I got interested in Mosin Nagant a while back and got to reading about the Finns modifying them in their own way and I got interested in the M39 model. I have had Sako rifles for years and saw a 1942 Sako M39 on GB and blacked out and won it. I cant wait to get it home so I can enjoy it.

Kevin

Cool beans!

Congratulations.

Please post photos, when you are able.

Congrats!

What modifications did the Finn’s make that made their variant appealing to you?

quote:

Originally posted by Cookster:
Congrats!

What modifications did the Finn’s make that made their variant appealing to you?

Depending upon the exact Finnish model, some had heavier barrels added, modified sites, stronger spliced stocks, shims added under the action, different barrel bands, difference end caps, etc.

Sako barrels and much improved sights and the arctic birch stocks.

We need pics of this boomstick!

Good choice. The Finnish M39s are by far the nicest of the various Mosin Nagant variants.

I've owned four total, and still own these two:

1942 Sako M39
1941 VKT M39

https://youtu.be/46ZP9XH8bZs

Pretty good primer/overview on the Finnish Mosin Nagant. I believe there are some decent books on the subject. Great rifles. The Finns knew what they were doing. My VKT shoots lights out w/ cast bullets!!!!

If you're gonna own just one Nagant, a Finn M39 is an excellent choice. I have an M39 'B' barrrel. The barrel was made by FN in Belgium as a replacement barrel for the Fins.

Welcome to the club. Here's my 1942 M39 built on an antique Izzy receiver:





0% finish, 100% BTDT

They all look like good ones! Where do you find the slings at? How do you know which receiver you have?

quote:

Originally posted by kyoung:
They all look like good ones! Where do you find the slings at? How do you know which receiver you have?

Mine came with a sling. You have to take the barreled action out of the stock, the date will be on the receiver tang (usually, some dates are scrubbed).

Slings used to be cheap and widely available. Not sure if they are these days.

The receiver is marked on the underside of the rear tang. You'll have to take the barreled receiver out of the stock to see it. It'll be a 2 to 4 digit date code and a factory symbol.


The Finns never produced their own receivers, so all Finn Mosins were built using receivers produced for the Russians, some of which came from rifles captured by the Finns directly from the Russians during the Finnish War of Independence, the Winter War, or the Continuation War, and some of which came from rifles that were purchased by Finland in the 1920s and 1930s from other countries like Germany, Czechoslovakia, or Poland who had ended up with stocks of Russian Mosin Nagant rifles after WW1.

The markings on the barrel denote the assembler of the M39 (like Sako in 1942) using the preexisting Mosin Nagant receiver.

So is that a 1923 manufacture?

Yes, that is an example of a receiver made in 1923 by the Izhevsk factory. Factory marking and date styles varied over the years, and from factory to factory.

Tula receivers will have a star or a hammer on their tang.

Izhevsk receivers will have a bow and arrow or an arrow in a triangle.

Sestroryetsk receivers will have a vertical arrow.

Remington receivers will have an R in a circle.

Chatelleraut receivers will have a C in a circle.

New England Westinghouse receivers will have a M with a horizontal arrow through it, on top of the tang. (They were the only Mosin Nagant receiver manufacturer to mark the top rather than the bottom of the tang.)


Of these, Tula and Izhevsk are by far the most common, so chances are your receiver will be one of those two.

hickock45 just did a video on the M39.

The M39 is a great rifle. Mine was made by Sestroryetsk and IIRC in either 1894 or 1896. The posters above are correct, the Finns really know how to put a rifle together.

So how do I find out about the markings on my M39? on the edge of the rear tang it has like a cross like a Finn flag? It has a Bow and arrow bolt.

quote:

Originally posted by kyoung:
So how do I find out about the markings on my M39? on the edge of the rear tang it has like a cross like a Finn flag? It has a Bow and arrow bolt.

Mosin Nagant markings.

Turns out my M39 has a Tula reciever 1894 to 1917, thats pretty old and cool.