This Finnish M/28-76 is a military target and marksmanship rifle chambered in 7.62x54R, serial 105xx, and is Finn matching. The barrel is dated 1969 and carries the PSV stamp of Panssarivarikko, the Finnish armour depot, which applied its mark to barrel shanks during refurbishment work. Beneath it sits an Imperial Russian receiver dated 1898, one of the nineteenth century actions these rifles were built on. The rifle is complete with its diopter rear sight, the aperture sight that defines the target version of the type and the part most often missing when these turn up. The bore is mirror bright with sharp rifling. The wrist of the stock has been repaired; the stock is solid. The rifle is offered as it is shown.
The M/28-76 was the last of the Finnish bolt-action target rifles, built up from earlier competition rifles to serve both service marksmanship and the CISM 300 metre standard rifle discipline. The work produced a rifle with a heavy barrel and a new birch stock with a built-in cheek rest, bedded at the front recoil lug and rear tang so that the action is otherwise free floated, which is where the type’s accuracy comes from. Most were completed as target rifles with a diopter rear sight and a modified front sight, while a smaller number received scope bases for the marksman role. What gives these rifles their particular character is underneath: Finland never manufactured a Mosin-Nagant receiver of its own, and had no need to, since something on the order of 190,000 rifles were left behind in Imperial Russian depots when the country became independent in 1917 and 1918. Those actions were still being drawn on half a century later, which is how a receiver made in the reign of Nicholas II came to be fitted with a barrel dated 1969 and a competition stock, and sent to the firing line.
Specifications
Model: Finnish M/28-76 target and marksmanship rifle
Caliber: 7.62x53R (interchangeable with 7.62x54R)
Serial: 105xx
Receiver: Imperial Russian, dated 1898
Barrel: Dated 1969, PSV stamped for Panssarivarikko
Sights: Diopter rear sight, present
Stock: Heavy birch target stock, repaired at the wrist, solid
Matching: Finn matching
Bore: Mirror with sharp rifling
Capacity: 5 rounds
