Bob in OHIO
Senior Member
Today, I pulled about 20 MO rifles and looked for trends in the inlet for the sling keeper.
- The vast majority had either 2, 3, or 4 separate markings.
- One rifle had 5 marks, and no stock lacked an alpha numeric marking
- With the muzzle to the left (when looking at the inlet) most consistent was a alpha character in the bottom of the inlet.
- Alpha characters in that location included: M, RR, KK, EE, Z, cc, hh, w, HH, s (both lower case and UC, as shown)
- Machine or operator that pantographed the the stock (don't think so, see below)
- Inventory number/letter??
- Operator who: did final fitting? placed the buttplate? Milled the sling slot? Milled the Mag well etc?
- But commonly with 3 or 4 separate marks, this might suggest multiple events are being tracked....
- The cartouches on the keel, and by the TG indicate inspection for subassembly, right?
- Mauser training rifles (KKW/DSM34) are totally void of similiar markings AFAIK