This particular carbine ammo pouch is very unique, not only for it's near perfect condition, but for the military unit it was issued to.
Before we dive further into the history and details of this pouch, here is a link to one of my blog pages about my own Swedish Mauser Model 94/14 Carbine.
http://sharky-fourbees.blogspot.com/2011/12/swedish-mauser-carbine-m94-14-model.html
This pouch is marked with a Single Crown stamp, and Single Crown and G.I.K. stamp on the front flap. The single crown stamp indicates that it was issued prior to 1942, when Sweden switched to the use of the 3 Crowns stamps, and the Single Crown G.I.K. stamp indicates that the pouch was issued to the Göta Ingenjörkår, or Gotland Engineer Corps, I.2.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6taland_Engineer_Regiment
The I.2 Gotland Engineer Corps traces it's original history back to the 18th century. In 1893 the unit was designated as a battalion. In 1902 it was designated as the Gotland Engineer Corps. It remained a Corps until 1963 when it was designated as a Regiment. This dates my pouch in the 1902 time frame.
The Single Crown, and Single Crown and G.I.K. stamps indicate that this pouch was one of the very early issued pouches, probably when the carbines were first issued to the unit. It is a perfect match for my Swedish M94/14 Carbine!
These Swedish carbine ammo pouches were issued primarily to Engineers and Mounted Cavalry units. They are a very ingenious design, and as far as I know, unique only to the Swedish military. The pouches are constructed from heavy leather, brass, and wood, and are fairly complex, as you will see from the photos in the album. I have examined many different ammo pouches, from many nationalities, and for many different firearms, and none compare to the beauty, function, and construction of these little Swedish Carbine Ammo Pouches!
One of the most unique features of the pouches is the spring-loaded ammo retaining tabs and metal clip separating rod.
The pouch is designed to hold four stripper clips of ammo. A block of wood separates the two sides and a metal rod holds each stripper clip in place when it's neighboring clip is removed. As you can imagine, these pouches would be perfect for a mounted soldier reloading his carbine from horseback.
In fact, the Swedish Royal Mounted Palace Guards still cary the M94/14 Carbine with a white leather version of this ammo pouch.
If you have one of the Swedish Carbines, and don't already have one of these pouches, then you need to start looking for one! They are not extremely rare (yet), but they are definitely not plentiful. You will see these pouches pop up sporadically for sale (usually on eBay) when you start your hunt. However, finding one as well marked and in this condition, is not common. It was a real celebration when I finally picked up this perfect little gem!
With all of that said, here is the album of this beautiful Swedish M94 Carbine Ammo Pouch
4 comments:
I have a similar pouch with I.7 marking. What does it mean? https://forum.cartridgecollectors.org/t/what-is-this-item/29906
The I.7 is the unit number, or Swedish Infantry Regiment 7. It is a very odd stamping though. They are usually very clear, solid numbers and letters. The pouches also, usually, have a single crown stamp, or the 3-crown stamps. Yours is missing this, so the age can not be determined as pre-WW2, WW2, or post war.
Your pouch is stamped I.7, so it was used by an infantry unit, probably a smaller unit within the regiment that warranted a shorter carbine rifle. A number of regiments used the the number I.7 through the years. You can look them up here:
http://www.hhogman.se/regementen_forbandsnr.htm
Hi Sharky.
I own a very similar item – a Swedish Army Mauser m/10 Leather Bandolier. It has 2 very similar stamps to your Mauser Carbine Ammo Pouch above that read A.I.F and J.8. with the same crown motifs above.
I have sent photos of the markings to a Swedish amateur historian (Hans Hogman) and the Swedish Army Museum to ask what these marks mean. Both have never seen them before. Apparently they don’t match any Swedish acronyms.
I have seen one other exactly the same AIF online – and several other variations (GIK, SUF, HV & A4 – all with the same crown above).
An Australian military collector told me it wasn’t anything to do with the Australian Imperial Force – but I haven’t ruled it out yet.
Have you ever seen them during your research?
ArtworkArmy,
I haven't seen any of the Swedish ammo pouches with those markings. Odd markings may be from one of the many shooting clubs that were popular in Sweden. They were sponsored by the government, and military, and used Swedish mausers, etc. Sometimes you can find the mausers with stock discs that have shooting club identification info stamped into them, as opposed to the normal military unit numbers. There may be a chance that is what you have.
You can read about them over on Wikipedia to learn more.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frivilliga_Skytter%C3%B6relsen
There are a number of the clubs, and they may be able to help you. Most of the websites are in Swedish, but English is pretty commonly understood if you email them. Try a Google search using "Frivilliga Skytterörelsen"
Another place to check (and contact) is over at:
http://www.gotavapen.se/index_english.htm
Good luck on your search and let me know if you discover anything.
Sharky
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