Moreover, no author can know all the details of a rifle's production, markings, etc. As new information becomes available, it is not always possible to re-publish immediately the corrections. Hopefully, this kind of information can also be included here.

But this section is not intended to be a forum to just simply criticize an author's work; on the contrary, no information will be listed here unless it can be thoroughly documented from sources available to others as well.

By Richard Hoffman and Noel Schott

Initial comments by Robert Gioia

This book has been reviewed in these pages before, but not very deeply. It is hard to critique something with the breadth of knowledge that this book displays. Many of us (MRJ readers), however, may have bits of information or insight which may serve to, perhaps, make possible an even better 3rd edition. I hope the authors will accept that the critiques given here are in the most constructive spirit.

What is not known for certain is the authors' intended depth and scope of the book. Some specialized books on US, Chinese, Finnish, etc. guns have shown more markings than this book in those particular areas. This book is, thus, most useful for all those guns not already covered in those books.

The book is not consistent about listing guns under the using country or the country of manufacture. The Model 1912 Steyr made Mauser is listed under Austria, where they were made, as well as Chile, the using country. Markings for the Steyr made Model 1878 Kropatschek rifle is listed only under the using nation, France. Markings for the Peabody-Martini are listed only under the country of origin, the US, and not under the using nations as England (UK) or Turkey. The Mannlicher-Schoenauer M1903/14 Greek contract rifle has the manufacturer's name and markings listed under Austria and the national insignia listed under Greece. These are just some examples. There may be some logic at work here, and I have not heard complaints about the way the authors listed the markings. I'm just pointing out that there is an inconsistency.

Argentina - Concerning #16 (with the crossed cannons and anchor), I may add that in the past, the Argentine Coast Artillery was a branch of the Navy and included some Naval Infantry, which was similar to but not quite the same as the US Marine Corps. I am assuming that this marking is correctly identified as Argentine; Robert Ball in his Mauser Military Rifles of the World shows a photograph which seems to be this marking without identifying it.

Belgium - Illustrations #8 & 9 show "ABL", which is captioned as a combination of the French "Armee Belge" and Flemish "Belgische Leger". John Walter's Rifles of the World, 2nd edition says it's for the French "Armee Belge" and Flemish "Leger Belge". It's supposed to mean "Belgian Army". "Leger(e)" is the French word for "light". I would go with Edward C. Ezell's Small Arms of the World and Joe Poyer's The SAFN-49 Battle Rifle, which say the "ABL" stands for "Arme Belgique Legere" (roughly, "Belgian small arm"). This is in keeping with the all-French names for the successor guns, such as FAL (Fusil Automatique Leger), CAL (Carabine Automatique Legere), and FNC (Fabrique Nationale Carabine). A minor correction for caption #9 would be that King Baudouin I died in 1993. Albert II has been the king of Belgium since then.

(From the December, 1999, issue, page 321)

Bjorn Nielsen, Belgium, to Robert Gioia: Review of "Handbook of Military Rifle Marks 1866-195011 (MRJ 106, Oct. 1999).

In a catalogue published in connection with an exhibition on Belgian military firearms held at the Musee royal de I'Armee et d'Histoire militaire in Brussels, Belgium (which is run by the Belgian ministry of defence), the marking "ABL" is explained as "Arm6e Belge / Belgisch Leger", which means Belgian Army in French and Flemish. Your (and other's) interpretation of the mark as meaning "Belgian small arm" is contradicted by the fact that the mark "ABL" is used on all types of Belgian military materiel from uniforms, webbing and boots to mess gear and pocketknives. It is of course confusing that the Fabrique Nationale in Herstal decided to name their popular automatic rifle "FAL" in which the "L" stands for the French "Leger" (=light), but this has nothing to do with the Belgian army. The FAL- rifles used by the Belgian army are marked IIA3L" as well, as a proof of ownership.

Brazil - It may be helpful if the markings, with explanation and description, of the VZ 24's of the Sao Paolo revolutionaries, mentioned in Robert Ball's Mauser Military Rifles of the World, are included. These have no Brazilian national markings and identifying them would be difficult enough. They could be described as being made with curved bolts, unlike most VZ 24's.

Bulgaria - If the Mosin Nagant M 1891/59's are satisfactorily settled as being Bulgarian, their markings could be included. An explanation of some sort may be in order since they carry no insignia that are obviously Bulgarian.

Canada - One would think that markings from the Long Branch made No.4 Mk I rifles could be listed here. Certainly, the Canadian troops used a large portion of them. Post war Long Branch No. 4 Mark I's are marked "C No.4 Mk I", and this could be listed separately. .303 Rifle, No. 4, SAIS No.2, by Ian Skennerton has a photo of this post war marking on page 44. The authors refer to another book, Handbook of Identification Marks on Canadian Arms by R. Barry Manarney of 1973. This book is hard to find. I wish more of the Canadian marks were presented to make up for the lack of availability of the prior book.

Chile - The model 1912/60 Mauser in .308 caliber should logically be included.

China - There are many, many more markings out there. Dolf Goldsmith in his Arming the Dragon pictures dozens of just the chamber top markings. It is regrettable that the authors list the "P" series 1937 dated VZ 24's under China. This on a chance similarity of the letter "P" on another gun. I believe the predominant opinion of knowledgeable persons is still that these were Japanese. At any rate, VZ 24's without the "P", but with Chinese markings, are known; so, it is misleading to make it sound like the series "P" are the only Chinese VZ 24's. The export model of the Type 56 carbine (SKS type) is marked "M21". They can show that.

Colombia - Robert Ball's Mauser Military Rifles of the World depicts many variations of the national crest.

Czechoslovakia - I suppose the section should now say "Czech Republic" with "Czechoslovakia" in parenthesis. The Slovak Republic is listed separately. There are 1939 and 1940 dated VZ 24's made under German occupation that could not be ascribed to contracts for Romania, Slovakia, etc. These are not marked "G 24 (t)"; perhaps they may be listed here. These have the pre-war lion proofs replaced by circles containing a "C" and an "M".

Ecuador - What about Ecuador? Robert Ball's Mauser Military Rifles of the World says Ecuador used Mausers with the national crest and the statement "Ejercito del Ecuador" or "Ejercito Ecuadoriano". Has no one come up with an example for study? Are the Ecuadorians still issuing their Mausers to their frontline troops?

England - Most of our readers know that by "England", the authors mean the United Kingdom. But finnicky Scots, Welsh, and others may feel left out. As for the contents, the chamber top markings for Pattern 14's may be added. Also helpful would be to show the "US PROPERTY" stamp on the lend-lease No.4 Mk.l*'s from Savage. Unknowledgeable people might think these guns were US issue. I believe the information in caption #33 ("ZAR") should be moved to, or repeated in, the section on South Africa.

Finland - More complete lists are found in other books which are still available.

France - It would be good if markings can be included from the Daudetau, RSC M1917, RSC M1918, MAS 1949, MAS 1949/56 and MAS 1949/56M-SE rifles.

Germany - There is at least another version of the star in #23 for the WW I Sterngewehre. The WW II manufacturers' codes are relegated to Appendix IV. These codes may be some of the more likely items for people to try to look up, given the current availability and popularity of the WW II relic guns. How many will think to check the appendices? I believe this would be a useful item to illustrate in the body of the book. Since they included the Wehrmanngewehr, the DSM and KKW (.22 caliber) rifle markings would also be logical. Post WW II, the East Germans used K98k's from WW II and newly made ones from Brno (not only the "tgf" stamped ones as in #79) with small stamps added to the top of the chamber. These stamps have a shield with a number and rays around the shield. East German re-work stamps have also been reported. These East German marks should be included.

Germany-Figure 23; -we also have more than one version of-the "star"' but only had one for illustrating. We place the manufacturers codes in the appendix because of its length and it would interrupt the flow of the text.

India - Markings from the .308 caliber 2A rifle should be included.

Italy - The little receiver stamps with the manufacturers' identifications should be shown and attributed. I wonder if illustration #26, the symbol for Tiro a Segno Nazionale, is correct. I believe it is supposed to show a round target above the crossed rifles. Markings for the Beretta made US M-1 rifles would seem logical.

Japan - More examples of markings for the training rifles would be nice. The type "I" rifle (illustration #9) was made at three Italian arsenals, according to Richard Hobbs' The Carcano. Markings distinguishing the three should be illustrated. After WW II, HOWA made US M-1 carbines; markings from these might be shown.

Korea - Simonov SKS-45 Type Carbines by Lamont and Fuller illustrates a North Korean Type 63, an SKS clone. How about showing markings from this? It was based on a 1945 original.

Luxemburg - The "AL" stamp, illustration #5, is said to stand for "Armee Luxembourg" - or in more proper French, "Armee de Luxembourg" or "Armee Luxembourgeoise". It could also just mean "Arme Legere", the Belgian "ABL" with the "B" for Belgique (Belgium) dropped. FN seems to name their guns with simple monikers in French, like FAL (light automatic rifle), etc.

Manchuria - As recent research (recounted by the authors in this book) shows, the Model (or Type) 13 rifle, popularly known as the Manchurian Mauser, actually pre-dates the Japanese conquest. While it was from the decentralized war lord period of Chinese history, the Manchurian war lords were not totally independent. The "13" means it was adopted in the 13th year of the Republic of China (1924). This listing should probably be under China.

Netherlands - For those who missed it, one of the authors, Noel Schott, wrote in the MRJ of January 1999 (Issue 97), that "IOB" of illustration #8 stands for "Indische Ondernemers Bond", meaning "Indies Business Union".

Portugal - I wonder if the date on the 98 Mauser type M 1937 (see illustration and caption #9) really shows the year of manufacture. I have only seen 1937 and 1941. All those dated 1937 were the modified K98k's (actually called the M/937A's with the modifications, per Smith and Smith's The Book of Rifles) and all the 1941's were regular wartime K98k's. It is reported that some of the 1941 dated ones were still in Germany and to have become undeliverable due to the war situation in late 1944. They were then issued to German troops. If the 1941 dated guns were really all made in 1941, why there were there some still not delivered years later? It is possible there were reasons for a delay, but I suspect the 1941 to be another type. The M 1896 short rifle, mislabeled by the importer as Romanian, should be included; it would be a small step in correcting the importer's error.

Rumania - Most modern references spell the country's name as "Romania", but people will know what you mean by the variant spelling, which is also correct. The book could add the VZ 24's with the "R" series serial numbers.

Russia - Good job, though covering same territory as some other books. This is the only source showing the early 1919 Tula arsenal marking.

Thailand - They could add the HOWA made M-1 carbine with the Thai Chakra stamp.

Turkey - The Ankara Arsenal mark dated 1954 is different from #7 and #10, and should be shown. Illustration #7 is seen on all models of Mausers, not just the M 1888 reworks.

United States -If they wish to be comprehensive, a lot more can be shown.

Vietnam - An SKS type With North Vietnamese markings is shown in Lamont and Fuller's Simonov SKS-45 Type Carbines. This could be included.

Yugoslavia - There are a couple of blunders in the Cyrillic in illustrations #6 & #7. The last letter of the last word should have a flat bottom (see Appendix V - it's the letter for "ts"). The next to last word should have the last two letters be "O" and the Cyrillic "D". There are some letters in Serbian that are not in Russian: therefore, they would not be found in Appendix V.

Appendix I - The foreign numerals should be drawn more carefully. These were not rendered to the book's usual high standards.

Appendix II - The given formula for the Moslem calendar would work for the lunar year used in most of the Moslem nations. Since about 1925, Iran/Persia has been using the Islamic Hegira calendar based on the solar year. Just add 621 to the solar Hegira year on Iranian/Persian guns to get the AD year.

Appendix IV - As indicated above under Germany, it is felt this information should be presented in the body of the book.

Appendix V - There are 33 letters in post-revolutionary Russian. They left out one. Several Serbian letters used on guns are not shown here, as they do not exist in Russian. Perhaps a more inclusive set of Cyrillic letters can be illustrated.

Appendix VI- - The bibliography is very good.

It may be observed that many guns were made without national or otherwise easily identifiable user markings. Examples would be VZ 24's, FN 24's and Mauser Standard Modells with only the manufacturer's marks showing. Some aids to identifying the contracting nation would be good, such as the book already does for the VZ 24 "P" series under China. Many of my comments above are in the order of a wish list, and may be treated as such. The final big "Wish" would be to have actual photographs. Photographs are often not as clear as drawings, but could be an impressive addition. Perhaps a photographic supplement section can be added, showing national insignia and other prominent markings.

None of the criticisms are substantial. This book is recommended to collectors, dealers, and anyone interested in foreign small arms in the mid-19th to mid-20th century period.

 (Information on where and how to order this book can be found in the For Sale section of this web site.)