Finland

Finnish Mosin Nagant rifles markings from 1917 until today

Mosin Nagant rifles that have been in use with Finnish Forces can have different kind of origin. First of all, a relevant number of Mosins were found in the Helsinki Arsenals when Finland declared the indipendence at the end of 1917. Then thousands of Mosin Nagant rifles were acquired by Finland in the ’20, when it was clear that Mosin had to equip the Finnish Army as a standard. Between the Mosins bought in that period from different nations there were a lot of WWI German and Austro Hungarian captured rifles, that were then directly put in service or used as source of parts. This is why is so common to find German and Austro Hungarian markings on Finnish Mosin Nagant. Then Finland designed and produced specific versions of the Mosin Nagant rifle, usually coupling Finnish made or foreign acquired barrels with sights and other reworked / recycled parts. Finnish Civil Guard and Finnish Army developed their own versions giving birth to the best Mosin Nagant versions in the world, in precision and quality. Then, with the Soviet invasion of 1939, the subsequent Winter War and then the Continuation War, a huge number of Russian Mosin Nagant have been captured on the field by the Finnish Forces and usually reused against the Soviets. Towards the end of the war, Germany supported Finland with thousands of captured rifles and at the end of the WWII, Finnish depots were still full of Mosin Nagant rifles of many types. During decades, different Finnish Factories were involved in Mosin production and rework, including SAKO, Tikkakosky and VKT State Factory. Also Army Depots were involved in assembling and reworking rifles and this probably leads to the last production of M39 and M28/30 between the ’60 and the ’70. In conclusion, a complex story of usage and improvement of the Mosin project that is resulting in the presence of multiple markings, usually reflecting the different users of the rifle.

SAKO Factory markings

Founded in 1921, SAKO was one of the most important production and refurbishment Factory of Mosin Nagant in Finland. SAKO assembled the M24 “Lotta” rifles, produced the fantastic M28/30 and then the M39 rifle.

The SAKO Gear Wheel emblem on a 1934 produced M28/30 (above). This rifle has been produced by SAKO for the Finnish Civil Guard and it is using (as usual in Finnish Mosins) a former Russian imperial receiver, a Remington Factory made one. Over the year of production we can see the serial number and then the SK.Y marking that stands for Suojeluskuntain Yliesikunta, the Civil Guard Headquarters.

SAKO emblem also on the same M28/30 rear sight.

SAKO produced also small parts. In the picture above, a SAKO marked cocking piece from a 1941 M39.

A SAKO marked M39 stock. The other marking left of the SAKO Gear Wheel is the symbol of a VKT stock producer subcontractor (Sakara Oy in this case). This stock belongs to an ultra rare M39/43 sniper rifles, produced by VKT.

VKT State Factory markings

VKT or Valtion Kivääritehdas, was a Finnish State owned firearms factory also deeply involved in Mosin Nagant production. In particular, VKT was in charge to produce most of the M39 sniper rifles like the one below.

VKT was producing mainly M1891, M27 (including apparently also a small batch of M27rv cavalry carbines) and M39 for the Finnish Army. In the picture above we can see the markings on a VKT produced barrel: over the serial number we can find the “D” mark, that means that the chamber throat (no change to the barrel) can use the Finnish D166 ball cartridges with a diameter of .310″. This is a weird marking to find on an M39 because this model was designed to directly use this new cartridges, instead of previous rifles (e.g. M28/30) designed to use a .308″ ball ammo (named F ball). Rifles with this marking can use D166 and Russian surplus (diameter .311″) and of course .308″ cartridges but obviously accepting a reduced precision. The introduction of the larger D166 ball and the chamber adapted for this cartridge was helping a lot when Finnish Forces captured a large quantity of Russian ammo at that point reusable. Above the D mark, we have the VKT factory marking and over the “boxed SA”, Finnish Army property mark (see Finnish Army section below). This VKT barrel belongs to a super rare original M39/43 sniper rifle.

Tikkakosky Factory markings

Tikkakosky, sometimes found as Tikka, produced M1891, M28, M27 including the cavalry variant M27rv and also M91/30 that were coded as the M30 Finnish variant. All the Tikka M39 that you can find nowdays in commerce were assembled post-war for the Finnish Army, likely by the Army depots, reusing former M1891 Tikka produced barrel. So Tikkakosky did not produce M39.

In the picture above, over the serial number, we can see the “T in triangle”, the Tikka Factory marking, on one of the first M1891 produced by Tikkakosky in the ’20. It is a rare 1927 stepped barrel example.

Above we have a rare Tikka marked M27rv cavalry carbine barrel from 1933. Over the year of production we can see the serial and the “D” mark (described at the end of the SAKO section), then the Tikkakosky “T in triangle”.

A Tikka barrelled M28. The “T in triangle” has been in use in this format until 1939. Then a new variant was introduced. The “SY” mark is the first type Civil Guard property marking before Sk.Y. (see Civil Guard markings section below).

A Tikkakosky made barrel for the M30 rifle (M91/30) produced in 1944 with the new Tikka symbol in use from 1937: a circle was added around the triangle. Below the Tikka marking we have the serial and then the year of production while above the “boxed SA”, Finnish Army property stamp.

Civil Guard markings

The Finnish Civil Guard has been a pivotal element of the Finnish territorial defense during the Winter and the Continuation War, till it was disbanded and absorbed by the Finnish Army. Civil Guard weapons have specific property markings, already shown above:

• first type marking: SY
• second type marking: Sk.Y.

The meaning was still the same: Suojeluskuntain Yliesikunta or Civil Guard General Staff/Headquarters. In addition to the property markings, many others belong to the Civil Guard firearms.

Civil Guard’s Districts numbers can be found on stocks, like the one above on a 1898 Mosin M1891, and on metal parts, like on the 1934 M28/30 below. The format is usually represented by an “S” followed by the District number. In the case above, the M1891 was assigned to the Lahti District while the M28/30 belonged to the Helsinki District.

Another format could include a second S, like SS plus the number. This means that the rifle was transferred to the Civil Guard from the Army so not originally assigned to the Guard. Sometimes the District number can be found also on the bolt, like on the M28 below.

Another recurrent marking is the Civil Guard acceptance stamp. It can be found on wood or metal parts. The one below is from a 1934 M28/30 rifle.

It basically consists of an =S= (lines on sides are usually three not two) and sometimes you can find multiple of them on metal parts. Like on the M28 below.

The Finnish Army markings

In 1942 the Suomen Armeija (Finnish Army) started to apply a property marking on rifles but not only, also to accessories and many other pieces of equipment that were in use at that time (also non Mosin related). This was done before also by the Civil Guard, applying the SY or Sk.Y. on different equipment in use. The property marking was pretty simple and is really famous…something collectors are always checking for: the “boxed SA”. The meaning is obviously Suomen Armeija and it is usually found in specific places (usually the left side of the barrel) but variations are possible, as well as multiple markings.

Above we can see the “standard” so the most common place where you can find the Finnish Army property mark, left side on the barrel.

On the above Chatellerault made M1891 we have two SA markings and there are even examples with three and different sizes. Before the adoption of the “boxed SA”, for apparently two months (likely January and February) at the beginning of 1942, another property marking has been applied: the word “PUOLUSTUSLAITOS”. The meaning of this term is “Defense Department” and it was applied on rifles just for a very short time so it is pretty rare to find a rifle marked in such way. For practical reasons it was replaced by the “boxed SA”, likely starting from March 1942.

Above we can see a rare “PUOLUSTUSLAITOS” marked barrel of a SAKO produced M39. A number of 1941 M39 barrel, part of the first batch of production, were marked in this way and they are usually in a first type M39 straight-wrist stock, without the pistol grip. Examples with these features are rare. It seems that the first 5000 M39 were produced with this kind of stock.