Military stock ID
Looks like some kind of Mauser to me. Which one? Stock stamp looks like an hourglass inside a circle. 
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Found it. Siamese Mauser! 0 -
That butt plate trap door gives it away. Sure looks like a Siamese Type 46 Mauser to me. Although Japanese type 30 rifles are similar. Does the arsenal marking look like this:
According to what I've found, the stocks on the weapons were of a fat-bellied design as found on the Japanese Type 30, and some are found with Japanese style two piece stocks. In these the bottom of the butt was a separate piece of wood that was dovetailed and glued into the upper part. (It looks like your example does that). The really unique feature not found on any other Mauser was the butt-plate which had a sliding cover plate that held a brass two piece rotating front sight/muzzle cover in the stock when not being used. It is a common misconception that this held an oiler or cleaning equipment.
The rifles were to be manufactured at the Royal Siamese Arsenal in Bangkok. But Siam did not have the facilities to manufacture the barreled receivers, so they placed two orders for two batches of 20,000 rifles and one order for 10,000 carbines with Japan. The Imperial Japanese Army Arsenal (Tokyo Artillery Arsenal) in the Koishikawa District of Tokyo manufactured the barreled receivers, with the remainder of the parts to be manufactured in Siam where final assembly took place.
It is quite possible that the Japanese furnished all the barreled actions and they were completed by the Siamese as planned. According to the Thai Government the completed weapons were assembled in Siam, but it is believed that perhaps the first 20,000 (or possibly all) were completely assembled in Japan and the rest were assembled in Siam. The majority are found with one piece stocks made of either Philippine mahogany or teak. It is believed that these were replacement stocks made by the National Armory in Bangkok at a later date. But some sources say that the first 20,000 rifles were made in Japan without wrist tangs, and had two-piece stocks with the typical Japanese wood. Then the Siamese received the second batch of 20,000 barreled actions and completed them with single-piece stocks made from native Siamese woods of teak or Philippine mahogany. Or it could simply be that all of the weapons were supplied complete and that by the time they were declared surplus most stocks had been replaced by the Siamese, as Siamese labor was cheap and native forestry products were readily available. The final theory is that all Type 46 rifles were made in Japan. Japanese documents from the archives in Japan that relate to these contracts make no mention of anything but complete weapons. The weapons were made from 1903 until production ceased in 1908. They were made of quality materials and showed signs of first-class workmanship.
You might find the following link helpful in discovering more about your rifle stock's markings.
http://www.castle-thunder.com/datasheets/siamds.pdf
edit for Mike Whiskey below: I think so. I acquired mine a year ago and found that site while digging for more information. At that time, he replied that he was working on a revision of his 1987 booklet and that every report on the subject was appreciated. Mine is of the original 8x50R mm sort. If you have any of these, they MIGHT be valuable to collectors if unmodified.0 -
thanks #1b, that's more than I've know about these since sarco sold them 3/$75 shipped. I've converted a bunch of them to .45/70's and sutch. Is the survey still on going? I still have 2 unmolested ones. 0 -
YES!!! That is the mark on my stock. The buttstock is solid. So is it Chinese or Japanese? 0 -
I believe that it is Siamese, although Japan is also a good possibility. According to F.C. Allen, that stock marking labels it as a Type A stock: http://www.castle-thunder.com/datasheets/siamds.pdf page 2.
Edit reply to question below: Trap55 is correct. There is no recoil block.0 -
Question. This stock does not have a metal recoil block in the receiver area like most other milsurp rifles do. Is it supposed to have one? 0 -
quote:Originally posted by Fatstrat
Question. This stock does not have a metal recoil block in the receiver area like most other milsurp rifles do. Is it supposed to have one?
Nope.0
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