Somewhat unusual Finnish 91/30 Mosin.

Picked up this 1939 Izhevsk 91/30 'Finnish capture' today. It caught my eye as being a tad unusual, the buttstock being the culprit. It appears to have been shaped for some reason. Stock carries the pre war escutcheons, but there do not appear to be any cartouches at all on it (This is an unrefurbished rifle) However, it appears to have been stamped SA on top of the buttstock next to the buttplate. The marking is quite worn, as you can see from the picture. Is it possible this is a Finnish manufactured stock? Also, the upper handguard is lined lenghthwise with some sort of cloth. I'm guessing that the possibility of this rifle being captured during the Winter War is somewhat good, or at least a Continuation War vet. Anyway, pics are included, welcome any and all thoughts and comments. Enjoy!

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I am not a Mosin expert, so I can't really help, but give you a THUMBS UP! I like it!!
I am also curious about the cloth... perhaps some sort of "anti rattle" device??? If the upper handguard was loose???

Mid, possibly..as there is just the slightest gap between the upper and lower hand guards. I have never seen a stock like this..again, the stock appears to be pre war, (sling slots) but no cartouches. Also, the wood seems to be different. I have searched 'SA marked stocks', and the consensus is they don't exist. The seller made no mention of an SA marking on the buttstock, I found it when I got it home. The more I look at it, it seems to be non Soviet made. As in Finnish made. It definitely is unusual!

Look closely at the handguard top surface and see if there is any sign if old splitting. The cloth may have been glued in as reinforcement for a crack.

I took a look at the upper hand guard, no sign at all of a crack anywhere on it.

Here are some more shots of the stock on the 1939 Izhevsk 'Finn capture' I bought last weekend. I've compared it to the prewar stock on my 1927 Izhevsk ex dragoon. You'll note the stock is thicker in places, some uneven shaping, etc. If this is Finn, then I don't think I've ever seen a one piece on one of these rifles. Every one I have seen so far is the two piece.

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Sure wish these old gals could talk

Anzac15--I got the brother to your rifle, another Russo Finnish War Capture. It's a 1939 Izhevsk, same prefix series serial number 5282, all matching numbers and never overhauled and shows a lot of use. The stock shellac/stain color is exactly the same too! These two rifles may very well have been made the same day! Mine also has the Finnish "41" marking plus boxed "SA". My rifle has significant shrapnel damage evident on the right hand side, looks like fragments from a bouncing betty type antipersonnel mine. Somebody carrying this rifle had a very bad day. There is also the initial "H.K." carved in the left hand side of the stock with eighteen hash marks underneath. An extremely cool 'been there done that' rifle!

Anzac15: I was reading about the Finn model Mosin-Nagants and THINK I read that the Finns on one of their models..... maybe the 28... that they modified a very FEW of their stocks simalar to the one you pictured. Do some more looking into this. You may very well have a rare stock

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ptf18

Sure wish these old gals could talk

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They can. Just hold them in a quiet setting and look them over and listen closley. No detailed information, but they do speek volumes. Stories of sacrifice,fear, bravery,evil and good.