Serbian 1908 Carbine - Light, Handy, and Chambered for 7x57
Forgotten Weapons
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9m 7s
The DWM order placed in 1899 had not provided Serbia with as many rifles as it had wanted, but it would take until 1906 for the Kingdom to arrange another loan to purchase additional arms. This would come from France, and it allowed Serbia to order 30,000 rifles, 10,000 carbines, and 50,000 barrels (which they would use to convert their old 1880 rifles to 7x57) from Steyr in 1908. Delivery was made in full in 1909,plus an additional 2,530 rifles and carbines were shipped in 1910 and 1911 - presumably a contract overrun Steyr offered to the Serbs at a good price.
The rifles were basically identical to the previous DWM 1899 guns, with an improved rear sight designed by one Filip Petrovic and a gas relief hole milled in the underside of the bolt body. The carbines were the first such arms that Serbia had bought, but aside from the shorter barrel (17.6 inch / 448mm) and the bent bolt handle, they were mechanically identical to the 99/07 rifles.
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