A new to me Finnish m28-76

[Lotema]

It's been a while since I've posted up a new rifle but mostly because it's been a while since I bought one. This is the first new one for the collection since last year. I figure that if I'm only going to get one this year then it might as well be a good one. I've had my eye out for an m28-76 for quite a while, having missed them when they were imported. Last week I saw one on the local armslist at a really good price and jumped on it. Fortunately I was the first to respond and so it was mine. He said that if I had backed out he would have relisted it for a few hundred more since there was so much interest in it. He also threw in 20 empty Lapua 7.62x53r shells as well since this one doesn't want to eat the x54r. I've got another 100 rounds on the way so figure reloading that brass will keep it well fed for a while. I brought her home on Saturday afternoon and promptly reloaded 20 rounds and started cleaning the old girl out. There was still some sticky Finn grease under the wood, so I don't think he ever disassembled it. He bought it when they were available in late 2012 and only shot about 40 rounds or so through it and then it got stuck in the back of the safe for the next 6 years. Some of the sights were a bit loose but they all tightened up just fine. Makes me wonder if he shot them with them that loose and got some bad groups and just ignored the rifle.

I got everything cleaned up, tightened and ready for the range but ran out of time on Saturday. Sunday I hit the range with the 20 rounds I had made up and was able to get the sights zeroed to the bullseye at 50 yards in 10 rounds. Took me longer to get it zeroed than it should have because I kept going the wrong direction! Lesson learned. That gave me 10 rounds to do a couple of 5 shot groups. The first group was decent but I wasn't as focused on my breathing as I should have been so I stringed it a bit. Still a respectable group but I knew this girl was gonna do better. The last group was much better. If I had stopped at a 3 round group I would have been very happy. It opened up a bit with the last two shots. Still, it showed that this rifle has a huge amount of potential and I just need to get more familiar with the diopter sights. This is my first with diopters so really not used to shooting with those other than a few shots here and there with Titanium Hammers CM .22's.

I will say, the trigger on this rifle is absolutely fantastic! I measured it and it is at 3 lbs 2 oz. Super light pull back to the second stage and then just a angels breath more to send the round down range. I'd read good things about the triggers on these but was really not expecting it to be this good.

Anyhow, here are some pictures of the rifle.

Left side of the rifle


Right side of the rifle


This one is a No-Maker, No-Date barrel. I was hoping that it would have been dated '72 since that's my birth year but beggars can't be choosers. It shoots well and that's more important to me.


Some of the rifles came with a scope mount base already attached and fortunately this one has it! Unfortunately getting the rest of the mount would cost me as much as I paid for the rifle!


A shot down the bore. Looks pretty good.


Most of these rifles were bedded and this one is no exception.


Not sure who made the receiver. Maybe a Remington?


The front sight with a .125 diopter insert. Works well with my Shoot-N-see's at 50 yards.


I only have the one front sight insert with the rifle, so I tried my hands at laser cutting a couple other ones for it. The one in the middle is the original. I made the other two out of black acrylic. They're a bit thicker than the original but look like they'll work ok. Making them the same thickness as the original made them way too brittle.


The rifle at the range


And last but no least, the best group I managed on the first outing. Can't wait to get it back to the range again this upcoming weekend and really see what it can do!

[millman]

[bunkysdad]

That's pretty cool. Does it use the .308" bullet?

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

[Lotema]

That's pretty cool. Does it use the .308" bullet?

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

Yup, this one wants the .308 bullets, so I have a lot more options available for reloading.

[racerguy00]

Very nice. Congrats!!
Mine was lacking the front sight but one is on the way. Can't wait to shoot it. It's a 72 date and has the scope base like yours.

[Lotema]

Very nice. Congrats!!
Mine was lacking the front sight but one is on the way. Can't wait to shoot it. It's a 72 date and has the scope base like yours.

So YOU got the '72 dated one! I'm really happy with it so far and there's a really good chance it'll be the only thing I take to the range for the next month! I had a at least 10 different people gathered around it yesterday at the range, all wondering what it was and whether I'd sell it to them. Nope, not a chance!

[racerguy00]

I've had mine since last fall. I've just had too many irons in the fire to get to the range with it.

[Longcolt44]

Nice rifle you have there, I keep hoping one will make it through the doors at the shop.

[zeebill]

I bought one off Alsky after saying I had no desire for one he tempted me too much and I bought one. It slugs out at around 308 and after testing all the ammo I have I found that some of my old Yugo ammo is in the high 308+ range so I tried it and got decent results. I don't do well with diopter sights but at 300 yards I was trying to hit things and did fairly well. I had bought a Swede Mauser accuracy rifle near the same time and I faired much better with the M28-76. It seems the setup in the swede is for a longer distance then the 300 yards I was trying so it was hard to figure what part of the target I was actually on when aiming the rifle. It chambers and feeds the milsurp ammo just fine and shows no signs of excess pressure or the like so far. I didn't have a sled or anything and just shot off the bench and my jacket rolled up for a rest. To be honest I do much better with open steel military sights at any distance, just a strange trait of my old eyes I guess. I am not crazy over the long distance target rifles as much as I am about straight open sighted fighting rifles shot well over long distances. I don't plan on reloading for either of these rifles so I will likely never see the accuracy of either of these rifles is really capable of shooting. Bigger toys for bigger boys I guess, getting weird in my old age! Bill

[qz2026]

[Titanium Hammer]

I can't wait to take her for a test drive this weekend! All the hours you spend searching the gun listings definitely pays off!

[Lotema]

I bought one off Alsky after saying I had no desire for one he tempted me too much and I bought one. It slugs out at around 308 and after testing all the ammo I have I found that some of my old Yugo ammo is in the high 308+ range so I tried it and got decent results. I don't do well with diopter sights but at 300 yards I was trying to hit things and did fairly well. I had bought a Swede Mauser accuracy rifle near the same time and I faired much better with the M28-76. It seems the setup in the swede is for a longer distance then the 300 yards I was trying so it was hard to figure what part of the target I was actually on when aiming the rifle. It chambers and feeds the milsurp ammo just fine and shows no signs of excess pressure or the like so far. I didn't have a sled or anything and just shot off the bench and my jacket rolled up for a rest. To be honest I do much better with open steel military sights at any distance, just a strange trait of my old eyes I guess. I am not crazy over the long distance target rifles as much as I am about straight open sighted fighting rifles shot well over long distances. I don't plan on reloading for either of these rifles so I will likely never see the accuracy of either of these rifles is really capable of shooting. Bigger toys for bigger boys I guess, getting weird in my old age! Bill

I saw a bunch of your posts from back when these first came in and you were definitely not interested in them, quite vehemently at that! I was surprised when I found the post where you had finally gotten one and taken shooting and had some good things to say about it! Like you, I tend to prefer the open military sights as well. My eyes aren't all that old but they sure feel like it sometimes and a good basic sight works best for me too. I think I'm going to like these diopters though, they did pretty good for me last weekend. I'm hoping that some of the inserts I've cut for the diopters will work, then I can make some that my eyes will be happy with.

[Lotema]

I can't wait to take her for a test drive this weekend! All the hours you spend searching the gun listings definitely pays off!

Search broadly and search often! I think you're really going to like this one

[zeebill]

You are absolutely right I really thought the prices were and are ridiculous on these rifles and indeed they were only marksmanship rifles not battle rifles which I prefer. There were also Swedish marksmanship rifles available for less money and sometimes more complete that will fire ordinary milsurp ammo. Alsky had a rifle that chambered ordinary milsurp and with all the ammo I have in many varieties I figured I could find milsurp in the size it needed. Now I was tempted and Alsky, the silver tongued salesman took over! Rofl! I owned a 28-76 before I knew what happened. Shortly after that I saw a heavy Swede in great shape with original sling and I grabbed that too. If conditions are right and the limiting factors of a rifle can be bent by normal man it is time to eat crow or bite the bullet and make the move. Dolk has often accused me of being tactless and without any doubt he is right! You have to be flexible to survive and I try to survive all battles to fight another day.


One of the things I did not expect was the ease of using the diopter sight on the 28-76 and the difficulty of using the same sort of sight on the Swede. I am writing that off to the Swede being set up for a farther than 300 yard distance and therefore more difficult to figure where you are on the target overall and to find where you actually want to be. I do not own anything like a leadsled and can see where that would be very helpful if I get real serious with these rifles. I doubt that will happen as we both apparently are serious shooting open sight steel sights. Nice variety and hope to experiment with these again sometime in the future. In the first place I saw the have to reload statement when they first came in and thought what a bunch of crap I will never reload and therefor not shoot them. But variety opened the door and Poof I own two. Maybe I ought to write a book on recipes of how to eat crow? Rofl Bill


PS I had an inspiration to try and get together to shoot but WV and Washington states are pushing the envelope a bit!

[Lotema]

PS I had an inspiration to try and get together to shoot but WV and Washington states are pushing the envelope a bit!

Just a little bit! Though we do occasionally get back east from time to time. We moved up here from North Carolina 20+ years ago but still have family back in NC, Georgia, Tennessee and up in New York.

[Phosphorus32]

Beautiful rifle! One of these is on my long list. I appreciate the trigger description and that certainly is a light pull for a Mosin. The lightest I’ve ever measured on any other standards military configuration Mosin was 4.5 lbs.

I’ve ignored Armslist for too long it seems. I found most of the listings were at 2x current market value, so I stopped searching them ;)

P.S. I’m over on the dry side of the Cascades.

[Lotema]

Beautiful rifle! One of these is on my long list. I appreciate the trigger description and that certainly is a light pull for a Mosin. The lightest I’ve ever measured on any other standards military configuration Mosin was 4.5 lbs.

I’ve ignored Armslist for too long it seems. I found most of the listings were at 2x current market value, so I stopped searching them ;)

P.S. I’m over on the dry side of the Cascades.

I agree about many of the Armslist posts around here, generally way over priced for what they are. I still look at it pretty frequently though because the gems will pop up from time to time. I've gotten some of my best deals through there. Last year I managed to get an m28/30 for $300 and an gorgeous 1897 Tula m91 for $225. Those kinds of deals don't pop up there too often but often enough to keep me looking!

[Phosphorus32]

Beautiful rifle! One of these is on my long list. I appreciate the trigger description and that certainly is a light pull for a Mosin. The lightest I’ve ever measured on any other standards military configuration Mosin was 4.5 lbs.

I’ve ignored Armslist for too long it seems. I found most of the listings were at 2x current market value, so I stopped searching them ;)

P.S. I’m over on the dry side of the Cascades.

I agree about many of the Armslist posts around here, generally way over priced for what they are. I still look at it pretty frequently though because the gems will pop up from time to time. I've gotten some of my best deals through there. Last year I managed to get an m28/30 for $300 and an gorgeous 1897 Tula m91 for $225. Those kinds of deals don't pop up there too often but often enough to keep me looking!

Those were some great deals/steals!

[zeebill]

Beautiful rifle! One of these is on my long list. I appreciate the trigger description and that certainly is a light pull for a Mosin. The lightest I’ve ever measured on any other standards military configuration Mosin was 4.5 lbs.

I’ve ignored Armslist for too long it seems. I found most of the listings were at 2x current market value, so I stopped searching them ;)

P.S. I’m over on the dry side of the Cascades.

I agree about many of the Armslist posts around here, generally way over priced for what they are. I still look at it pretty frequently though because the gems will pop up from time to time. I've gotten some of my best deals through there. Last year I managed to get an m28/30 for $300 and an gorgeous 1897 Tula m91 for $225. Those kinds of deals don't pop up there too often but often enough to keep me looking!

I too have ignored armslist because it is generally where people I know have been fleeced and taken. It is however sometimes a dumping ground for disenchanted first timers running to get rid of their to them bad buys at any price. When we look at these things sometimes we laugh and go on our way to other things but sometimes their is a good chance of a great buy. I just have a problem when I can't lay my hands on something and see and feel what I have before I buy something. If something works for you by all means continue just keep in mind the possibilities of getting burned. My RV-27 has the lightest trigger I have ever tested at 2 and 3/4 pounds on my gauge. It can be bounced while cocked with no accidental releases though and that counts. I have many M39's that are around 3 pounds or less. Most of them get much better after just a thorough cleaning and some oil. Good luck shooting and most of all enjoy your Marksmanship Target rifle. Bill

[Phosphorus32]

I agree on the Armslist cautions zeebill. I've sold to others in another state via Armslist, where I need the money order deposited in the bank before shipping. However, I have never purchased "remotely" (requiring shipping to me) off of Armslist. I'd only do face-to-face buys off of an Armslist lead.