The Hungarian PU scope for the 52.M sniper rifle
Hungary started a production of Mosin Nagant rifles postwar, in the ’50s, and between the models, mainly M91/30 rifles (renamed as “48.M infantry rifle”) and M44 carbines (renamed as “48.M infantry carbine”), there was also a batch of high quality copie of the M91/30 PU sniper rifle, known as the 52.M model (even if it is unclear if this was an official designation). Hungary produced around 50.700 48.M rifles and 160.000 48.M carbines. About the 52.M sniper rifles, it is highly likely that a small batch of 6000 rifles have been assembled in the period between 1952 and 1954.
The 52.M sniper rifle is a rare version between the Mosin sniper variants and is well known for the high quality of the production, the low number produced and the employment in many conflicts, from Middle East to Vietnam. It seems that all the existing examples have a specific prefix before the serial number: “BC”. This distinctive feature will prevent you to buy a fake 52.M made of a 48.M rifle and a common Russian PU scope. In the picture above we have the correct scope for these rifles: a Hungarian made PU scope.
A Cold War sniper rifle
52.M Sniper rifles saw an estensive usage in different Cold War era conflicts, as i mentioned before, in particular during the Vietnam War. The rifles were equipped with Hungarian produced PU scopes and mounts. The scope i am presenting to you is complete and has also a Hungarian mount. The scope’s serial number is matching the 52.M sniper rifle that is part of my collection.
As you can see in the above picture, all the Hungarian PUs have specific markings:
- 41 is the factory code (Magyar Optikai Muvek)
- 1952 the year of production
- 512615 is the serial of the scope
- 0238 are the last four digits of the serial number of the rifle that will mount the scope
The design is basically reflecting a Russian PU scope model 42 for the M91/30 rifle. The Hungarian scopes have been produced starting from 1952.
In the above picture we can see again the serial of the scope starting with a “51”. The first two digits are usually a code with the other four representing properly the serial of the scope. The first scopes produced in 1952 have a serial starting with 51, like mine, while others produced later have a 52.
The Hungarian factories produced mounts and bases
The Hungarians produced everything, including mounts and bases. In this case the mount is marked with an “18 in circle” that is a known Hungarian marking. This is not so common, as usually those parts are marked with the “02” code, that was the common mark used by the Budapest Arsenal reflecting the country code of Hungary (in the Warsaw Pact – However i did not find any official reference to this country code designation).
Machining of the mount is different compared to the Russian mounts and in the picture below we can find also some markings on the mount, like a “4 in circle” and a “16 in a rectangular box”. Meanings are unknown.
The Viet-Cong sniper rifle
A good number of Hungarian PU scoped 52.M sniper rifles served with the North-Vietnamese Army (NVA) and the Viet-Cong. Several have been captured and bring back to the United States.
A frontal view of the scope is depicted above while under you can find a rear view.
No other markings are visibile on the front or the rear part of the mount.
A number is stamped under the scope rear part: 321135. The meaning is unknown at the time of writing.
The turrets are working properly and the scope is fully functional. A full presentation of the 52.M rifle is coming and you will find it in the Nations and Models section soon.
A good view of the reticle. I have still to finish to clean up the lens but no damages are present, just dust…or sand..who knows?
