Finn Capture 91/30 with strange marking-WAFFENAMPT?

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blano86	Finn Capture 91/30 with strange marking-WAFFENAMPT?	Lead	[-]
Posts: 14 (11/04/09 01:26 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Tags : None I just bought a Finn capture 91/30 Dated 1933. Above the serial number on the receiver it has a strange marking that kind of looks like a waffenampt! I could be wrong but that is what came to mind when I took first glance. If anyone knows what it is or why it is there let me know. I took some pictures, hope they help. I also found a picture of a waffen that was on a k98 in an old gunbroker auction (it is that last picture). It looks very similar! Any ideas would be great. Blane
zeebill		#1	[-]
Posts: 3789 (11/04/09 03:06 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Certainly does look sort of like a waffen mark and there in may lie the problem. There are bogus waffen stamps floating around and often seen in many places they really should not be, note I said really should not be and did not say could not be. They also seem to be partially struck and most times the really telling numbers are missing as is the case here. Doubtlessly we could argue about this till the cows come home and both sides would have heart felt and telling stories to bolster their thoughts and ideas. I will simplify my thoughts by saying they probably are the work of a bubba but follow that with I would like to think they are not but in this day and age of people getting some perverse thrill of fooling the experts I just think they are faked. I take a very negative side and look at these things from that attitude I am afraid because of the above. Let the Games begin as I am sure there will others with differing positions! I will say one thing your pictures are very good and you are to be congratulated on their clarity. Bill
ptrthgr8		#2	[-]
Posts: 3920 (11/04/09 07:10 AM) Host Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	What's the date on the receiver tang? If it's also 1933 then I'd agree it's most likely a Bubba deal - or it's not really a WaA stamp at all (wouldn't be the first time something like that has happened in the world of Mosin-Nagant collecting). But it's also possible that this rifle started out life as a WW1-era M91, was captured by the Germans at one point during that war, then recaptured by the Soviets, refurbed, and then captured by the Finns sometime later. Perhaps not likely, but possible. But it's hard to say without seeing the rest of the receiver to know what other markings are present. Cheers, ~ Greg ~ "War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse." -- John Stuart Mill Check out my photos! public.fotki.com/ptrthgr8/ Click here to adopt a US sniper today!
blano86		#3	[-]
Posts: 15 (11/04/09 09:24 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	The tang is dated 1933. And the barrel and receiver do not have any markings that I have not seen before. There is a big "U" by the top serial number that is all.
nothernug		#4	[-]
Posts: 11513 (11/06/09 01:45 AM) Forum Site Moderator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I would say 'not.' Not because of any great knowledge but from examining the (excellent) closeups of the mark. If you'll look again, you'll see that in each 'wing' there is a deep point right in the center. That is not a stamp with flat parallel lines. Now what it may be, I cannot say. Banged on the road when it got dropped off the truck one time? Diplomacy is the art of saying nice doggie until you can find a rock. Will Rogers
Smokepole50		#5	[-]
Posts: 1343 (11/06/09 12:22 PM) Veteran member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I am no expert but there is one thing that looks fishy. Do you see how there is no old grease in the stamp/ding like you see in the serial number stamping? Maybe.................someone did place a waffenempt stamp there to potentially increase the value only later to realize the receiver date was wrong. Then they thought they could peen it out like the Russians did the K98k rifles and make it harder to determine the originality of the marking, thus fooling a less then experienced collector.......... Like I said, I am no expert. Did you clean all the old cosmoline and dirt out of the "marks" to get a better picture? If so, then my possible scenario is just hog wash. Smokepole