This Finnish M/39 carries a SAKO barrel dated 1943 and is chambered in 7.62x53R, serial 2344xx. The stock bears the SAKO cartouche, the letter S set inside a cogwheel, which is the mark the factory used on its rifles, and the rifle carries the SA property stamp of the Finnish Army, Suomen Armeija, marking it as an issued military arm. It retains the majority of its blued finish and is complete with its cleaning rod. The rifle is mechanically excellent. It is non-matching. the bore is
partially darkened, with rifling that has softened but remains clearly visible throughout. A 1943 SAKO barrel places the rifle in the year SAKO delivered 20,000 M/39 rifles, the heaviest of its wartime output. The rifle is offered as it is shown.
The M/39 was the last of the Finnish Mosin-Nagants, approved on 14 April 1939 as a joint design of the Finnish Armed Forces and the Civil Guard after years of argument between the two over what a service rifle should be. It refined the earlier M/28-30, and the most visible change was the stock: heavier, with a semi-pistol grip, cut so that the barrel floats free of the wood along its length. The result was one of the heaviest bolt-action rifles introduced in the 1930s and one of the most accurate, which is the reputation the type still carries. 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 230-grain D-166 bullet. As with every Finnish Mosin-Nagant, the rifle was not built from scratch: the receiver and most of the bolt parts were recycled from earlier Mosin-Nagant rifles, since Finland had large stocks of them and no need to make more. SAKO was the principal maker, with 60,000 rifles ordered during the war and about 53,500 delivered before it ended, while Weapons Depot 3 assembled roughly 30,300 more on VKT barrels. The nickname often attached to these rifles, Ukko-Pekka, comes from Finland’s former president Per Evind Svinhufvud, a well-known competition shooter and a non-commissioned officer of the Civil Guard.
Specifications
Manufacturer: SAKO, Finland
Model: Jalkavaenkivaari m/39, M39
Caliber: 7.62x53R
Barrel: SAKO marked, dated 1943
Serial: 2344xx
Capacity: 5 rounds
Stock: Semi-pistol grip pattern, SAKO S in gear cartouche
Markings: SAKO S in gear, SA Finnish Army property stamp
Matching: Non-matching
Finish: Retains the majority of its blued finish
Bore: Partially darkened, rifling softened but clearly visible
Mechanical condition: Excellent
Included: Cleaning rod
