[tplan]

I dunno, I must be missing it too. I guess it's the determination to get a 1900 dated 91. I have 1899 & 1898 91s in about the same shape. Wonder if I can get $500 a piece for them, too?

 

[tplan]

For example, Bulgaria bought 50,000 obr. 1891 just before the Balkan War of 1912 and these rifles looked like the one on the picture below. During WWI tens of thousands more obr. 1891 were captured by the Bulgarian troops from the Romanians, Russians and Serbians, but they had the 1910 update.

And they didn't put a B in a circle on any of them, did they Nick? I didn't realize Bulgaria actually bought M91s. I only knew about the WWI captures. If they bought them in 1912, are you saying the Russians sold them only old stock? They were all pre-1910 style?

 

[tplan]

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=162415754

This carcano was similarly astounding, and I have no rational reason why.

Somebody liked the shiny stock finish, i guess.

 

[tplan]

Yes, 50,000 rifles in pre-1910 configuration with 50,000,000 round-nosed bullets! No "circle-B" markings that I am aware of - I've seen in person two of these rifles, both Sestroretsk-made.

Here are scans from a few Bulgarian sources on this purchase; when Bulgaria entered WWI in 1915 they still had more than 46,000 obr. 1891 rifles in their inventory and many more were captured afterwords:

Thanks, Nick. That's good information to add to the reservoir.

John