Finnish Mosin Nagant Overview (M91/24, M27, M28, M28/30, M39)
Forgotten Weapons
•
36m
Finland found itself with nearly 200,000 Mosin Nagant rifles in its possession after breaking away from Russian rule in 1917, and those rifles would for the basis of Finnish infantry arms until the adopted of a semiautomatic rifle many decades later.
At first, Russian rifles were simply refurbished and rebarreled, but the Army and Civil Guard quickly found the Russian Model 1891 pattern wanting, and began to develop improvements. The two organizations managed their arm production independently, and the Army was the first to develop a new model of Mosin, in the M27. Produced from 1927 until 1940, this was a shortened (27”/68.5cm barrel) with improved furniture and sights. The Civil Guard followed shortly afterwards with their M28 short rifle. The M28 would only be produced until 1933, however, when it was replaced with the Civil Guard M28/30, which further improved the sights.
Ultimately, the Army and Civil Guard would come together to design the apogee of Mosin Nagant evolution, the M39. Over 100,000 of these rifles would be made, all starting from captured or purchased receivers - the Finns never manufactured receivers themselves. If anything can be considered a transformation of a sow’s ear into a silk purse, it would be the creation of an M39 from a Russian M1891!
In this video, we will look at the features of each of these models…
Up Next in Forgotten Weapons
-
Yeah, the AR15 is Now Becoming C&R El...
Given the status of the AR15 as the preeminent military rifle still today, it comes as a surprise to many people to learn just how old the gun really is. Civilian production of the SP-1 model by Colt actually began in 1964, which means that early SP-1 rifles started becoming Curio & Relic qualifi...
-
The Ching Sling - A Simpler Shooting ...
The Ching Sling is an answer to the question, "how can one have a sling that is both a useful shooting aid and also quick to get in and out of?" The formal shooting sling was a part of US military training for many decades, and is still a staple of long range marksmanship competition. However, it...
-
SA80 History: L98A1 Cadet Manually-Op...
The Army Cadet Force is a British quasi-military organization that acts general as a precursor to military enlistment. With the adoption of the L85A1 as the British service rifle, a manually operated copy was also developed for use by Cadets. Designated the L98A1, this rifle was built without a g...
