This is a Mosin-Nagant M91 that was used by Serbia in WWI. By 1916/7 Serbia was totally occupied, and Serbian troops were mainly deployed on the Salonika front, in northern Greece. The Serbians had ordered some Mosin M91 rifles from Russia before WWI, and also received some as aid during the war; the French also heavily resupplied the Serbians, in addition to the Romanians. How this rifle got to Romania is a mystery, but in 1926 Romania had some 215,000 Mosin M91 rifles leftover from WWI. In addition, a large group of Mosins were kept in Romania by the Eastern Bloc, and this may have been from that group. Yugoslavia however was not a strong adherent to the Eastern Bloc, and would not have likely given Romania arms for free.
This site has a video showing M91 rifles used by Romanian troops on the Eastern Front in WWII:
http://www.criticalpast.com/video/65675077804_Marshal-Ion-Antonescu_General-Erich-von-Manstein_Romanian-troops_reviewing-troops
This rifle is commonly referred to as a "Balkans M91" by Mosin collectors. I theorize that most, if not all, of the "Balkans M91" rifles were imported from Romania, and the features they exhibit were done during the Cold War. The main identifying feature is the scrubbed/peened Tsarist eagles and barrel markings. Most Romanian Mauser VZ24's have scrubbed King Carol II crests, and some German Mauser K98k's have peened markings, both likely coming from Romania. As far as nearby countries, Mosin M91's observed in Bulgaria by certain collectors bore intact crests, and thus show that defacing the crest was not a Bulgarian activity.
NOTE: I formerly believed the "C" on the right side of the barrel showed this rifle was given to Serbia by Russia in the WWI timeframe. However, the truth is more hazy. A number of other Mosin M91's, with little apparent connection to Serbia, have the "C." Some other ones marked do show Romanian use, with "INSTRUCTIE" or other Romanian features. In addition the "C" and "crowned C" was a proof mark by a certain Stefanovich, found on Serbian Mausers, according to the book Serbian and Yugoslav Mausers by Bogdanovic. The site mosinnagant.net shows some examples of an identical looking "C" on Serbian bayonets. This illustrates the fact there are few concrete truths when it comes to some markings.
Some other typical "Balkans" features on this rifle include: a wedge under the rear sight, barrel band shims, a gearwheel mark on the left buttstock, stamped re-numbered parts, a counter-bored barrel, lots of cosmoline, and Latin letters on the stock and after the barrel serial number. The bolt of this rifle has post-1928 marked parts - so whoever rebuilt it had access to Soviet parts from after WWII, which again suggests Romania. The rifle has a Century Arms import marking on the barrel, and was imported in the 1990's or 2000's.
This site has a video showing M91 rifles used by Romanian troops on the Eastern Front in WWII:
http://www.criticalpast.com/video/65675077804_Marshal-Ion-Antonescu_General-Erich-von-Manstein_Romanian-troops_reviewing-troops
This rifle is commonly referred to as a "Balkans M91" by Mosin collectors. I theorize that most, if not all, of the "Balkans M91" rifles were imported from Romania, and the features they exhibit were done during the Cold War. The main identifying feature is the scrubbed/peened Tsarist eagles and barrel markings. Most Romanian Mauser VZ24's have scrubbed King Carol II crests, and some German Mauser K98k's have peened markings, both likely coming from Romania. As far as nearby countries, Mosin M91's observed in Bulgaria by certain collectors bore intact crests, and thus show that defacing the crest was not a Bulgarian activity.
NOTE: I formerly believed the "C" on the right side of the barrel showed this rifle was given to Serbia by Russia in the WWI timeframe. However, the truth is more hazy. A number of other Mosin M91's, with little apparent connection to Serbia, have the "C." Some other ones marked do show Romanian use, with "INSTRUCTIE" or other Romanian features. In addition the "C" and "crowned C" was a proof mark by a certain Stefanovich, found on Serbian Mausers, according to the book Serbian and Yugoslav Mausers by Bogdanovic. The site mosinnagant.net shows some examples of an identical looking "C" on Serbian bayonets. This illustrates the fact there are few concrete truths when it comes to some markings.
Some other typical "Balkans" features on this rifle include: a wedge under the rear sight, barrel band shims, a gearwheel mark on the left buttstock, stamped re-numbered parts, a counter-bored barrel, lots of cosmoline, and Latin letters on the stock and after the barrel serial number. The bolt of this rifle has post-1928 marked parts - so whoever rebuilt it had access to Soviet parts from after WWII, which again suggests Romania. The rifle has a Century Arms import marking on the barrel, and was imported in the 1990's or 2000's.