I received the following letter from Mr. Ilija Stanislevik who was kind enough to translate certain Russian inscriptions for me.  The references to the Krnka meanings are below his letter.  Photos relating to the Berdan II markings (the first 2 pictures) can be found at the Russian M1870 Berdan II Markings page.

Subj: Re: Translation, Krnka etc.
Date: 8/24/2003 12:54:59 PM Mountain Standard Time
From: ilijas@siva.com.mk
To: KeithDoyon@MilitaryRifles(.)com

Hello Mr. Doyon,

I think that all five pictures came to me in good condition. The texts written in Russian pre-revolution orthography are readable and here are the results of my translation:

Picture 1
First I give you the text following the digits "41", transliterated in Latin letters: "IMPERATORSKIY TULSKIY ORUZHEYNIY ZAV. 1884".
The text reads: "Imperial Arms Factory of Tula" or "Imperial Tula Arms Factory", followed by four digits, probably denoting year. Another meaning is "Emperor's Arms Factory of Tula". I am not sure which English nuance reflects best the Russian original.  The word "Imperial" is in somewhat different font. Was it punched at later date than the rest?
The final word, meaning "factory", is abbreviated to 3 letters followed by dot. The full-length version should be "ZAVOD", of course in Cyrillic.

Picture 2
The transliterated text is: "IZHEVSKIY ORUZHEYNIY ZAVOD N". The final N is in calligraphy imitating handwriting. In Russian this means "number". I expect that some digits follow there, denoting the number of the factory.
It reads "IZHEVSKIY ORUZHEYNIY ZAVOD N30.."
"Izhevsk Arms Factory No.30.."   (Keith Doyon Note:  The digits "3 0" are the first of several digits denoting the serial number)

Picture 4  (See below)
Four digits (year 1859) beneath the dash-dot-dash line. Initials "T.O.Z." above.
Given the context, this would be an acronym for "TULSKIY ORUZHEYNIY ZAVOD" which reads "Tula Arms Factory".

Picture 5  (See below)
The initials above the dash-dot-dash line are "S.O.Z.". Is it "SESTRORETSKIY ORUZHEYNIY ZAVOD" which means "Sestroretsk Arms Factory"?
The marking to the left is made of Cyrillic capital letter P followed by double Latin I (Roman numeral 2?).

Sound good?

Best regards,
Ilija Stanislevik
Ohrid, Macedonia
 

Lockplate of a Russian M1857/67 Krnka Infantry Rifle.  The Krnkas were converstions from the
earlier Russian "6 line" (.60 Calibre) percussion breechloaders.
 

Lockplate of a Russian M1857/67 Krnka Dragoon Rifle
 

Lockplate of a Russian M1857/67 Krnka Cavalry Rifle (Not a Cavalry carbine, but a rifle for Cavalry)
Russia built what she could, and like most other emerging powers, bought what she was not able to make.
 

Markings on a Krnka Converted "6-Line" rifle

.....  

Is anyone able to help me decipher this cartouche?  Unfortunately, this is the best that I was able to do
given the age and wear of the rifle's buttstock.  Please let me know!!

  to Keith Doyon
 

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