Yesterday's Weapons Forums

Here are two Carcanos with a star on the same side of the buttstock. One has the small CAI import mark which hints that it might have come from Albania - the cav carbine has no import mark.

Shown for comparison is a Steyr M.95M withthe same style star - I've been told it was used by Tito's communist partisans. So were the Carcanos used by communist forces? I think so but can't prove it.

It would also be interesting to know just where they were used. Besides Albanina, Carcanos were used by partisans in Greece, pretty much the entire Balkan region and even by communists in Italy. The Greek commies were defeated thanks to massive aid to the Greek gov't by us & the Brits. The Albanian commies won. A lot of bloody conflict after a very bloody war.

A friend just bought an M.95M with a Terni refurb cartouche. I believe it was used by Italian commies and captured by the Italian Army & put into storage. Post-war, it was refurbed and sold off with all the other surplus laying around.

Some very interesting possibilities here. Any comments or information on communist markings will be sincerely appreciated! SW

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Slava Ukraini!!

Steyr M.95/24


The aforementioned M.95M is mine now I saw a M24 Yugo Mauser with the star also on gunbroker... sadly I missed it.

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See my Balkans collection on my website , specializing in rifles with soldier graffiti.

One M91/24 I used to have. I shoudn't've sold it.
Marked 1 26 1942 MW, and FK on the other side. Sling was my Chicom SKS. No rifling to speak of in the bore.

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See my Balkans collection on my website , specializing in rifles with soldier graffiti.

I've got another M.95/34 with graffiti and other Balkans goodies. http://forums.gunboards.com/album.php?u=69916

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See my Balkans collection on my website , specializing in rifles with soldier graffiti.

Those are some neat examples and some are quite scarce - like the M.95/24 you hardly ever see those. The M.90 with "6 slice pie" stamp is another unusual one. I do know Bulgaria had a lot of those ca WW1... many of which seem to have migrated.

I've got one with the enigmatic VVV mark. Nobody seems to know for certain what's up with that. Maybe it's "555".

I had another "custom marked" gun - a 1953 Polish M44 Mosin Nagant onto which some bored national guardsman carved the names of a few famous singers. Elvis - Julio Englasias and two others. Too late to be involved withthe Balkan hostilities.

Sold it to a friend in Ohio who shoots it regularly.

Stuff like this is mostly what I'm after these days. There's a lot to be learned about the Balkan partisans, and I feel it's well to acquire everything related to that against future information. SW

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Slava Ukraini!!