Was Mosin Nagant rifle used by Romanians?

[MAB38]

Was the Mosin Nagant rifle ever used by the Roamanian army in the two world wars?
I'm asking this because in a museum in Pitesti there is a large wall map with the heading " Marea Unire 1 Decembrie 1918" with a rifle at each side, one is a Mauser, the other is a Mosin Nagant.
I'm sending the photo, the rifle at the right is a Mosin Nagant, I had a good look at it in the museum.


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[MAB38]

Here's an enlargment of the Mosin Nagant in the Pitesti museum.

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[dragos]

Yes. Check the topic Romanian snipers:
http://www.worldwar2.ro/forum/index.php?showtopic=1356

[serban]

Check out this photo as well. Ignore the caption below it stating, "Rifle squad armed with ZB-24 rifles" (that is clearly wrong). The rifles in use are Mosins.


http://www.worldwar2.ro/foto/?id=218&area=...est&language=en

Does anyone know if this is a combat photo, or is taken during training?

[MAB38]

I read the section on snipers, so this could be one of those INSTRUCTIE Nagants.
I think the soldiers shooting with Nagants in the photo are training or maybe posing for the photographer, the man that took the photo is clearly standing, not a healthy thing to do in a combat situation where everybody else is crouching low!
Also nobody is wearing a helmet, and as far as I've seen from other photos of Romanian soldiers, they usually use their helmets in combat.
The squad commander seems to be using a Steyr pistol, it looks a bit too big to be a Beretta 34.
Very interesting photo!

[Ruy Aballe]

It seems the same to me too. Great pistol, the Steyr Hahn 1912! It is a boxy looking affair, but it is a superbly built weapon and a good shooter too if you're lucky enough to find an example with properly cared rifling. The charger clips are hard to come by, though.
I have three questions concerning the pistols of this type used by the Romanian Army:

1. Does anyone knows if some of them were rechambered to take the 9mm Parabellum ammo instead of the original 9mm Steyr? The Germans have done that with most ex-Austrian guns in their inventory.
2. Last but not the least, I would like to know if they had specific Romanian markings, like for instance the National Crest or any other that may help the collector to ID a particular 1912 as a Romanian Army gun.
3. Is there a specifically made Romanian holster, different from the Austro-Hungarian model (please see photo below) or the German designed one, used after the Anschluss?

I never handled or saw (in the flesh) any original Austro-Hungarian Steyr 1912, but I had the oportunity of inspecting a beautifully mint Chilean contract gun, which has national crest and propietary markings in Spanish ("Ejército de Chile"). The only difference in the Chilean guns is the model designation (reflecting the year in which it was adopted - "Modelo 1911") and the fixed front sight.
Reagrads,

Ruy

This post has been edited by Ruy Aballe on November 17, 2004 04:53 pm

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[dragos]

Serban, you are right. The rifles are Mosin-Nagant model 1891/30. Thank you for pointing out the error and the caption has been corrected.

About the pistol, from a closer look my guess it's a Luger.

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[Dénes]

Note the soldier partially obscured by the man with the pistol is firing a submachine gun.

Col. Dénes

[C-2]

Yes ,it's a P-08 Luger.

[Ruy Aballe]

No doubt, it is a P. 08.

[Ruy Aballe]

I know this is a bit off-topic, regarding the fact that the original subject matter dealt with in the thread was the Romanian use of the Mosin rifle, but could someone please answer my questions on the Steyr 1912 pistols used by the Romanian Army? I am most interested in any information regarding those interesting handguns. Mulţumesc!

Ruy

[Victor]

Generally the Steyr pistol was the sidearm of the soldier who fired the ZB 30 LMG, but it was also used by others, such as tankers.

[Ruy Aballe]

Thanks Victor. So, apparently it was relegated as a secondary sidearm when the Beretta M.1934 came into service.
To me, it makes sense that those 1912's might have been rechambered to take the 9mm Parabellum cartridge, instead of keeping the original chambering (9mm Steyr). Is there any indication of that?

Ruy