Thoughts on Mosin stock etching?

[holdenarm]

Hey folks -- bit of a odd one here. I picked up a Spanish Civil War Mosin today (thanks @cubrock) and discovered, among other things, an extremely faint etching on the stock which appears to say "U.W. Wallace", although it's so faint it's hard to be sure. Photo attached, though again, it's very hard to see except at the right angle of light. Here you can just see a portion of the "Wallace" right above the glare.

Two questions: first, does this seem likely to be a period inscription? It's so faint it seems plausible someone just used the stock as a writing surface at some point -- on the other hand, the inscription is definitely in the wood rather than the finish. Second, has anyone else seen something like this?

 

[cubrock]

Hard to say. There were definitely Americans serving in the SCW, mostly on the Republican side. Spain surplussed these mostly in the 50s, so it could have been done after importation here, but still a long time ago.

 

[keepcalmandcarryon]

Honestly hard to make out what the marking is from the photo.
Seems too small to have been carved with a knife-the most likely tool available. I would say it was a transfer from the stock being used as a writing surface.
It is always fun trying to track down the history of these old guns so I would be interested to know if the inscription has any significance.

 

[georgel]

I think it's incidental. I would think intended marking would be much more obvious and larger.