Finnish M39 pricing?

[Dope]

Gentlemen,

I have been looking for a decent Mosin recently and my local gun shop just got some Finnish M39s in. They are asking $400 and I think they have 4 of them.

This is the description:
"VALMET MFG 1944, ALL MATCHING, ARSENAL RECONDITIONED AND NEVER ISSUED, MINT BORE-VERY LIMITED AVALIABILITY. HANG TAG ATTACHED!!!"

This shop has been very good to me, very honest and very fair prices in the past. Is $400 worth it for one of these? I'm having a hard time deciding because I can always pick up a beat to crap M44 for <$100. Would something like this be worth $300 more? Are they good shooters or does the price indicate more of a collector's item?

Thanks,
Dope

 

[TexasRifleman]

Here is a good place for some comparisons.

I bought a rifle from these guys a while back and I was very pleased.
I've seen them recommended a lot so their prices ought to give you some guidance.

http://www.gunsnammo.com/

I paid $389 for this one maybe 5 months ago....Sako

 

[Vaarok]

Four hundred is AWFULLY high. Wholesale Guns and Ammo has them for about a hundred less at least. Unless they're pre-1899 receivers or really pretty, I would pass.

 

[gtmerkley]

That sounds about right.

 

[esmith]

That sounds about right.

Yeah, about right for them trying to rip you off.

Seriously, thats just plain foolish trying to sell that for 400 hundred. Unfortunatley you probably aren't going to see it anywhere for much cheaper. These guns used to sell for as much as russian mosins do today. It boils down to how bad you want it, they're accurate and beatiful, and the ammo's cheap for it too. Your call.

 

[Mr White]

gunsnammo.com that TexasRifleman recommended is a good place to go for Finn M39s.

They've got unissued B's for $360. The B stands for Belgium. the barrels of the B's are made by FN and make for very accurate rifles. AND.... many of their guns are built on pre-1898 receivers, so they can be shipped directly to your home with no FFL transfer needed.

 

[PTK]

I recently bought a ~$400 M39, but it is an unissued example. It was from gunsnammo.com

 

[Dope]

Hmmm. Thanks for the link, I will have to visit these in person to decide. If they're immaculate they might be worth it but it sounds like probably not. Like I said, these guys have always been very fair (ESPECIALLY for a MA dealer where guns are a lot harder to come by) so I have a feeling these might be really nice examples. Hard to justify spending $400 for a Mosin though. They do have a K31 for $200 though, I might have to make the trip...

Dope

 

[rocinante]

http://classicarms.us/

classicarms has them for 350. either sako or valmet.

 

[Cosmoline]

They're headed north for sure, but the value depends greatly on what precise type you're looking at and its condition. Some M39's are extremely rare, like the Tikkas. Others are amazingly nice looking with deep tiger stripes. An average Sako should probably run $250 from what I've seen, but you can get them for less if they've got a crack.

 

[Kalashnikov]

Mine was $900.



All matching, excellent condition. Scope doesn't match and from everything I've researched this is genuine.

 

[El Barto]

I just missed out on a Finn at a local store for $138. The description said that there was light "rust spots" in the bore. I should have jumped on it.

 

[Cosmoline]

Scope doesn't match and from everything I've researched this is genuine.

Genuine what? That looks like an M39 with a PU fitted to it, which would make it a fake. Are you really sure it's not bogus? If it is fake, it should have cost about $150 to $200 as a semi-bubba curiosity. Might be pretty cool to shoot, too. But $900?

http://mosinnagant.net/finland/finnish_mosin_nagantm39.asp

 

[Kalashnikov]

Then I'm mistaken in my post purchase research. I should probably be pissed.... But I don't care. It's still my baby.

 

[KI.W.]

Finnish Mosin price is going up. Nex year is it more $$$.
Mr Kalashnikov, yuor "sniper rifle" was not very expencive.
(Those -44 and other CCCP junk......never mind. )

 

[Cosmoline]

I should probably be pissed.... But I don't care. It's still my baby.

Well you never know, but the odds are stacked against any Finn sniper being real. Here's a rundown of the genuine ones, and as noted these were incredibly rare in the 40's and are so rare today as to be almost impossible to find:

If some-one offers you Finnish WW2-era sniper rifle outside Finland the chances are it is not the real thing. Certain foreign manufacturers have equipped normal Finnish surplus rifles with various scopes (mostly Soviet PU) and these are often advertised as authentic Finnish sniper rifles.

http://www.jaegerplatoon.net/RIFLES7.htm

Anyway, it's a cool rifle, and by rights the Finns SHOULD have made one like it. The PU is more durable and practical than the artillery sights and PE's they actually used, and is a good fit with the M39. But unfortunately they didn't do it that way because they didn't have the optics during the war. Don't beat yourself up. The market is absolutely awash in fake Mosin snipers and they're getting more sophisticated all the time. I would suggest you contact the seller and demand a refund of about $800, though. You were hit for enough money to make it potentially criminal, though it's possible the seller was an innocent buyer himself. If so maybe you can split the difference between you so you're not bearing the brunt of the fraud alone.

In future, my advice is to use this forum and the Mosin-Nagant collector's forum before putting down a chunk of change. I can scan Gunbroker and find one or two REAL deals on collector Mosins. There's a pre-war Finn M91 going for an excellent price right now. But there are two bad deals for every good one, and snipers have gotten so hard to verify it's almost necessary to do a complete teardown of the rifle and detail inspection down to the freshness of the screw holes.

 

[elmerfudd]

$150-200 sounds extremely low to me. If you've got a fake Finn sniper for that price I'll be happy to scarf it up. The way I see it a beater M39 goes for around $175 and I'd happily pay an extra $50 over that for a really nice one that happens to have a tapped receiver and a turned down bolt. Then you pay $250 for a PU scope and mount and you're up to $475.

 

[Vaarok]

The "PU Sniper" M-39s are fakes made by Interordinance in about 1999, from hand-picked pristine-bore super-nice M-39s they fitted with period scopes and new mounts.

They're very desireable because they shoot incredibly. A local guy had one that was a consistent half-MOA rifle with handloads. Market value's in the $800 range. But they're fake as a three-dollar bill.

Regular M-39s in the secondary market are not hard to find for $250. They won't be mint, but lately prices seem to have jumped a hundred just because the dealers marked them up. For a month or so, nobody bought at that price, and then everybody just sorta gave in and went along.

Hell, WG&A paid $89 per rifle when they bought all the M-39s left in the armories of Finland. Every penny more is markup.

 

[Cosmoline]

That high? Wow. I can only imagine what a true Finn sniper would fetch now.

Suffice it to say, if the fake snipers are going for that much, it's high time to grab what deals are left!

 

[KI.W.]

Mr Kalashnikov is shooter no collector.
If I like "like hell" some gun, can to pay overprice. It is only my business.

 

[Yankee John]

I bought my 1941 VKT M39 about 3-4 months ago for $329 from my local gunshop. It is built on a Tula 1896 reciever and has a post-war stock.

Hope this helps!
John

 

[KI.W.]

Here you are something:

http://www.lahdeniemi.fi/Sivut/kayt-kiv.htm

Finn 28-30 550 € = $ 825. No scope.

 

[Kalashnikov]

The "PU Sniper" M-39s are fakes made by Interordinance in about 1999, from hand-picked pristine-bore super-nice M-39s they fitted with period scopes and new mounts.

While this may be true in most cases, mine was in country since the late 80's. Myself and the seller had a bit of a friendship, so I assume he wouldn't intentionally rip me off. In any case I'm more than happy with the purchase. And she looks beautiful.

 

[yodar]

91-36 mosin N agant Finns

http://www.gunsnammo.com/ sold me mine for less than $300.

Select ones are up to $400 but mine is virtually mint and my 91-36 the ONLY Mosin-derived rifle I will own. I had a bucketfull of Mosin Nagant 91's and 91-30's and didn't enjoy them at all

These rifles are assembled by the Finns on Mosin 1891 receivers with parts and configuration to suit Finnish specs and are judges as antiques by the BATF and had I not used my C & R I could have merely sent them a copy of my driver's license to buy the gun

There are still M-39's listed on the Burns website

yodar