Thanks to a seller mislabelling it, I was able to sneak up on this Austro-Hungarian Model 1890 Mannlicher Extra Corps Gewehr, also known as a Gendarmerie Carbine. This is one of three similar types of carbine-length arms built and used by the Austro-Hungarian Empire that preceded the much better known Model 1895 Mannlicher rifles, carbines and stutzens. This one is unconverted, chambered in the original 8X50R and utilizes an earlier style bolt than the more familiar Model 1895 type. This one was made at Steyr, as I believe all of them were. These had a very neat, side sliding butt plate door for storing cleaning rods that was not retained in the Model 1895 FOWs. This particular carbine was originally used by a Landes Gendarmerie Commando unit that operated in Slovenia, prior to likely requisition by regular K.u.K. forces once the war began.
There were two markings I wasn't sure about on the underside of the stock. The first is like a Greek 'Pi' letter, or what an individual, upside down staple looks like. It is located just ahead of the trigger assembly. The other is just behind the trigger assembly, on the stock wrist. The latter is clearly a Cyrillic 'D.' I talked to John Sheehan ('JPS' on Gunboards) about this during the time he was working on 'Serbian Army - Weapons of Victory, 1914-1918' with Branislav Stankovic. He originally thought it could be a Serbian captured carbine, acquired probably early in the war and kept in Serbia, and then the later Yugoslavia. After looking into it further, it appears that it lacks particular traits that should be expected with Serbian approved arms. Instead, John suggested that it was actually captured by Imperial Russian forces from A-H forces, and stamped with what he later determined were Russian stamps. It was apparently retained by the Soviets until its ostensible capture by German forces in WWII. It was then sent as a captured weapon to the Heereszeugamt at Wels, Austria, as noted by the 'Ws 1' stamp on the right side of the butt stock. The Wels depot is known from period US Army documents as a facility for processing and storing small arms, among other things.
Pat
There were two markings I wasn't sure about on the underside of the stock. The first is like a Greek 'Pi' letter, or what an individual, upside down staple looks like. It is located just ahead of the trigger assembly. The other is just behind the trigger assembly, on the stock wrist. The latter is clearly a Cyrillic 'D.' I talked to John Sheehan ('JPS' on Gunboards) about this during the time he was working on 'Serbian Army - Weapons of Victory, 1914-1918' with Branislav Stankovic. He originally thought it could be a Serbian captured carbine, acquired probably early in the war and kept in Serbia, and then the later Yugoslavia. After looking into it further, it appears that it lacks particular traits that should be expected with Serbian approved arms. Instead, John suggested that it was actually captured by Imperial Russian forces from A-H forces, and stamped with what he later determined were Russian stamps. It was apparently retained by the Soviets until its ostensible capture by German forces in WWII. It was then sent as a captured weapon to the Heereszeugamt at Wels, Austria, as noted by the 'Ws 1' stamp on the right side of the butt stock. The Wels depot is known from period US Army documents as a facility for processing and storing small arms, among other things.
Pat
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