fondled a large number of them and none of them were mismatched, i.e., armory and year.
The Serbian stamp, especially it's location on the shank on yours along with the other circumstantial things I have pointed out clearly indicates to me that there is a high probability that this is a Cossack 91/38. Of course, the proof would be in the pudding. This shank has been scrubbed so will will never be 100% certain. But, i'd spend a lot of time with a lighted magnifying glass on that shank.
Got no clue what the "5" is on the bolt. I've got a few rifles with bolts like this but never thought too much about it other than they were different, thus an added cool factor.
I have tried to find a connection between the Serbian crown and this rifle being a Cossack and I can’t find any info. I tried doing some forum searches and google searches for Serbian crown Cossack and then Serbian crown Mosin plus a few other similar searches. In about 20 minutes I was able to find I believe 7 or 8 pictures of Mosins with this same crown and they were all full length m91s. I couldn’t find a Cossack picture that also had the crown (I am absolutely not doubting they exist but every picture I found of one didn’t have a crown so it can’t be the norm).
There is a lengthy article on mosinnagant.net that talks about Serbian and Montenegrin mosins and it says that there two versions of the crown, one was probably in 1913 when the first shipment of m91s was sent and a different one later on. It also states that only m91s were known to be sent and no Cossacks or dragoons were known to be sent.
Cossack rifles were stamped KA3 and will retain that stamp unless it has been scrubbed off. All Cossack rifles were manufactured at the Izhevsk Factory, but just because the rifle is an Imperial Izhevsk doesn't mean its is a Cossack. I have never heard of a Serbian Cossack, but I have heard of Siberian Cossacks. Anyways, congratulations to the OP on his awesome 91-38, butI don't think it is an Ex-Cossack. Denny
