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The arsenal marks of Mosin Nagants are found
on the barrel just forward of the top of the receiver and right behind the
rear sight. These marks indicate the arsenal the weapon was produced in and
have changed over the years. In addition to arsenal marks, you will find
other marks or stampings. These include the date, serial number and property
marks as well as various acceptance and proof marks. I have not been able to
locate an authoritative resource for identifying the acceptance and proof
marks as it appears, that individual armorers and inspectors used their own
unique stamps in many cases.
Russian
Arsenal Marks
| Weapons Manufacturing
in Finland |
The Finns produced their weapons primarily in
three arsenals. These arsenals were chiefly under the control of the Civil
Guard and Defense Department.
VKT or Valtion
Kivaaritehdas |
VKT was founded in the city of Jyvaskyla, the
capital of the province of Keski-Sumomi in central Finland. The armory was
founded in 1837.
SAKO or
Sujeluskuntien Ase-ja Konepaja |
SAKO is more formerly known as Sujeluskuntien
Ase-ja Konepaja - Weapons and Machineworks of the Civil Guard. The Civil
Guard was in effect the citizen and professional army of Finland. It's role
is not to be confused with that of our National Guard or Reserves in that it
maintained a full time standing defense force and was tied into the national
government. The Civil Guard provided over sight for the weapons production
of Finland. SAKO was founded in 1919 as a weapons refurbishment depot. In
1921 it formally became the SAKO company. An interesting note is that at the
conclusion of the second world war, treaty restrictions required that the
Civil Guard be disbanded and it's holdings liquidated. In order to save SAKO
and preserve it's history, the company was bought by the Red Cross!
Tikka was the oldest of the weapons factories
in that it was founded in 1893. However, it's first manufacturing activity
concerned the refurbishment of boat engines and the production of agricultural
machinery. It began weapons refurbishment and production in 1920.
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