"M O" marked Mosin Nagants

buffdog

buffdog

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1934 dated with second number (/51), Tula made, hex receiver, MO marked, East German (DDR) Triangle one, Mosin Nagant 91/30 rifle
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Information below gathered on the Internet.

"MO is known to be the Russian abbreviation for "Ministerstvo Oborony", or Ministry of Defense, established on March 15th, 1953. These rifles usually had a "slash" and a second (or even third) two digit number after the date. The numbers are thought to represent dates but the known dates are between 1942 and 1953 when there was no MO except for the last nine and a half months of 1953.

Based on information from sources in the former Soviet Union the MO marked firearms were used by the Defense Ministry Militarized Security force, or "Voenizirovannaya Ohrana MO", abbreviated VOHR MO. Those are not per se troops, but security guards employed by the MO. They wore military uniforms with special insignia of position (not rank insignia) and were separate from the army. These units were used to guard various MO facilities.

It is possible that the date markings were placed on the firearms at the time of transfer from the army proper to the security force of some forerunner of the MO. These marks may also be unrelated to the MO mark. The MO mark itself is thought to have been placed on the firearms after March 15th, 1953, either at the time of transfer from regular army stocks or to mark all VOHR firearms. The practice of applying the MO mark probably ended before 1959 as few M1891/59 Mosins are known to have the MO mark. "
 
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That blue helmet on the picture has big MO as well as Polish eagle-that use to be part of uniform of Polish "Milicja Obywatelska".

I have seen it used on official parades but chances are it was used for some other purposes.

Polish MO often (not always) had equipment marked with MO in the rhombus-it can be found on belts,uniforms,office equipment and furniture etc.

I haven't seen MO firearms marked the same way but who knows.
 
Russian firearms with MO not really mean Ministry of Defence as this organization was established in 1953. Actually no one knows what these marks mean. MO in russian may mean Modernizerovannoe Oryzhie ie Modernized Weapon. Thus the date of modernization.
Here is one of mine toks with markings.
 
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gewehr76 said:
Russian firearms with MO not really mean Ministry of Defence as this organization was established in 1953. Actually no one knows what these marks mean. MO in russian may mean Modernizerovannoe Oryzhie ie Modernized Weapon. Thus the date of modernization.
Here is one of mine toks with markings.
Click to expand...

Interesting post. I "googled" the markings on the Internet before I started the Thread, and there was no mention or information on this aspect. That does seem possible as the slash date is near the manufacture date so maybe it might be similar to the British FTR meanings. It has been found on other types of Russian firearms, as shown by your Tokarev.
 
buffdog said:
Interesting post. I "googled" the markings on the Internet before I started the Thread, and there was no mention or information on this aspect. That does seem possible as the slash date is near the manufacture date so maybe it might be similar to the British FTR meanings. It has been found on other types of Russian firearms, as shown by your Tokarev.
Click to expand...

Most likely its similar to FTR, but as I said no one even on Russian firearms forums can identify or explain with any certainty what these two letters mean. Many firearms like mosins, 1895 revolvers and TTs were found with double or triple dates and if Ministry of Defence accepted the firearm once lets say 1951, why would they mark them again with later date. Most likely its the refurbishment year that was stamped and only at the refurbishment depot. Which depot? what factory? Where? no one knows for certain.
 
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