[Happytrgrfingr]

Just wanted to share my latest find. It's a 1933 Tula Hex receiver that I found at one of my local gun stores. All numbers match with the exception of the bayonet. When I found it sitting in a crate of mosins, I had to stick it on layaway. Not many times will you come across such a find in a crate. Also (as I mention below) I did not find one drop of cosmoline on the entire rifle. It's odd.

So, here is my latest addition to my growing family of rifles. Comment and enjoy!

Not sure why the fore end of the stock is darker than the rest.


What does the reverse "R" mean?


Anyone know what that symbol is between the date and the serial number?




As I was cleaning, I noticed the lack of cosmoline and the fact that this bluish blackish film was coming off of various locations of the rifle. Could it be that this rifle was not stored in cosmoline and the blueing is coming off?


The double P's are located on the bottom of the barrel just in front of the receiver.


Tang date matches barrel date.


I am planning on shooting it on Monday, so I will let ya'll know how it does. It's not named yet, but will probably have one after Monday.

Laterz.

[Capt.Hotpants]

Stock is darker because that's just the color of the shellac they put on. It varies greatly between rifles. It really just depends how the new batch was mixed up. Oops just read that the FOREstock was darker. I was skimming a bit because it's late. The shellac was just layed on thick there by the looks of it. Could also be a bit darker wood under the shellac as well because a lot of the times the Russians would just shellac over oil and grease. But in those cases the shellac usually doesn't stick well and we see rifles that are in some cases pealing all over like a bad sunburn.

The R is just some random Russian proof. Most of these proofs are unknown and until the Russians decide to tell us what they are (yeah right) we will never know. Just to clear up any further confusion. It does NOT mean Remington. Remington did not have a backwards "R" mark like that. I've seen some guys who see an R and despite the fact it was made at Izhevsk or Tula from there on out insist it was made by Remington. I just slowly walk away from those guys at gunshows.

That big box between the date and serial is a refurb mark. These are found on wood and metal. It signifies that the metal portion of the rifle was modified or repaired in some way, the same is said for wood. Depending on the number of lines going from corner to corner or in some cases top to bottom this can signify how many times this part has needed attention of the last 60-100 years.

The black paint is a lazy way of preventing in the white metal from rusting. Instead of puting Blu to it they opted for speed. This paint is very fragile and if it gets lost in your cleanings then there is no problem. This could also be the spot that the Russians/Ukrainians removed rust with a wirewheel. This could be the reason the gun has the mark on the barrel.

1930's Tulas are great rifles (not really different than Izhevsk but eh) they are always a nice find, especially in a prewar stock like yours.

The double P marks could also mean anything. Probably barrel proofs of some sort but again... the Russians still consider a lot of this stuff secret.

Im pretty sure I got all the info right. If not let me know, it's late.

[Happytrgrfingr]

So what about the lack of cosmoline?

[Capt.Hotpants]

Someone cleaned it.

[Happytrgrfingr]

The crate it came out of had 5 or 6 other rifles in it, not one bit of cosmo on them either.

[az_paul]

Nice catch! Your comment about Mosins and Jello is very well put.

[waterdog]

Nazi blood made the stock darker, thats the story I'd tell, ya should see the bayonet.

[Capt.Hotpants]

Well either they were all cleaned or they only got a heavy coat of oil before they came into the country.

[hounddawg]

Quote:       Originally Posted by Happytrgrfingr

The crate it came out of had 5 or 6 other rifles in it, not one bit of cosmo on them either.

Yeah. The dealer's been usin' that crate as a Point of Sales since he first got it in 1972.