Description
At the beginning of the war, the Mosin–Nagant 91/30 was the standard issue weapon of Soviet troops & used in World War II by the USSR, largest mobilized army in history & sometimes by the Finns who were at war with them.
In the early 1920’s, Finland also produced several variants of the Mosin–Nagant, all of them manufactured using the receivers of Russian-made or (later) Soviet-made rifles. Finland also utilised a number of captured M91 & M91/30 rifles with minimal modifications. As a result, the rifle was used on both sides of the Winter War & the Continuation War during World War II. Finnish Mosin–Nagants were produced by SAKO, Tikkakoski & VKT, with some using barrels imported from Switzerland & Germany. Finnish rifles are characterized by Russian, French or American-made receivers stamped with a boxed SA, as well as many other parts produced in those countries & barrels produced in Finland, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium & Germany.
This particular rifle is Soviet Russian, manufactured at the Izhevsk arsenal in 1938 & has the pre-war quality not associated with wartime production & with Finnish markings is one of the more rare Finnish Mosin Nagant weapons. It is much more valuable than a generic Russian 91-30 & very collectable. The D on the receiver refers to the chambering & bore dimensions that can use .311″ diameter Russian ammo. Initially the Finns used .308 diameter barrels which prevented them from using millions of captured Russian rounds of ammo. Eventually they settled on the same bore specs as the Russians so that they could utilize the ammo they kept capturing & to make uniform all the weapons in the Finnish arsenal.
Although Finland had Mosins left over from Imperial stores after they separated from Russia (& they bought or traded many more in the 1920’s as they wanted to standardise on it as their regular issue rifle), the Soviets only started selling weapons to Finland after World War 2. As this was made at the Izhevsk arsenal in 1938, it could not be one of these.
What is commonly known suggests that the Units of Soviet Army that took part in Winter War (11/1939 – 3/1940) were typically well equipped weapons-wise since it was still a relatively limited conflict in Soviet scale (fielding million men was still pretty limited in their scale). As such they did not need to dig too deep into their stockpiles – hence the rifles they were equipped with M91-30, M38, AVS-36 & SVT-38.
Along with the boxed SA stamped into the receiver which indicated Finnish Army property, everything we see points toward this being a rifle which was captured by the Finns during the Continuation War (WW2). The stock has been spliced very neatly which is another sign of it being captured, repaired & sent back to the field as the Finns also manufactured two-piece “finger splice” stocks for their Mosin–Nagant rifles. It has “Stacked” front blade sight of Finnish manufacture, often used to refurbish Russian M91’s. There are the wire sling hangers inserted in the slots in the forearm & butt stock meant to take the Russian “dog collars” for Russian-style slings, so that the rifles could accept Western European–style rifle slings. Finnish rifles can vary a great deal with no set standards for minor features but this has enough to convince us.
Do your own research & if you are looking for a rare & collectable Mosin Nagant for your collection this could be it as these are far harder to find, especially in condition such as this.
Please view all of the photos carefully as they form the main description & override all others so feel free to ask for more as we have taken plenty.
Sold on consignment on behalf of a collector.
