M21 barrel stamp?

[padams8888]

Taking pictures of this early M21 and found this stamp on the bottom area of the barrel lug. Anybody see a stamp like this before? Is it just a double stamp?

[running-man]

It was either meant to be a std. "Y" a Russian У or it's a pretty horrible partial stamp of a 9.  I'd guess the former as I've seen many with a letter prefix (click on images to enlarge):

Possible 9 or a У on a '49 Tula:


I on a very very low ghost:


E on a 70k Chinese ghost:


A on a 147k Chinese ghost:


Large C on a 180k Chinese ghost:


Same Y/9/У character as yours on a 90 prefixed scrubbed gun (clearly different than the 9 though & note the short lug):


And finally M21 No 949074 with the same lug prefix, but number 45 instead of 55 like yours.


That last one is pretty defined, it's not a bad/partial stamp, it's supposed to look like that.  Maybe a stylized Y and not necessarily tied to the Russian У at all?

[padams8888]

Thanks RM....That's pretty interesting stuff right there! More of the existing mystery.....

[Loose}{Cannon]

Im sure the Chinese were using the Russian barrels for some time.