Hungarian snipers

[Z.DavidMiller]

I was wondering if anybody had much for information on any Hungarian sniper's throughout the second world war. Did they exist? What rifle's did they use? What sort of scopes were they fitted with? I am wondering aswell as if this scope on the following link is worth anything, if the missing piece can be replaced, and as to the authenticity of the piece.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 6606347643

any information would be very helpful

also, did Hungarian infantrymen carry m95 stutzens at all or were those rifles relegated strictly to police use? And what rank was held if the color tab on an infantry uniform had only one star?

[Ronny25]

The Hungarians used versions of the russian Moisin-Nagant.

THE HUNGARIAN M/52



Hungarian M/52 sniper rifles are the rarest examples of the PU family, and, since standard Hungarian 91/30 rifles are even rarer than their scoped cousins, the author is not aware of any counterfeit examples. They are readily recognized by their higher standard of manufacture, a deeper blue/black finish of all metal, and a profusion of “02” (apparently the Eastern Bloc designation for Hungarian manufactured weaponry) stamps on just about every component of the weapon - right down to the shaft of the cleaning rod. Unlike their Russian cousins, the author has found no evidence of any number being stamped on the left side of the chamber, likewise the scope mount components – which also display finer attention to detail during manufacture - are generally unmarked, save for customary “02” stamps.



The marking on the rifle’s chamber are utilitarian – an 02 above the year of manufacture and then the serial number, which is generally two letters followed by four digits. To date the author has only encountered M/52 rifles with BC prefixes. Stocks of M/52 rifles inspected by the author in Australia have the customary 02 marking on the right side of the butt and are coated in a durable dark brown finish. There is also evidence of “blonder’ – almost yellow – timber on unissued rifles in collections in the United States. Like the Russian rifles, the Hungarian stocks have a brass-reinforced “dog collar” sling mount slots. M/52 rifles can be fitted with an all leather sling, or webbing varieties in varying colours – again the 02 marking readily denotes their origin. Hungarian scopes are identical to the Russian PU optics except for the markings – on all examples seen by the author, all markings are in white with the scope number being a “41” (apparently an indication of Hungarian-manufactured optics, also seen on military issue binoculars), above a four digit year of manufacture, and then a serial. There is also another four digit number, indicating the serial of the rifle the scope was issued with. Hungarian M/52 rifles have been encountered with Russian manufactured scopes or mounts, but whether these came together in the various countries the weapons were exported to as military aid during re-build programs, or the components were fitted to rifles without optical sights by civilian collectors can only be conjecture.

source: The russian Moisin-Nagant Page

[Z.DavidMiller]

Thank you for your information. However I was concerned more of the rifles used during the second world war, not after soviet occupation. Im sorry if I lead anyone to missunderstand me.

[taltos]

I think they uses the old 1889 mannlicher with a scope, same as in World War I.

John

[Commnet]

I was wondering if anybody had much for information on any Hungarian sniper's throughout the second world war. Did they exist? What rifle's did they use? What sort of scopes were they fitted with? I am wondering aswell as if this scope on the following link is worth anything, if the missing piece can be replaced, and as to the authenticity of the piece.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 6606347643

any information would be very helpful

also, did Hungarian infantrymen carry m95 stutzens at all or were those rifles relegated strictly to police use? And what rank was held if the color tab on an infantry uniform had only one star?

Hungary used the FEG M35 from the mid 1930s upto 1950.

[Poot]

8jdxd403uk33.jpg

The only photos of WWII-era Hungarian sniper rifles I've seen were 35m derivatives.

Pat