Stock Markings From

Soviet/Finnish Used Arms

It is always interesting to see little personal details on the surplus rifles that many of us collect.  Whether it be a name, some carved design, a unit marking, or even a simple doodle these additions to a rifle, sling, or stock truly add a touch from the past in today's world.  While one can encounter these markings on a wide range of rifles, the practice of stock carving seems to be more common on Finnish used arms than others.  As to the why of this that is very hard to answer.  One could point to the long years of 1941-44 when many Finns in service were on trench lines in a defensive role against the Soviet Union.  Time spent in a trench leads to the mind wandering a bit and this "trench art" is much like that encountered from WW1.  Too be honest the statement above is nothing more than a guess on my part but there well be some truth behind it.

In this section I have posted a number of photos sent in by site users of Soviet and Finnish used arms that have such carvings.  Maybe with study we will spot some details and see if there are any pattern to these carvings.  Even if we find no patterns these examples should be interesting to view and I am sure everyone will enjoy them.  Thanks to the site users that donated their time and energy to this section.  It would never work without them. - Tuco Of Mosin-Nagant Dot Net

On To The Photos