Yesterday's Weapons Forums

The "CE" mark shown here was applied to **some but not all** M.95 Steyrs Italy got from Austria as WW1 reparations. I believe it's for "colonial army". As seen here, it's not a prominent mark and is often overlooked.

It's worth a premium over standard M.95s How much? Depends how badly you need one for your collection! Always look for it. SW


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I haven't seen this ABH mark before. Seller claims it's from Yugoslavia, but it's seen in conjunction with the Greek VVV so I'm not entirely convinced. I'll check around about it. SW


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This one is darn scarce - like it's the only one I've ever seen & I look for marks like this every day. The steel vendor here is V which is for Vickers. Very, very unusual!

I'd bid but the long rifle was cut down into a "Suprema" by a brain dead importer back in the 60s. SW


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I'm not sure about this one. It's not very well-stamped & could mean anything or nothing. But we can't just guess and exclude it because it wasn't done neatly.

"RS" is shown as stamped on a 10.4 caliber Vetterli. Should anyone see another mark like this, please post it - we might be able to draw a conclusion or two. SW


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Here's another steel vendor code you don't see very often. C is for Cogne.

I think the reason we don't see it much is that the Cogne foundry was near iron mines in the very NW part of Italy. The mines were closed in the 1970s. SW

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cogne


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This mark was found on an AOI Vetterli. DAR is a less commonly used refurb mark from the Roma arsenal. SW


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I've never seen an anchor like this before. It's not consistent with any Italian anchor I've encountered... since it's one of the CAI imports it might be from the Albanian navy.

Very unusual! SW


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This is one of the less often seen Gardone marks. Fabbrica d'Armi Regio Esercito Gardone. (Royal Army arms factory Gardone) SW


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Unknown to the seller, this is actually a TS by Napoleone & Vittorio Castelli. We see this from their signature diamond with initials on the barrel flat normally used to show the year it was made. NeVCB put together a few TS during the interwar years. Only 30 or so are known to exist.

I sent the pic to a friend in Italy who maintains a substantial data base & he tells me the serial number falls outside the known Castelli range.

Which opens the possibility Castelli made replacement barrels. That would be new information for the collecting community.

I should probably bid, but it has been roughly sporterized & has a deer carved onto the sanded stock. That & the seller is a trifle proud of it. SW


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Here's another example of a "deko" rifle from Germany. As mentioned earlier, if there are holes drilled in the barrel, the gun is considered deactivated. In this case, a milling cut was made as shown & is hidden by the handguard. SW


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This is a well done example of a "guild gun" made during the interwar years - mostly by Austrian gunsmiths. If you have a chance to buy something like this with a double set trigger, closely inspect the stock. So much wood needs to be removed for the DST to work the stock often shatters. SW

**the scope is a bit far back for my taste**


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This is yet another variation of the Bavaria Rural Police mark. Be very careful about spending too much for one of these. SW


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There's an unusual stamp on this bajonet I am not able to identify. I have a guess, but guesses don't get us very far. As usual, I'll leave it here for comments or further information. SW


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I decoded this mark by a "connecting the dots". While looking through my parts pile for something else, I found this cav carbine with 3 dots as shown.


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What could they mean?? I looked through my collection card file and found another cav carbine with 3 dots.(list all uncommon marks on your collection card file!) It also has the Greek 'E' showing it has been opened up to 6,5 Mannlicher cartridge.


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I tried a 6,5 Mannlicher round in the first cav carbine, and it chambered easily!

So do all Greek Carcanos altered for 6,5x54 have the 3 dots? No - that would make things too easy! (Apparently all don't have the E, either.) But enough of them do, that I believe the 3 dots are a Greek mark and if you have one you should check chamber dimensions.

I'm willing to bet a canned beverage it will easily hold a 6,5 Mannlicher round!

My theory is that a simple punch was used when the E stamps on hand had all been broken against heat treated receivers.

Like this M91 long rifle with two poorly-struck E marks. A die like that can only take so much abuse, and they ain't cheep! SW

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Here's one you will probably never see again... "For God and Ulster". On an 1870/87 Italian Vetterli.

There has always been friction between Northern Ireland and England. At one point the "Ulster Volunteers" and other Irish wishing to become free from England bought various arms from a shady German arms dealer, Benny Spiro. (I'm not making this up)

Part of the package was 10,000 Italian Vetterlis in 10.4x47R caliber and a million rounds of ammo for them. Some of these rifles were packaged in units of 5 with 100 rounds of ammo each. This was done - in theory - so the rifles could be put to immediate use if the plot to smuggle them into Ireland was discovered while it was underway. The rifles also had the UFV cartouche as shown. Which was obliterated
when captured.

Long story short, the plot was uncovered and the rifles seized. Most were used for drilling, but a few were sent to Ethiopia for use against invading fascists.

I'd sure like to bid on this, but it will no doubt go for a lot more than I want to spend. SW


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You won't see this one very often - KKD. This is an Indian mark showing the Carcano was processed at Kirkee Arsenal for use by Indian troops.

With a pressing need for Lee-Enfields to use in combat, captured Carcanos were issued to certain Indian units for drilling and training thus freeing the SMLEs for use by front line troops.

Post war, most of these were destroyed. SW


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Chinese markings on a Carcano? Yes, and they're legit. Between the wars, China bought arms and equipment from different "western countries" - most notably Germany who sold them Panzer I light tanks as well as weapons, ammunition and uniform gear.

From Italy they bought 50,000 M91 Carcano rifles with an unspecified amount of ammo for impending war with Japan. Keep in mind, Germany and Italy weren't allied with Japan at this point.

The '25' on the receiver ring is the Chinese calendar designation for 1936. Markings on the stock are of unknown meaning but are indeed Chinese. Notice also the added finger grooves on the stock.

It's very unusual to see one in America. SW


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Hello! I am new here and just bought my first Carcano and wanted to get some insight on it as it is somewhat unique to everything I've found online.

But this is one of those that I've seen posted that have little to no markings. The firing pin has been sheared off at the end as well, so maybe for parade or other similar use?

My first thought was an 8mm conversion, but the receiver has neither the S marking nor the cut for 8mm spitzer ammo. Very late war in any case if not a post war put together.

The black paint puts me in mind of an Egyptian refurb, but no way to confirm that.

Rear sights with no caliber designation are not unheard of and are usually on post war guns. No other markings to be seen - even on the stock?

And! Welcome to the site! SW

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