This Finnish M/39 is chambered in 7.62x53R, serial 2197xx, and is Finn matching. It comes with its original sling. The rifle shows the wear of a service weapon that was carried and used, honest handling marks rather than damage, and the stock beneath them is solid. The bore is partially darkened with the rifling clearly visible throughout. The rifle is mechanically excellent and is offered as it is shown, an issued rifle presented as one rather than dressed up as something else.
The M/39 was the last of the Finnish Mosin-Nagants. Approved in April 1939 after years of argument between the Finnish Armed Forces and the Civil Guard over what a service rifle ought to be, it settled the question by refining the earlier M/28-30 and building around a heavier stock with a semi-pistol grip, cut so that the barrel floats clear of the wood along its length. That one decision is most of why the type shoots as well as it does, and why the M/39 is the Finnish Mosin that target shooters still seek out. The sights were the work of Harry Mansner, designed for SAKO and the Civil Guard, and the chambering was the Finnish 7.62x53R loaded with the heavy 230-grain D166 bullet. What Finland did not build was the action: the country had inherited Mosin-Nagant rifles in quantity from the Imperial Russian army at independence and saw no reason to manufacture receivers it already owned by the warehouse, so every M/39 was assembled on a recycled receiver and recycled bolt parts. The rifles were made by SAKO and by the state weapons depots on VKT barrels, production running until Finland made peace with the Soviet Union in September 1944.
Specifications
Model: Jalkavaenkivaari m/39, M39
Caliber: 7.62x53R
Serial: 2197xx
Capacity: 5 rounds
Matching: Finn matching
Stock: Solid, service wear
Bore: Partially darkened, rifling clearly visible
Mechanical condition: Excellent
Included: Original sling
