My grandfather has this rifle that is timestamped to be 1933. The person he bought it from says it's Russian, but I believe its Italian. We are wondering if anyone who has expertise in this field can tell us the make and model of it?

by Vordigan3693

Here is the link to an image of the rifle: http://imgur.com/PwBRTKT

Meesus

The rifle definitely isn't Italian. It's a Mosin-Nagant. My first inclination is to say that it's a Model 1891/30 - the most common variant, and the version that was the standard issue for the Red Army through much of the Second World War - with an aftermarket cleaning rod. However, there's some features that don't match up with the traditional 91/30 layout - namely, the stock and sling swivels. I've never seen any 91/30 that has sling swivels like the ones in your picture - they're generally left as open slots in the wood. Sling swivels like what you have are indicative of a Finnish model, as they're the only nation as far as I know that did that style of swivel.

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With more information, it'd be easier to confirm what the rifle is. The receiver should have markings on the top that should give an idea of where it was made. If it's a Tula manufacture, expect to see a star with an arrow pointing up in its center. Izhevsk would be either a hammer and sickle inside a wreath or a triangle with an arrow in it similar to Tula's markings.

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If it's a Finnish rifle like I'm suspecting, it'll have different markings, but those are variable enough that I'd rather not have to list out them all. One easy thing to check is the wood - Finnish stock are two-piece, and if you look really closely around the rear barrel band, you should be able to see the seam where the two pieces of wood are joined.