Troop Carvings

[Marcus5aurelius]

So I picked up a Hungarian M44 the other day for really cheap and I am in the process of refinishing it. Rebluing it, gluing back a piece of stock, stripped off the old finish, sanding, possibly stain (or not) and then refinish the wood. It was extremely cheap and looked like complete crap beforehand so I didn't have to think twice about whether refinishing it would take away from the value.

So anyway, I found some troop carvings on the side of the stock. It read:

B
1 1 1 1 1 1 1
CAREI

I researched Carei and found it to be a town in Romania that changed hands between Hungary and Romania over the years. I'm wondering, does anyone know what the B might stand for? An army unit maybe? Also with the vertical lines do you guys think it's a time counter or maybe a kill count? Do you guys think this will add much value to the rifle? I was very close to sanding it off, but I felt really bad about destroying history. I just wanted a cheap shooter, so I'm not too concerned about the value of the gun unless it was something really important. On a side note, should I stain the wood and if so, should I avoid the patch with markings? Maybe I should just leave the stock blonde? Any information you guys can give me about the carving or the battle over Carei in WWII would be much appreciated. Thanks

 

[Dirtypacman]

I would not touch the markings - I love the history old rifles bring with them.
Don't have any information on your questions sorry to say.
Would love to hear more if anybody else chimes in.

 

[Marcus5aurelius]

Yea apparently they fought over the city in 1942, but don't know much more than what google can tell me. Also, maybe this is a stupid question but why did Hungary who was axis have soviet weaponry? I assume they were issued by Russia and then became their enemies or perhaps they just copied the design? I need a historian this is gettin confusing