Finn rifles are extremely difficult to pin down to any standard in so many ways. I have a couple of M91s that were Finn captured or left behind when the Russians were thrown out. The one I like the most was rebarreled in 1942 with a Tikka marked barrel and the original stock looks to have been replaced with a round finger jointed Birch unit. The finish is the standard wartime pine tar/flax oil but it is very dark overall with slightly lighter patches and matte in appearance. It has black iron sling hangers and a black butt plate. The rifle looks to have never been issued after the rebuild. Maybe, I can one day bring myself to actually shoot it.
The other is a NE Westinghouse M91 that has somehow managed to keep its original barrel and bolt. The bore is worn to around 75% of original but isn't pitted and measures out at the muzzle to .3085. It still shoots better than I can hold. That's likely why the ever frugal Finns left it alone. The stock has been replaced with dark Birch on the receiver piece and a light colored fore end and also has the rounded finger joints. The finish on this stock is completely different. It looks to have been oil/beeswax or something similar. I have had the rifle for a long time. I have shot, by my notes 300 rounds of non corrosive 150 grain hand loads on Norma brass through it at a moderate 2500fps. No reason for hotter loads as it's one of the paper punchers.
I have a nice little M38 Soviet issue with a red laminated stock that I used to shoot a Deer with Norma 174gr soft points from a box of Norma factory loads. It isn't a pleasant rifle to shoot at all but it is certainly a looker.
In 1967 when Lever Arms and Harkly and Haywood first brought in some Finn rifles I can tell you honestly they were in pretty rough shape, as were the Soviet offerings. These rifles weren't the best they had to offer the markets or maybe the really nice stuff had been picked up in Western Europe or the US and we got the left overs??? They came out of International Firearms warehouse in Montreal or they had cards stapled to them that stated they had once been the property of IF. They didn't come in crates like the rifles we have seen over the last decade or so either. They were on pallets with heavy cardboard between the rows and at least had cardboard protection under the steel banding, unlike the Lee Enfields and Mausers which had no protection at all and were just stacked against each other.
I digress. Sorry. I've wandered of topic as well. Again, I apologize.
I have owned and shot several M39/M28/M91 Finn rifles over the years. Had one M96 Swede with SA markings and even a K98 with SA markings. Not sure if the K98 was real or not. It was beat to hell and shot poorly in comparison to the other rifles. I always liked the M91s and kept the best two I had. The rest were easy to sell and easier to make a profit on. A month ago I bought an M39 from an estate and only saw a few pics from the executor. I certainly didn't pay the current prices being asked. I never even got to open the box to look at the rifle and sold it to a collector that prefers to remain incognito. He paid the going rate plus, based on the pics I sent him because the rifle has no import marks and an unstamped/serialed receiver. Fine says I and took the cash to purchase one of Weimajack's rifles.
I see that P&S as mentioned still has several VKTs left under $1000.
In Penticton this spring I picked up an M39 for $150. It was a beater, looking like one that came into Lever's in 1967. I sold it about 20 minutes later for $300. Someone had drilled a hole into the butt plate, there was no finish left on it and the bore was only about 40%. There was also a M91 in similar condition with a post war stock for similar prices. Both didn't make it a half hour into the show. It also had a hole drilled into the butt plate. I have no idea why those holes were drilled. Maybe they were used in a display and a retaining pin was inserted??
I seem to come across a couple of Finn rifles every year but few of them are in what I would consider good enough condition to hold onto. Looks like I have been missing the boat???
