This Finnish M27 is chambered in 7.62x54R and carries serial 578xx. The barrel shank is stamped with Tikkakoski’s triangle, the serial, the letter D and the date 1932, with the Finnish Army’s boxed SA property mark beside them. Under that barrel sits a reused Russian hex receiver dated 1897, which still carries its own earlier number, 56xx, from its first service life; the rifle is an antique on the strength of that receiver date. All of the Finnish numbers match, the bolt included. The birch stock is spliced ahead of the receiver in the usual Finnish manner, and the forend is strongly figured with dark tiger striping. The rifle is in mint condition with a mirror bore, and it comes complete with its cleaning rod. The barrel is import marked CAI ST ALB VT over FINLAND.
Finland came out of independence holding large numbers of Russian M91 Mosin Nagants, and in 1927 the Finnish Army adopted the M27, a rebuild that kept the Mosin action and changed almost everything around it. The Russian barrel gave way to a new 27 inch heavy barrel, shorter and stiffer than the M91’s, and the rifle received a front sight with protective ears, a combined front barrel band and nose cap, a Finnish trigger and sear pinned together, and a rear sight built on the Russian base with an added notch, graduated in hundreds of metres. The receivers were reused Russian hex receivers, so a rifle assembled in the 1930s commonly sits on an action made decades earlier. Tikkakoski built M27s from 1927 to 1940 and VKT made a far smaller number in the mid 1930s. Tikkakoski barrels carry a T in a triangle and VKT barrels carry VKT in a polygon, and the boxed SA is the property mark of the Finnish Army, Suomen Armeija.
Specifications
Manufacturer: Tikkakoski, Finland (barrel)
Country of origin: Finland
Model: M27
Action: Bolt action
Caliber: 7.62x54R
Serial: 578xx
Classification: Antique
Barrel: Dated 1932, stamped with Tikkakoski’s triangle, the serial and the letter D
Receiver: Reused Russian hex receiver, dated 1897, stamped 56xx
Matching: All Finnish numbers matching, bolt included
Condition: Mint
Bore: Mirror bright
Stock: Finnish birch, spliced ahead of the receiver, strongly figured forend
Sights: Front sight with protective ears, Finnish pattern rear sight
Markings: Boxed SA Finnish Army property mark on the barrel shank
Import mark: CAI, St. Albans, Vermont
Included: Cleaning rod
