1922-1924

 

150-200

One of the most rare of the Finnish Mosin Nagants, the so called SAT M91's were the first Finn attempt at creating new barrels for the M91 rifle.  Very few of these rifles are in known collections today.

 

1924-1928

It is possible that some prototypes were made in 1923 but it is not 100% clear if this took place or not.  1924 is the first year of full production.

 

There were 3,000 barrels that are unstepped while the rest are the heavier stepped versions.  The unstepped barrels can be Swiss or German.  The M24 is one of the more interesting Mosin Nagant since this is the first Civil Guard production rifle.  They were made in low numbers and are nice collector's items.  A carbine version of the M24 was also made but in very low numbers.  There are no known totals for M24 carbine production.

 

 

1925-1927

 

 

~10,000

 

 

Older Russian barrels relined by Arms Depot Number 1 (AV1)

 

 

 

1925-1927

 

 

 

13,450

Production of the barrels was halted in 1927-28 as a committee deemed the barrels substandard.  It was later found this was not the case and the rifle barrels were refitted in the time frame of the Winter War.  By May of 1940 over 8,000 of these older “rejected” barrels were

fitted to rifles. 

There was also testing of this relining method on dragoon barrels as 1,490 were made in 1926.  These dragoon rifles are very rare collector’s items.

 

Tikka

 

1940-1944

 

~45,000

M91 production began in 1940 to assist in the need for rifles. The rifles were assembled at AV 1 and AV3. A segment of these barrels were cutdown postwar being made into M39 rifles.  

 

VKT:

1940-1942

 

B:

Postwar exact years unknown

 

VKT:

~32,000

B:

13,000 barrel blanks were provided by Belgium and made into rifles postwar.  Many of these M91 barrel blanks were made into M39's so the total number of M91 B barrels

~4,000-5,000

 

 

VKT also began production of barrels in 1940 with the rifles assembled at AV1 or AV3.  The B barrels were blanks supplied by Belgium that were worked by VKT in to the finished barrel.  All B M91's were assembled post war and are a rather uncommon version of the M91 rifle since most of the barrel blanks were made

into M39 rifles.  In the postwar years M91 VKT barrels were also cutdown and made into M39 barrels, so the end totals of the M91 barrels is lower than the 32,000 listed.

What was to be the standard battle rifle of the Finnish Army.  A very interesting rifle with a

number of sub-variations.

In a 1951 inventory there were 26,700 M27's in Finnish stocks*

 *Sotilaskasiaseet Suomessa

1918-1991

A very rare version of the Mosin Nagant with only 250-300 in the world today. These were issued to soldiers in the elite Cavarly Brigade, some of the best soldiers in Finland.

 

 

 

1928-1932

 

SIG:

22,100

Tikka:

~11,500

SAKO:

~1,400

Total Production:

~35,000

 

Three plants produced barrels for the M28 but the rifles were assembled at SAKO.  SAKO began barrel production quite late so there were many fewer SAKO barrels made compared to SIG or Tikka.

In a 1951 inventory only 16,700 M28 rifles were in Finnish depots*

*Sotilaskasiaseet Suomessa

1918-1991

 

 

 

SAKO

 

 

 

1933-1940

 

 

 

~40,000

One of the best rifles the Finnish produced these rifles saw hard issue and service life.  There was also a sniper version of the M28/30 but only 11 were produced.  There is also a later date version of these put together from older parts.  These will be dated 1968-1970.  They are quite uncommon to locate as the totals were low.

In 1951 the Finns held 22,000 of these rifles in their depots.*

*Sotilaskasiaseet Suomessa

1918-1991

SAKO:

60,000 For

Army Contract

10,500 For

SKY Contract

VKT:

~30,300

Note - Some VKT M39's were  done postwar by making use of VKT M91 barrels so the end total of M39's is higher.  The number above is from the first production.

B:

Production totals are not known as these rifles were made from cutting down M91 blanks from Belgium.  It is not clear how many of these M91 barrels were cutdown to M39 specs.

A safe bet would be

to place these in the

8,000+ range.

Tikka:

5,000 done postwar from Tikka M91 barrels.

Other Postwar Versions:

This to include the no maker no date version, the 48 stamped version, as well as the 1967-1970 1973 version. These are rifles made from unfinished or unused parts of earlier production rifles.

All later versions:

~3,000-3,500 total

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The M39 is one of the most commonly seen Finnish Mosin Nagants in collections.  They are accurate, well made, and interesting rifles. SAKO produced rifles from 1940-1945 with the SKY contract starting in 1942 and ending in 1944.  VKT barrel production was from 1940 to 1944.  VKT barrels were fitted to recievers at AV3.

In 1951 there were 78,000 M39 rifles in Finnish depots.*

*Sotilaskasiaseet Suomessa

1918-1991

 

 

Tikka

 

The rifles were assembled at Arms Depot Number 3 with most of the rifles being built in the 1950's.  At the war's end in 1944 the Finns had assembled only 5,000 rifles.