Russian capture Finn weapons ???

[Sgt. Rob]

Was just thinking, all the time we see Russian weapons captured by the Finns and put to use. But other than a few refurbed M91/30's popping up with an SA mark, where are all the Finn weapons that the Soviets must have captured during the war? The Russians must have captured some M27's / M28's / M39's / Finn rebuilt M91's etc. Any examples out there??

Semper Fi, Rob

[Junk Yard Dog]

I seem to recall a story about a Finn M39 that turned up being used in Vietnam, It was years ago, and I don't remember all the details.

[desdem12]

There have been a couple of times guys have said they got M39s in a crate of mosins, so i would suspect those were captured by the soviets

[Jumperwire]

I'm thinking Pacanis had a refurb 91/30 with an SA mark on it.

[Junk Yard Dog]

I don't remember that one, but them my memory is Swiss Cheese.

[Darryl]

From what I remember reading, the Russians would take the Finn rifles apart for parts, but rarely used a Finn rifle.

I also know there are rifles captured by the Finns and recaptured by the Russians and used by the Russians. You will see Finn [SA] mark on the barrel shank (put on during the war)and also the Russian Refurb mark put on them post war. So that rifle had to go back and forth.

Dolk

[desdem12]

Pac does have the capture recapture 91/30

[BuckeyeSgt]

Since the Mosin was made for peasants maybe they did capture the other Finns but not use them or tear them down for parts since they didn't fit the mold. Training individuals on different rifles would have been a pain. I mean all they carried was a spoon, basic would have lasted 2 more weeks had they gave them a knife and a fork.

[Izhevsk762]

I think the non-standard rifles were scrapped, although whatever parts that were compatible with Soviet M/Ns would've been used. This would explain why we see re-captured soviet rifles, as well as tikka 91/30s, mixed with standard refurbs.

[Chumlee Bumsnag]

I have a Remington M-91 that has German marks on it and Finn marks which would indicate that it was German capture and then given to the Finns. It also has a post 1928 Izhevsk mark on the rear sight leaf that makes me think it might have been recaptured by the Russians. If it was a 91/30 I could see it , but not an M-91.

[zeebill]

I too have a SA marked refurbed 91/30. It has a Finn one piece pinned trigger assembly in it too. I have seen maybe 4 or 5 over the years and most times they are in cases of refurbs going unknown to most everyone looking at them. Hence I look closely and quickly through refurbs at all times. I buy almost none but I still look. A couple of $100 refurbs that brought me $250 will make you do that!

The Russians mainly scavenged captured weapons for parts and rarely admitted the weapon of the enemy was better than the Russian made and issued one. I guess it was a face saving move? The Finn's were also taught to throw the bolt of their rifle away if they knew they were getting captured as were fighting men of many countries. I have no idea what the numbers of Finnish weapons captured was but with their many successes I would say there number was not that high. The Finn's were very savvy soldiers and were no doubt masters of the fighting retreat too. Bill

[Sgt. Rob]

Looks like a bit of a mystery here to me. Like I mentioned in the first post, there have been refurbs with the SA mark, albiet rare. And I think some time ago I saw a refurbed 91/30 with a Tikka barrel posted on another forum. Desdem12, I had not heard of any M39's coming out of refurb crates, any proven info on that, or a thread on another board on that subject? Were they refurbed like Russian firearms?

I pretty much do not buy into the idea that the Soviets did not capture any significant amounts, even with the Finn military being better in the fighting retreat then the Germans. They had to capture at least a few thousand weapons. I ask because we do get the RC K98's imported, but maybe the Finn captures are inside Russia proper and not going anywhere.

If the Soviets did break them down for parts, then does anybody have a refurb with Finn marked parts, such as a magzine housing with the Finn modification mark?

This just kind of intrigues me.

Semper Fi, Rob

[desdem12]

It was someone on this forum that mentioned it. The salesman at a store grabbed it before it was sold. Might have been on the old forum not sure. Also the guys where i do a lot of shopping have said finns come in every now and then in the crates but they snap them up before i ever get to them.

[Sgt. Rob]

Bumping this back up, I am still interested if anyones seen Finn parts on the refurbs!

Semper Fi, Rob

[Jumperwire]

That would be interesting to know. Off the top of my head, I can't thing of anything the Finns marked but the Barrel

[Sgt. Rob]

The Finns would mark magazines with the "HV"? I believe when they modified them. Also, and I need the Finn experts to chime in here, I believe there are some recognized fonts used by the Finns for serial number applications, which might be noticed in a 91/30 rebuild that has line outs instead of being ground. Just some thoughts I'm having.

Semper Fi, Rob

[damuralt]

I have a "jam free" magazines on a bunch of different Finnish rifles and none of them are marked, other than with the original manufacturers' markings.

[Izhevsk762]

The Finns would mark magazines with the "JV"? I believe when they modified them. Also, and I need the Finn experts to chime in here, I believe there are some recognized fonts used by the Finns for serial number applications, which might be noticed in a 91/30 rebuild that has line outs instead of being ground. Just some thoughts I'm having.

Semper Fi, Rob

They marked some of the jam-free mags with "HV", my 28/30 has the marking. Never seen one on a refurb though.

SAKO and VKT did make some bolt parts, but I've never seen any of those on a refurb either.

[Sgt. Rob]

Thanks Izhevsk762, I edited my post to cut down on confusion. I knew I was having a brain fart when I put up the J.

Semper Fi, Rob

[racerguy00]

Reviving and OLD thread but I recently saw a Sako cocking piece on a greasy refurb that was in a crate with other completely normal refurbs.