[Captain Mainwaring]

This is my Type 53 display. The T53 has 'fertiliser factory' marked on the butt, and I think this places its unit in the People's Militia. The training manual is titled People's Militia Operating Manual (Old Rifles and Sub-Machine Gun) (1973). The cap is the 1965-1985 style 'Liberation cap' of the People's Liberation Army. The T53 chest rig is dated 1960. The T53 sling dates to c.1972. The oil bottle is Chinese, but the tool kit is Soviet (working on it!).

This display represents a T53 issued a People's Liberation Army training cadre attached to the People's Militia c.1973.

 

[kstrads]

awesome display.

 

[Jack Lawman]

Does one of your pics depict a strap-on periscope? Looks like a second person to the side of the rifle is doing the sighting, but in the picture neither one of them has good cover. They'd have to get that worked out a little better.

Anyway, really nice coollection.

Jack

 

[rocker98]

Nice! The chest rig I bought is also dated 1960. The sling is being elusive. Thanks for the pics.

 

[Richard in NY*]

Does one of your pics depict a strap-on periscope? Looks like a second person to the side of the rifle is doing the sighting, but in the picture neither one of them has good cover. They'd have to get that worked out a little better.

Anyway, really nice coollection.

Jack

It's a sighting tool to insure that the trainee shooting the rifle is aiming the sights properly. The coach verifies the proper use of the sights by looking in the periscope window on the side.

 

[themosinator]

VERY cool display, Capt.!!!...that's a great grouping of era-appropriate accessories too!!...my GF was looking over my shoulder while I was looking at your pics and she said, "Great!!...does this mean that there are going to be more of those random deliveries of militaria from the mailman every few days again??...sheesh!!"

...so...thanks for raising the bar!!!...

 

[Jack Lawman]

It's a sighting tool to insure that the trainee shooting the rifle is aiming the sights properly. The coach verifies the proper use of the sights by looking in the periscope window on the side.

Thanks for the info. I thought it was a labor intensive version of this (from "Popular Science" Nov. 1940):

 

[eli]

Have any Chinese x54 to go with that?

 

[M44Jon]

I love the fact that the manual shows females using the weapon. My wife has been afraid to fire my Mosins since her one experience with them, and I tell her that there were many proficient Russian and (might I add very petite) Chinese women soldiers who carried and fired the Mosin just as the men did. Now that's equality!

 

[azpilot]

My wife loves to shoot our T53 but does not like the recoil of it. I bought some 46 grain rounds to put in it for her and she loves shooting it even more now.

 

[Captain Mainwaring]

Thanks for the comments. I don't normally get into a full militaria side of a collection, but I will chase up a cleaning kit, bayonet and sling. This one is an exception with the chest rig, the T53 really sings out to me. The LPS ammo is Bulgarian, I don't have any Chinese ammo.

 

[Captain Mainwaring]

It's a sighting tool to insure that the trainee shooting the rifle is aiming the sights properly. The coach verifies the proper use of the sights by looking in the periscope window on the side.

Yes, spot on. It's an 'aim corrector and was a standard British Commonwealth training tool from the Lee Enfield to the L1A1 SLR. never seen a photo of one for the Mosin though.

 

[Captain Mainwaring]

Argh, I forgot to include something really important from the display here. The Quotations From Chariman Mao aka 'The Little Red Book'. It started life as a PLA publication in 1964 and by the height of the Cultural Revolution 1966-1976 it was required reading for every Chinese citizen and studied at school and in the work place. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quotations_from_Chairman_Mao

I think this is very much an essential piece of 'militaria' for a period collection. Certainly it would have been carried and studied by every Militiaman c.1972 and as essential as a T53.