Cartouche ??

[Zombie Stalker]

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Usually in reference to SKS's for sale on the EE - and in particular,the un-refurbished ones - I frequently see the description " nice cartouche " or "strong cartouche" markings.
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What is cartouche ?

Wiki and dictionary.com were not helpful at all .

 

[Hunt&Hook]

A cartouche is letters, symbols, etc impressed into the stock. Theu denote manufacturer, inspector, rebuilds and a lot of other things.