How many Finn captured M44s were there?

[racerguy00]

Does anyone know offhand? Just left a lgs that has a Finn capture '38 Izhevsk 91/30 that sits in a Finn spliced stock. The kicker is the birch forearm appears to have been spliced to an m44 stock with the bayonet cut-out and Finn escutcheon plates added. The bayonet groove is blended in to the forearm at the finger joint splice. The round Soviet cartouche is visible but sanded by the Finns. Finn hangers, no sling. Rifle and stock are in really good shape. But the price is insane. Pics are verboten there but I'll keep trying. I've never seen a stock like it but it fits with how the Finns recycled everything.

[Judi and her Mosins]

My question is why you did not buy it ? I does sound like a nice, diffrent one. Better hurry back and grab it. Judi and her Mosin's

[husker51]

There is 6,451 Finn captured Russian M44s! I dare anyone to prove me wrong!

[racerguy00]

$550 for an otherwise typical Finn capture...that's an expensive bayonet groove.

[racerguy00]

An M44 had the shorter forearm removed by the Finns and a longer 91/30 one was spliced on. The portion of the bayonet groove on the rear section wasn't filled in when they did it apparently.

[Miller Tyme]

Wait a 91/30 stock (current rifle) with a cutout for a bayonet? What am I missing here?

The finn spliced forend.

[desdem12]

I have actually seen those numbers in my travels but I will never be able to remember where. It is real low though. A lot less then the m38 (that were returned anyway).

[Knuckledragger]

Estimates are between 2300-2600 for total captured carbines (both 38 and 44). The overwhelming amount of those would be M38's. So I'd guess well under 500 total Finned M44's.

[racerguy00]

Thanks all.

[Junk Yard Dog]

Carbines? I can only speak for the one M38 Finn captured carbine that I own, how many other captured carbines there may be is likely only a guessed at number.

[Knuckledragger]

Numbers posted above are from Finn Army records - post war. How many survived to be exported probably unknown. The under 500 M44's is my personal WAG-it's likely well under half of that.

[zeebill]

There is as far as I know no possible way for a person to know how many captured M44's the Finn's had in inventory because they listed them as carbines and they could be anything of that nature including 1906's Petersburgs, and who know what else.

If that gun is matching and indeed an upright gun and not somebodies built job that price may indeed be a bargain. Now it has to be Finn marked and at least show vestiges of being from one source and time period. I frankly have never seen a Finn marked 91/38 but what the heck does that matter these days. I am not looking that hard at this age as I have sort of run out of energy and spirit to do so anymore. I would have bought that in a millisecond and let the pieces fall where they may after I owned and took it apart and assessed what I had bought. To each his own as I am at a totally different point in my life than Racer is. Food for thought! Bill

Whoops I read 91/38 instead of 91/30 without my glasses on. Horse of a different color now! The stock combination is not entirely unbelievable and entirely impossible to see I would guess. Again as far as what Palokangas says about inventories is the Finns lumped all carbines together from what I remember. Then I wonder why you are asking about a carbine when this is a 91/30. I need my tea! I have seen and read about a herd of recaptures which became refurbs over the years, does it look like a refurb? Anything is possible then I would say. Bill

[ZKend]

I think racer was wondering about Finn m44s to get an idea on the commonality of extra parts the Finns might have at hand, a little insight on how a m44 stock spliced into a 91/30 might come about, and how common or rare such an occurrence may be. At least thats how i took it

[racerguy00]

The following link was posted in another thread but the rifle pictured immediately caught my eye. Substitute a typical Finn splice in front of the magazine for the Romanian splice on the one pictured. Same concept, you end up with a 91/30 with a bayonet groove. This gives you a great picture of what the Finned 91/30's stock that I saw looked like.

http://62x54r.net/MosinID/MosinRareRomanianM9130.htm

I figured that the number of captured m44s would be low, therefore such a Finn stock would be rare if not unique.