Mosin Nagant M91

Albert County Hillbilly

Albert County Hillbilly

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Hi CGN'ers.

I have been doing a little research on my M91 and would appreciate it if anyone out there can tell me if I messed up anywhere. :)

Mosin Nagant M91
1942
Finnish Army
Throat of the rifle was opened up to allow the use of Finnish D166 rounds (required more room for the larger ogive of the bullet)
VKT State Arsenals

Assuming it was a Finnish capture (Russian / Soviet) because of the sight marks being in archines on one side and in metric on the other. Also, the bolt has an older number etched in it.

Barrel, receiver and bolt all have the same number.

Steel butt plate has a different number

Stock is probably Arctic Birch with a pine tar finish

Hex receiver

Finnish wire swivels for sling (leather)

Finger jointed stock

No "B" stamped on it (Belgian ? - pre WWII?)



Again, I am new to this and the shear number of variants has me wondering if I messed up or missed anything... any advice / help / corrections would be greatly appreciated.

Albert County Hillbilly.


Oops... just noticed I can't post attachments. Guess I won't be able to share my pics.
Is this because I am new or do I need to adjust my settings?**Image and video linking functions will be enabled after you have contributed more to the forum**

Mosin Nagant M91 1942 https://imgur.com/a/RaVFu7A
 
Last edited:
Albert County Hillbilly said:
Hi CGN'ers.

I have been doing a little research on my M91 and would appreciate it if anyone out there can tell me if I messed up anywhere. :)
Mosin Nagant M91
1942
Finnish Army
Throat of the rifle was opened up to allow the use of Finnish D166 rounds (required more room for the larger ogive of the bullet)
VKT State Arsenals
Assuming it was a Finnish capture (Russian / Soviet) because of the sight marks being in archines on one side and in metric on the other. Also, the bolt has an older number etched in it.
Barrel, receiver and bolt all have the same number.
Steel butt plate has a different number
Stock is probably Arctic Birch with a pine tar finish
Hex receiver
Finnish wire swivels for sling (leather)
Finger jointed stock
No "B" stamped on it (Belgian ? - pre WWII?)
Again, I am new to this and the shear number of variants has me wondering if I messed up or missed anything... any advice / help / corrections would be greatly appreciated.
Albert County Hillbilly.
Oops... just noticed I can't post attachments. Guess I won't be able to share my pics.
Is this because I am new or do I need to adjust my settings?
Click to expand...

I don't quite understand what you expect from the readership. Are you unhappy that you don't have a Finn M91 with a "B" barrel? In 1942, Finland purchased over 10,000 M91 barrel blanks from Belgium. These barrels are marked with the letter "B" and the year "1942". Various historical sources report that several thousands of "B" barrels were assembled post-war so they are not so common.
You can share your pics using Imgur. It's very easy to use. It would be much more interesting to look at your pics.
 
05Rav.
Thank you for taking the time to reply.

I will look into Imgur to see what it is and how to use it. :(

I was originally hoping to see if my description/ details of the rifle were correct. I was also hoping to find out if it is a really common one or if it was a lucky find. :)

I love the look of it and the history aspect of it and want to make sure I respect the rifle by learning more about it.

Hope to post pics soon.

Oh ya... is Imgur what I should have to use or should there be a site based way of adding an attachment like a in a simple email? (Newb)
 
05Rav

Thank you for your help!

I created an account with Imgur and posted the pics.

I tried to link them with the "image" button so they would show up in the post but I am too new to have that feature I guess.

I then simply copied the link in the post's text. :)
 
Typical 1942 Finnish produced M91 rifle. It wasn’t captured from the Soviets, it is built on a reworked Imperial Russian receiver (if your curious about the exact year of the receiver there should be a two digit to 4 digit number on the rear tang under the stock). The Finns also renumbered their sights in metres as well because Arshins are a pretty poor unit of measure.
 
enefgee said:
I'm not sure where that came from, doesn't anyone think that measuring things 28 inches, or 71.1 cm at a time is at least as good as feet and inches or, god forbid, centimetres and metres?
Click to expand...

If you grew up with Arshins then that measurement would be just fine. If you grew up with feet and inches (and psi) then you might be inclined to hate meters and centimeters and kilopascals.

milsurpo
 
I've learned a lot about all sorts of firearms from Ian McCollum's Forgotten Weapons YTs. He did a series that tracks each of the Finnish Mosin variations, and has explanations for some of the inconsistencies collectors have identified.

I don't know much about Mosins, but from what I remember and what you've described, there isn't much "wrong" with your rifle. It looks representative of the period and the processes.
 
Albert County Hillbilly said:
Thank you :)

Curious... what do you look for to know if it was a capture or not?

Love learning about this rifle...
Click to expand...

As I recall, the Finns were pretty busy winning the first war, holding the Russians at bay in the second, and not getting killed by Germans in the third go-around. Too busy to mark everything. The SA is apparently a post-war inspection and refurbishment marking. As for sourcing of new receivers, that ended when the Russian Revolution split off Finland as an independent country. Every Mosin they had was built somewhere else, but repeatedly rebuilt or upgraded. The only exception is a limited capacity production line by Sako that statistically didn't dent the Russian and American production percentages.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosin–Nagant#Finland
 
Your research seems to match the photos. One correction, your stock has been heavily sanded (possibly chemically stripped given the distinct lack of any oil or finish especially round the rivets of the handguard) and refinished. It is still a correct 2 piece Finnish made stock. These were constructed from new wood outright and damaged stocks from existing rifles. Normally you can see either the original cartouches from the Russians or Americans on the butt stock portion if it's a recycled piece. On Finnish made or refurbished butts you'll find the stock makers mark (usually crossed cannons with a number). It's a fairly common rifle in shooter grade condition. If you like doing research be careful, Finnish rifles tend to multiply!
 
maple_leaf_eh said:
As I recall, the Finns were pretty busy winning the first war, holding the Russians at bay in the second, and not getting killed by Germans in the third go-around. Too busy to mark everything. The SA is apparently a post-war inspection and refurbishment marking. As for sourcing of new receivers, that ended when the Russian Revolution split off Finland as an independent country. Every Mosin they had was built somewhere else, but repeatedly rebuilt or upgraded. The only exception is a limited capacity production line by Sako that statistically didn't dent the Russian and American production percentages.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosin–Nagant#Finland
Click to expand...

The [SA] is not a post war inspection marking nor sign of refurbishment. It is a property mark of the Finnish Army (Suomen Armeija). Rifles entering inventory post 1941ish received the stamp if they made it to army depots. The dissolved Civil Guard's weapons were absorbed and subsequently marked in this way as were arms purchased from Germany and Italy. Many captured Soviet rifles were in good enough condition to be taken into immediate use in the field, these were given an [SA] in the post war arms inventories or whenever they worked their way out of the unit level beforehand.
 
I have a M41 Carcano in 6.5x52 that is SA marked on butt stock. I think I have read somewhere that most Carcano's that went to Finland that were 7.35?
 
Albert County Hillbilly said:
Thank you :)

Curious... what do you look for to know if it was a capture or not?

Love learning about this rifle...
Click to expand...

The "captured" guns are the ones the Soviets carried in during the Winter and the Continuation wars. Mainly M91/30's, some carbines, some long M1891's, some SVT 38 and 40. problem is the Finns also purchased a lot of the M1891's between the wars and many 91/30's (from Germany) during WW2. As pointed out above, yours is a Finn manufactured rifle made with mainly salvaged parts.

milsurpo
 
I've a Peter the Great 1891 with the arishins crossed out. It's marked [SA] as well...pretty cool rifle to handle. A product of a different time for sure
 
If you read the receiver tang that will give you more of a clue as to what it could have been originally but since it has a Tsarist crest on the top of the receiver it was made 1917 or earlier and could have been a M91 infantry rifle, M91 Dragoon, M91 Cossack, or M1907 Carbine. The specific year the receiver was made can possibly remove certain models (such as if it was 1903 dated it couldn’t be a M1907).
 
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