When Russia defaulted on the M91 contracts with Remington and New England
Westinghouse due to the Russian Revolutions of 1917 the United States government purchased
the remaining rifles to help keep the firms solvent. During the Allied Intervention in the Russian Civil War from 1918 to 1920 the
United States sent a number of these rifles to Vladivostok, Siberia to arm the Czechoslovak
Legions. Subsequently, the Japanese, who had the largest numbers of troops in
the area, absconded with many of them. These were frequently converted to single
shot and used as training rifles. This example is a 1918 Remington which has not
been heavily modified and in fact retains many matching parts, albeit matching in an
unusual manner. The serial number on the barrel is 47264, but the numbers on the
bolt body and cocking knob are 46274, with the 7 overstamped with a 6. The most
likely explanation is that the 6 and 7 were mixed up during the stamping but only half the
mistake was realised and the 7 was corrected to a 6, but the 6 was not corrected to a 7.
Considering the late production and the fact that the contract had already been
defaulted on it is not surprising that sloppiness such as this was tolerated. While
faint, the buttplate is numbered correctly and matches.