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Anyone who owns an AK47, SKS, or Mosin Nagant is familiar with any number of these bottles. The focus here is Communist and former Communist countries. Generally speaking, each bottle design can be found with any model rifle, though it is possible that a given bottle was intended for a particular rifle. Most countries have more than one bottle type, but China has a truly astounding number of designs and color variations. The next most prolific country is Russia. The reason for China's variety is a mystery to me, but if anyone can shed light on this please contact me.

Some of the bottles are of the two spout design - one side containing oil and the other some type of solvent. Most are of the single spout design, either metal or plastic, plain or embossed, and probably contained only oil, though it is possible some contained bore solvent, which might partly explain the array of colors.

I am uncertain as to the country of origin of many of the bottles, and have placed them in the country they seem most likely to have originated from. If you know, or even think, a particular bottle has been misplaced, please contact me with that information. It's simply impossible for me to do this alone and I need your help.

Under some of the bottles you will see a country name in BLUE. That indicates another opinion as to the bottle's origin, but an unconfirmed one. No doubt there will be a bottle or two that will remain a mystery, but it is my hope that over time we will be able to identify most of them.

NOTE: Not all of the bottles shown here are mine (those that are mine have an asterisk * after the number. Many have been borrowed from this thread on the AK Forum: http://www.theakforum.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=46944 . I would like permission to keep them on this site. If you see one of your images here, and would be willing to give me permission to use it, please let me know how you would like to be credited. If you would prefer it removed, just let me know. If you have any bottles that I do not, and would be interested in selling or trading them, please contact me. Eventually I will have a section for my duplicates for trade. I have also borrowed some images from old troop at 762x39.net. I have tried to reach him for permission but the E-mail address listed is no longer valid. If anyone has a current address for Old Troop would you please pass it along to me?
jon@liberatorcrew.com
BULGARIA
1*                                                  2*                                                               3*                                                            4*                                                 5*
CHINA
1*                                                           2*                                                                   3*                                                                     4*                                                               5*
  6                                                            7*                                                                           8*                                                9*                                        10*                                            11*
 12*                                                    13*                                                     14*                                                          15                                                  16
 17                                                       18*                                                       19                                                     20*                                                      21*
small star
large star

22*                                                      23                                                   24*                                                              25*

26*                                                      27*                                                      28*                                                   29
  side 1                      32*                  side 2                                                    33*                                                       34*    

Slight difference in the tops and the execution
of the characters between bottles 29&30

FINLAND
1*                                                                                                   2*                                                                      3*
 (2 3/8" wide)
These two oil bottles are the largest I have found, 3" wide
compared to the usual 2 1/2" average size for the steel bottles.
HUNGARY
1                                                                                          2*                                                                                    3
Finland
Poland
4*
NORTH KOREA
1                                                                      2                                                          
POLAND
1a*                                                                      1b*                                                                  2*
(1b is the same as 1a, but with phosphate finish)
ROMANIA
1*                                                                                  2*                                                                      3*
4*                                                                      5*                                                                   6*
RUSSIA
  side 1                          1                           side 2                                                                 2*                                                           3*  
9                                                                10                                                          11*                                                                         12*  
  side 1                      35*                  side 2                                                         side 1                      36*                  side 2  
  37*                                                     Lid                                                                38*Chinese Air Defense symbol inside star. 39*                                          40*
black plastic w/ metal top
black plastic w/ plastic top
VIETNAM

This bottle was purchased from a seller in Vietnam
who said the A & O stood for Alkeline and Oil.
     Contributed by Alessandro Sergi

4 3/8" tall with brush in cap.
12
WWI Russian Imperial oiler, it has the Romanoff eagle on a side and CO3 plus arrow on the back. CO3 is cirillic for Sestroryetsk which is a northern suburb of St. Petersburg that was a location of Mosin Nagant production from 1892 to 1918.
                           Contributed by Alessandro Sergi
Large caps
Early US with cork lined small caps
4
Plain with embossed cap. Contributed by Alessandro Sergi
Contributed by Alessandro Sergi
Imperial Russia, unmarked brass.
More Details
Click on image at right to find
out more about these bottles!

Translucent clear
Opaque white
Earlier paper lined cap.
Cork lined top indicates an older bottle.
13*
This is where I really need your help. Any thoughts on what country these come from? Contact me.
GERMANY
WW2 Mauser
1*
Hungarian AMD
Early - cork lined top. Contributed by P.J.
14*
This screw cap was on a twin spout Russian bottle, but the ring impression inside this cap didn't match the smaller lip of the bottle. This leaves me with no real connection with a known bottle. This is the only cap I have ever seen with an embossed number inside a circle.
 
#3 has very distinct inset panels and the right vertical leg of the "W" is straight and without the typical dog-leg at its bottom.
Sestroryetsk arsenal.
Standard Russian twin spout.
#3 has no sunken panel or center line.

  5*                                                          6*                                                                                                      7* 

This bottle is made of two pots identical in size to #8, soldered together and with the embossed Cyrillic letters.
Izhevsk arsenal.
8*                                                      9*                                                       10*                                                                side 1                       11                        side 2   
#8 - Izhevsk arsenal, plastic bottle with metal cap.
Izhevsk arsenal, all plastic.
YUGOSLAVIA
1*                                                                      2*                                                          3*  
UNMARKED - Bulgaria, Russia, Romania, etc.
4*
1*
UNKNOWN
1                                                                         2*                                                            3*                                                       4*
Embossing on # 2 & # 3 is the number 20 within two concentric rectangles. Do you know what country this is?
No embossing, but identicle to numberss 2 & 3.
5*                                                       6                                                          7*                                                        8
#5 closure is similar to the
Yugoslavia bottles numbers
1 & 2.
BACK TO TOP
6                                                                   7
side 1                   30*                      side 2                                          side 1                       31*                     side 2
large star
small star
small star