I’ve had this one for a couple of years but haven’t posted pictures here until now. This is a Yugoslavian M90T rifle, a derivation of the Mauser Oberndorf produced Turkish Model 1890 originally chambered in 7.65×53mm and was an improvement on the Belgian Model 1889 rifle. The accepted idea is that the Kingdom of Yugoslavia received many Turkish weapons as reparations following WWI, but it would seem equally plausible that at least some Turkish weapons were acquired as a direct result of the Serbian victory in the First Balkan War of 1912.

In any case, these Turkish rifles were cut down and re-barreled in the then standard 7.92×57mm that Yugoslavia transitioned to in the 1920s. They received a Model 1924 barrel, and front and rear sights. The finished product brought them closer in size to the standard Model 1924 rifles familiar to collectors. The obvious advantage was the standardization on 7.92 ammunition and being able to use Model 1924 barrels. They comprised just one example of the numerous types of foreign rifles that underwent conversion in the 1920s-30s, like the better known Model 1924b Mauser and Mannlicher M95M.

This rifle has a bolt number matching that of the receiver, and the stock number also appears to match, but is partially obscured. The ‘toughra’ on the receiver was scrubbed during rebuild and a new number assigned after removal of the Turkish serial number. There are no import marks.

Addendum: My apologies for the orientation of some of the photo attachments. When I loaded them, they were correctly aligned, but they seem to be formatting on their side, in some cases. Rotate as you see fit.

Pat

Click to enlarge the picture