Seitengewehr

Just thought I’d share more of my personal collection. I have a Finnish Mosin-Nagant M1939. That’s pronounced MO Seen Nah Gon. My M39 Ukko-Pekka is built on an 1896 Izhevsk reciever & was re-arsenaled by SAKO in 1943. SAKO stands for Suojeluskuntain Ase- ja Konepaja Oy, which in english would be Civil Guard Gun and Machiningworks. They were located in Riihimäki, Finland.

SAKO was formed on 1 June 1927 from the previous Suojeluskuntain Yliesikunnan Asepaja (Civil Guard Supreme Staff Gun Works) and moved from Helsinki to Riihimäki.

Prior to 1917, Finland was part of the Russian Empire, and military units were equipped with the various models of the Russian-made M1891 Mosin-Nagant bolt-action service rifle. After gaining independence, Finland purchased many more Mosin rifles abroad, primarily Austrian and German captured Russian rifles from World War I. These older rifles were usually refurbished; this process could be as minimal as a Finnish Army property stamp and a new sling or as drastic as a complete redesign, with new stocks, fittings, sights, triggers, and more accurate barrels. The Finnish army and Civil Guard designed and manufactured several new models of Mosin-Nagants, using original French, Russian, and American receivers. Finland never manufactured receivers, relying instead on existing receivers from its stockpiles of purchased and captured Soviet rifles. During the Winter War of 1939-40, and the Continuation War of 1941-44, Finland captured additional Mosin-Nagant rifles from the Soviets in huge quantities. Finland also purchased these rifles from Spain, left over from the Spanish Civil War, and from Nazi Germany’s stockpile of captured arms. Many of these rifles were simply reissued for use.

The Finnish army continued refurbishing and reissuing Mosin-Nagants well after its wars with the USSR were over. There are Finnish M1939 with barrels dating into the early 1970s, when they were issued as officer training rifles. Finland still issues the 7.62 TaK 85, a substantially modified and modernized sniper rifle built on the Mosin-Nagant action.

Models of Finnish Mosin-Nagant rifles were identified by numbers: M/91-M24 Lotta rifle, M27, M28 and M28-30 Pystykorva, and M39 Ukko-Pekka. It is worth noting that Finnish rifles M27, 28, 28-30, and 39 were issued with knife bayonets instead of the standard Soviet quadangular socket bayonet.

Finnish Mosin-Nagants are known for their accuracy and dependability. The famous Finnish sniper Simo Häyhä is widely considered to be the most successful in history and used the M28 Pystykorva rifle.