Russian "Peter the Great" M91's.

[Calfed]

I was following a thread about a Westinghouse M91 on another thread when the subject of Russian "unFinned" M91's came up, with the implication that they were not all that common. It made me recalled that I have a couple of "unFinned" M91's that I believe are referred to as "Peter the Great" M91's, although I'm not sure why.

I dug them out of the safe this afternoon to take a closer look and a few pictures.

One is dated 1914 and the other 1915.




I found that the serial number is stamped on the side of the receiver and the barrel shank.





Stocks look solid, bores are decent, a few, but not many matching parts, not an "SA" anywhere to be found.

I need to get these out and shoot them.

[mhb]

as 'Peter the Great' M91s because, from 1912 to 1918, the Tula factory was named ' Tula Emperor Peter the Great Ordnance Factory' and that is what is marked (in Russian) on the receivers.

Emperor PeterI - 'Peter the Great' founded the Tula manufactory in 1712, so the re-naming of the factory was probably done in honor of its 200th anniversary.

Other M91s produced at Tula (before the Soviet era) are marked with the original name - 'Imperial Tula Ordnance Factory'.

mhb - Mike

[Calfed]

Thanks, Mike

[wsfbernie]

I, also, have one. I got it to go along with my Westinghouse. I felt these rifles were real
history, and, as you, have been to many places. The Westinghouse is "Finned", which only
adds to the history, when studied. The Tula piece is not "Finned", but is well used. Both have
been counterbored, a common practice there. Actually, they are very functional and
attractive pieces. I obtained both the old style and WWII style of bayonets for them.
My Westinghouse has a "force" matched bolt and the Tula has a mismatched bolt. Didn't seem
to matter much, as long as the head space was OK and the firing pin adjustment was made.
Quality is actually quite good, although machining on the hidden areas was somewhat coarse.
There are some good sites dedicated to this old Czarist stuff and if you're interested I'll look them up.

[Calfed]

Thanks, 'bernie

I've also got a "Finned" Westinghouse M91 in decent shape. It came with an interesting Finnish arsenal tag

[Ken in Iowa]

Your PTG Tulas probably came from the Balkans. Many of these had the Russian Imperial Eagles removed or defaced like yours.
The Finn has Civil Guard numbers. The S 18724 denotes assignment to the particular unit.

[Calfed]

Are CG numbers on an M91 common?

[Ken in Iowa]

Are CG numbers on an M91 common?

I wouldn't call them common, but certainly not uncommon either. Perhaps one in 10 or 20 are CG marked.

Here is a listing of CG districts and rifle number assignments. http://forums.gunboards.com/showthre...tings-and-maps

Yours is from Salo in SW Finland, CG district 7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salo,_Finland

[Calfed]

Thanks, Ken