Picked up a shooter today for $300. Looks like a mismatched reblued gun that bubba removed most of the stamps from.



The weird thing is that is was CRAMMED with cosmoline...like a 91/30. No one keeps their guns like that.

Second, as I tore it down, it has Cryllic on the extractor.



Is this Russian capture / rebuild?

I've never paid much attention but I didn't think the Russian guns were "sterilized" like this. The serial "559" is on the receiver under the barrel but there are NO stampings on the slide/upper at all. The sideplate has no number and the takedown latch is mismatched. The toggle is a different number, and there's no number on the striker.

Lastly, the "G word" under the safety has been milled away. Weird.

LGS

Nothing is on the front ring (at least not any more)

The toggle only has "11" stamped on it.

The serial on the front of the frame is 559 with a C below it.

I was wrong about the safety thing, but it does have a mill mark below the safety in the photo above.

90% sure I got it figured out. It's a Bulgarian gun. Everything seems to line up...the Cryllic on the extractor, the "scrubbed" markings, the serial number, and the reblue are all traits of typical Bulgarian guns after a rework.

The magazine is another story. It has a dull grey finish, an unmarked aluminum base, a cast pot metal/alumimum/zinc follower with rough casting lines, feels very "chinsy" and has different retractor button than what I'm used to seeing. Not the "waffle" type but concentric circles. I'm 90% sure it's aftermarket but a google search for aftermarket Luger mags doesn't show one that looks like mine.

If it works I'll be thrilled.

I'm bringing this back up because something interesting happened today. My girlfriend works with a Russian girl. She asked me to send her a picture of the extractor so she could read it. I told her that I was already sure what it read but I sent it to her just to humor her.

She came back and said it reads "capture". Funny things happen in translation, though. Perhaps in Russian "capture" (captured) is the word they use to describe what we would call "chambered" or something.

Put 200 trouble-free rounds through it on Saturday. What fun, one of the best bargains I've ran into.