Thanks for the welcome.
Dan,
Yes, the Mosin Nagant 1891 (the one on the blue background in my pics) could very well have been used in all those conflicts. Mine are WWI era rifles, one is US made by Westinghouse in 1917 and one if a Russian one made in 1916. As for bayonets, I don't have an 1891 bayonet to mount on my rifles, but I have an 1891/30 bayonet and several 1891/30 rifles if that would help. I will check my references to make sure it is not the same bayonet, though I suspect it is. There is not much difference between these two rifles, but around the front sight there is, so the bayonets may be different.
The Carcano in question was used any time after 1938, hence the 38 in the name. My rifles are actually German reworks, tooled for 8mm instead of the standard 6.5 Italian round. These were used in North Africa by locals the Germans were attempting to use as auxiliary forces, but the rifles did most of their service post war with Egypt and Algerians. Tons of 8mm ammo stayed in north Africa, it sort of became a standard in Egypt as long as the large battle rifle round was in vogue.
As for naming rifles, especially Russian and European rifles, the date is usually incorporated into the designation. For Mosin Nagant rifles, the series would start with the original Mosin Nagant 1891 rifle, usually written Mosin Nagant M91 ("M" for model). This is kind of a world standard. The second variant, begun in 1930, was an upgrade of existing M91s and new rifles were built to the new spec. These would be called M91/30, and are the long rifles seen in "Enemy at the Gates" and the like. Several reference books like the Concord book on Stalingrad incorrectly label Mosin Nagants fom time to time. One photo comes to mind, it states "Mosin Nagant 1891/30 but the rifle isn't. While the 91/30 was used a lot, the ones in the pictures are carbine length Mosin Nagant 1938s, and one guy even has a short Mauser. Sure, not a big deal, but just shows even references can be inaccurate. Same book labels the SVT-40 as an "automatic rifle", but it isn't, its a semiautomatic rifle, thus the "S" in "SVT". The rare and not widely used automatic variant was called an "AVT-40", "A" being the Russian equivalent of "Abtomat".
I'll go see if I can snap some bayonet pics if the 91/30 bayo is the same as the 91 bayo.
Edited to add: took some pics, link is here:
Mosin Nagant detail pics and article
About 1891 bayonets, they will fit on all Mosin Nagant variants except the 91/30, but a 91/30 bayonet will fit on an 1891. Go figure. All I have is an 91/30 bayonet so I put it on one of my 91/30s for the pics. Compared to a basic 1891 bayo, it differes only in the locking mechanism, the older 1891 doesn't have a plunger button, instead it has a steel ring that locks the bayonet in place.
Best regards,
