NorthernBob,

Thank you for the reply. The subject stamp is sure a puzzlement and your observation of it looking like a Russian quality control mark really mixes it up. I need to get off my tail and send a picture of the mark (highlighted with a white lacquer stick) off to the German Gun Collectors Association so they can list it in their "History Detectives" section of their journal "Der Waffenschmied", perhaps getting the attention of someone with some definitive info. If such a thing happens I will post whatever the conclusion is for those who are interested.

Thanks again,

Buchseman (username changed recently for consistency across forums)