got Finn M39

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_N4Z_

_N4Z_

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After many months of mulling about which way to go with my first ever milsurp rifle, the deed is done. I had contemplated K31's, 24/47 Yugo Mausers, Mosins of various type...... Just unboxed my new to me, 1942 SAKO M39, with matching bolt / izzy hex reciever (1897) / yada yada.

The claimed "excellent" stock in fact has a cracked ass...:eek: behind the butt plate, <--(*edit note, this comment is not correct - it is a two piece stock. my mistake.) but otherwise she's in pretty good shape. Bore looks sharp and good for a rifle of this age.

Bit of cosmoline about the reciever and goobed on the magazine. Will need to clean up for sure.

I have a question here. The stock is VERY dark. There is a ding that exposes what looks to be good wood underneath. Is the "dark" some type of preservative or just a finish? I think I want to hit it with mineral spirits and then give it a light sanding - followed with ?? Stain? Oil of some type?


Anybody with Mosin or surplus rifle experience have any ideas? :confused:
 
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_N4Z_ said:
The claimed "excellent" stock in fact has a cracked ass
Click to expand...
There is a ding
Click to expand...

Welp, it's ruined!

Cut the barrel down to 18", strip off the bluing, chop and sand the stock and spraypaint it OD green, then drill and tap the receiver for a scope, tactical light and laser. :D

Cosmoline will be along shortly to strangle me and give some real advice re: the stock (maybe it's just gunked up with cosmo?) In any case I wouldn't sand a Finn - they have gorgeous wood from what I've seen and they're fairly rare.
 
I've fired two M39's and both were fine shooters with excellent triggers.

I'll defer on cleaning the stock to someone with more experience with these particular firearms. Some of them still have the pine-tar(I think) finish which you may not want to take off.

The one I got had a big repaired crack in the butt. I thought about taking it apart and re-doing it, but the way it shoots I'm afraid to change anything!
 
Don't know if it's pine tar but it sure is dark. Good beneficial clean up is all I'm looking to do here... and then shooting it of course. :D Looks like it's been out of action for quite some time.

Mineral spirits good for funky gunky wood though yes?

Not gonna be any choppin' or bubba-izing on this rifle either, Mr. Ninja kooky talker. :neener:
 
M39

N4Z,

i have two M39's. Both excellent shooters. Specs for the M39 were that it had to shoot less than 1.5 MOA. Of the two my favorite has a stock that looks like it was dragged behind a jeep for a few miles and very little bluing on the exposed metal parts. It's a 1944 SAKO. Got it for $120 at a shop in Columbus GA while visiting my son when he graduated from boot camp at Ft. Benning.

My other is also a 1944 SAKO. Very nice all around but it just doesn't have the character of the other one.

The Finns used a few different finished on their stock. One did have pine tar as one of the ingredients. I leave them as is. It's part of their history. Nothing like taking a rifle to the range that looks like you rescued it from the trash and the procede to outshoot a lot of the more expensive rifles.

If yours hoots as good as mine, you will be very happy with it. Take a few different kinds of ammo. Like all rifles, they each have their favorite load.
 
Don't strip the stock until you determine what the finish is. Most Finns I've seen have the splotchy black pine tar finish...they are supposed to look like that.

Reminds me of an episode of the "Antiques Roadshow". A guy was proudly describing how he found this French 17th century bureau and stripped it, sanded it, and put a beautiful finish on it. It was stunning looking. The appraiser said how pretty it was and valued it at around $17000. They guy was thrilled...until the appraiser said if he left it in original shape it would have been worth around $75K. :eek:
 
Stock finish

That finish is a phosphate (I can't remember the exact name, but it's used in water softeners) deliberately used by the Finns. It is supposed to be splotchy, dark in some areas and light in others.
Don't sand it. If anything, clean with soap and water (don't soak the stock; we're talking wet towel here).
You have a great example of a weapon used by a nation of riflemen. Most Finns beat modern weapons accuracy-wise. Enjoy!
 
Cracks are fairly common in M-39 stocks, though most don't impact the accuracy or strength. The Finns used birch and by the mid-40's were really scraping around to find good wood.

The dark stain is the result of PINE TAR in the finishing oil. It's a traditional Scandinavian wood finisher. It both helps to protect the wood and gives it a tactical non-shiny surface. Don't remove it. At most clean any surface dirt and cosmoline off with a rag, or just leave it. In the past I've also had good results covering the existing finish with gun stock wax to protect it. You can check out the Mosin Nagant forum (aka "the Collector's forum") and see the various threads on exactly how the Finns made the mix. In extreme cases where there's only a little bit of remaning finish and you need to protect the wood you can try to make your own pine tar oil finish, but my experiments have ended up being far too dark and I've never tried it on a rifle.

The post-war stocks and stocks on unissued M-39's tend to be raw, which also means they tend to be full of soaked cosmoline. THat's one advantage of buying a ratty looking dark wartime stock--it's less likely to have cosmoline in its grain.
 
I have about a half dozen M39s in unissued to good condition. They are my favorite mil-surp. You have one with a used stock. I would not sand it, it will destroy the value and originality of the rifle. Just clean it with a mild cleaner. I find that some dish soap and a mild scrubbing brush works very well. Don't scrub the finish off, or you will need to reapply it somehow, which is undesirable to me as I find that it is nearly impossible to match now-a-days. Enjoy shooting it. They are very fine rifles.
 
M-39 is fine...

Got mine from AIM some time ago. Great shape and an excellent shooter. I highly recommend NOT sanding and refinishing if you can help it. I thought about it myself but am glad I didn't, the Finnish grows on you. :D

I did apply some Tru-oil to the stock to clean and protect it, and superglued a small crack in the buttstock (sound familiar?)

Here's a couple pics of the one I got, it's a 1968 rebarrel Tula hex receiver that loves heavy ammo. The weight of the rifle really soaks up recoil so it's great for the bench.

M-39.jpg

M-39-2.jpg

M-39-3.jpg
M-39-4.jpg

Good choice for a first Milsurp! Clean it, shoot it, post pics!

-LeadPumper
 
Gentlemen...

Thank you for all the responses and info.

I am new to milsurps and probobly a bit ignorant maybe of what I have.

Guys this stuff is so dark you cannot see any grain in most places. If that is intended then gentle cleaning is all it will get.

I will post pics later today when I get home so you can get a better idea of what I've got.

Thanks again to everyone.
 
That's a fantastic stock! It looks like it was practically soaked in pine tar. That's primitive tactical for you. The late model ones like Leadpumpers don't usually have that finish and like his are plain wood.

Some of that shiny stuff on the surface is probably cosmoline. See if you can wipe it off with rags. Avoid using any harsh chemicals as those will tend to damage the pine tar finish. It should have a fairly flat and non-shiny surface. The rifles of White Death were actually the original "black rifles"
 
The crack is in fact a two piece as was pointed out to me either here, or a diff forum. Sorry I didn't get a close up shot of that and it's not easy to see with the pics I posted.

My ignorance calling out the crack.

Yes Cosmoline, upon closer inspection (with my nose), I'm pretty sure it's covered with copious amounts of pine tar. The smell is quite evident. Had to think back to being up north in Michigan... Long time ago since I've been around that smell.

So then a light rub down with some Murphys for the stock? Safe to do? Or should I look to something else as not to mess up what I have?
 
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You can test the oil soap on an inside surface. A watery rag might be your best bet, or just dry towells to soak up any surface cosmoline and grease. BLO will take up the pine tar and spread it around, which is one way to darken stocks that have lost tar. But your stock looks very much intact, so I'd advise just enough cleaning to get the oily grease off and then a wax coat to protect it. It will look rather dull and dingy, but that's how it's supposed to look. And it makes a lot of sense when you think about the realities of combat in the boreal forests. You need to make things either white like the snow or black like the shadows.
 
Just a quick interjection here since you're new to milsurps...

The vast majority of ammo you'll find for the rifle will most likely be (and should be assumed to be) corrosive. Not a big deal - but make sure that you properly clean it after you shoot it so you don't rust up your barrel and bolt. Do a search on cleaning after shooting corrosive ammo - key is to flush out/remove the corrosive primer salts.

Kerosene will quickly remove the cosmoline...try not to get any on the wood.

Excellet choice for a first milsurp and looks like you got a nice one. I agree with others...don't sand!!
 
You can also take the Mosin down and just use really hot water for the steel to remove the cosmoline. It's a simple machine and pretty easy to dry off and oil down. A similar approach can be taken to aid in cleaning really nasty bores between scrapings with the brush. But your Finn should have a minty bore.

The surplus 54R is almost all corrosive with the exception of the rare-encoutnered Finnish ball (thus the minty bores on the Finnish Mosins. Modern Russian and European production is generally not corrosive.
 
Yes the bore on this rifle is close to mirror quality and very sharp.

There is alot of very cheap surplus available though SG etc. I did see some Olympic (Greek) new production, non corrosive 180gr. boat tail fmj that was pretty reasonable.

Any recommendations on the wax coating? As in what product will give the best, most durable results?
 
I would start with a good cleaning using TSP and hotwater. Then a nice clean hotwater bath. Finish up with several coats of BLO and your stock will lighten up somewhat. The cosmoline is contributing to the darkness but even after this cleaning it will be somewhat dark. I have 5 M39's and the best of the 5 is almost as dark as yours.
 
M39's

I would stay away from the Oympic. Not that great accuracy and people who relaod don't like the brass that much either. Winchester/Privi Partisan armmo is pretty stout stuff and you do get good brass for reloading. If you do relaod you should be able to come up with very good results. These rifles had to hold a 1.5MOA with military ammo. Handloading should only make them even better.

Hoppe's No. 9 Nitro Powder Solvent is your friend when shooting ammo with corrosive primers. It is formulated to dissolve the salt residues left behind by the primer. I have used it to good effect for some years now. Many people simply pour hot water down the barrel form the brrech to clean out the residue and then clean as normal. It is important to check your rifle the next day just to be sure you got it all out. Corrosive primers are very stable over time. That is why militaries liked them. Long term storage doesn't affect them.

Good luck with this beast. I am sure you will like it.

BTW, when you disassemble the rifle to clean it, there should be a date on the bottom of the tang. That is the date the receiver was made. Some of these receivers are over 100 years old. This is not an issue, but it does become relavent to ATF regulations as to whether the rifle qualifies as an antique or not. Also, the Finns were just being practical, not tactical when they finished their rifles. They were fighting against Russia (and kicking butt big time) and used whatever resources they had.
 
I would stay away from the Greek ammo. I'd also stay away from SG - too many issues with them shipping the 'wrong' ammo...do a search and you'll see what I mean.

AIM is good on milsurp ammo, Ammunitionstore (when they have it), Ammotogo, MGS, Century, SOG, etc.
 
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