This Mosin M44 rifle was posted by "AndrewA74" on gunboards.com, incredibly showing how he was able to locate the previous owner in Albania:
So back in December, I went to a gunshow and found this 1946 dated non-refurb M44 for pretty cheap. She was (and still is) greased up from import. A recent TGI Import from Albania, I chose this one because it had the name carved into the side, as well as matching numbers (except for the bolt). When I got her home, I began wondering about the name, so I decided to do a little bit of research. After stumbling into the Albanian version of White Pages, I was able to locate this individual, as well as her son. So, with a little help from some folks (personal acquaintances and a translator from Reddit) I was able to get a letter translated and sent to Albania. In the letter I told them that I found the rifle, asked to confirm that it was the individual, circumstances around the rifle, etc. That was two weeks ago. Yesterday, I found a reply sitting in my email inbox. After getting it translated, here's what it said:
"Hello Andrew,
I am Kadife I Hurdha, The rifle you have bought and have my name written on, I used it during 1980-1990. During this period I lived in a village. During that period Albania was a communist country and according to the laws of that time 7 days/year students did military preparations, which for women was over the age of 18. That type of "students military preparation" was called the voluntary fighting units. In the center of the village we had weapons depot, where each person had a military weapon, and those were the same model as the gun you bought. Some people wrote the name in the rifles for an easier identification, although this was not allowed. In 1997 as a result of the rebellion of the people from losing their money in pyramid, Ponzi schemes, the arms depots were broken and all people grabbed any type of military equipment they found, including teenagers. The situation became chaotic. A large part of the weapons began to be sold outside the country. Thus began the arms smuggling in Albania. A few months later the state began to recover and people started to hand over their weapons. For further information you can write again. Thank you.
I wish you health and luck with your studies.
Kadife Hurdha"
http://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?389604-Albanian-Import-Russian-M44-with-a-Story
So back in December, I went to a gunshow and found this 1946 dated non-refurb M44 for pretty cheap. She was (and still is) greased up from import. A recent TGI Import from Albania, I chose this one because it had the name carved into the side, as well as matching numbers (except for the bolt). When I got her home, I began wondering about the name, so I decided to do a little bit of research. After stumbling into the Albanian version of White Pages, I was able to locate this individual, as well as her son. So, with a little help from some folks (personal acquaintances and a translator from Reddit) I was able to get a letter translated and sent to Albania. In the letter I told them that I found the rifle, asked to confirm that it was the individual, circumstances around the rifle, etc. That was two weeks ago. Yesterday, I found a reply sitting in my email inbox. After getting it translated, here's what it said:
"Hello Andrew,
I am Kadife I Hurdha, The rifle you have bought and have my name written on, I used it during 1980-1990. During this period I lived in a village. During that period Albania was a communist country and according to the laws of that time 7 days/year students did military preparations, which for women was over the age of 18. That type of "students military preparation" was called the voluntary fighting units. In the center of the village we had weapons depot, where each person had a military weapon, and those were the same model as the gun you bought. Some people wrote the name in the rifles for an easier identification, although this was not allowed. In 1997 as a result of the rebellion of the people from losing their money in pyramid, Ponzi schemes, the arms depots were broken and all people grabbed any type of military equipment they found, including teenagers. The situation became chaotic. A large part of the weapons began to be sold outside the country. Thus began the arms smuggling in Albania. A few months later the state began to recover and people started to hand over their weapons. For further information you can write again. Thank you.
I wish you health and luck with your studies.
Kadife Hurdha"
http://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?389604-Albanian-Import-Russian-M44-with-a-Story