I need a refresher course in M39 mosin Nagants.

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tahunua001

tahunua001

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hello all,
for some reason I just spent the last 2 days obsessing over the next military surplus rifle that I just had to own. so after failing to find a single Swiss K31 for under $600 in stock, and losing a few bids on gun choker for Arisakas, I came across a sale on M39 mosins. the price seemed right and I've always been curious to test one side by side with a junky wartime production 91/30 so I went ahead and ordered one. now I have tons of questions as a result so I need some info from the guys that own them and know a bit about them.

1. what is the best bore diameter? I vaguely recall hearing at one time that the finns used a 308 diameter bore instead of the 311 that the russians used but then again I could be confusing old info about the 7.62 tokarev with x54R. I am not currently set up to reload x54R but I would like to be set up for it, should I ever decide I want to hunt or compete with it.

2. can anyone provide me with a link to good stripper clips? I never bought stripper clips for the MNs that I own because I always hear about how bad most of the clips are(Mostly ones of chinese make).

3. what's the zero distance? if it shoots good, I would like to take it out to a local CMP shoot. they use reduced targets at 100 yards so I would like to know whether they need a dead on, 6 Oclock, or belt buckle hold under.

I'm sure other questions will arise as well.
 
From what I've heard around in various forums online, M39s were zeroed at 150 meters. You'll need to do that math to get the hold for 100 yards -- just thinking about it gives me a headache ... ;)

I do know that I can hit a 12" steel knockdown target at 120 yards by aiming at the base of the target. I don't know if that helps you.

Good luck with the stripper clips. Even 10 years ago, they were getting hard to find. You might be able to take some of the crappy ones and tweak them until they work. I've given up, and I load my M39 one round at t time.

Sorry, but I know nothing about bore diameters.
 
When you get your M39 look for numbers like these stamped on the barrel and front sight blade.

412750432.jpg

If the numbers match each other, it means your sight blade has not been shortened by some other owner. I have had three Finnish M27 rifles which were filed down so far a belt buckle hold would get a head shot, or maybe even part the hair.
The photo is of a 1941 SAKO I own, which has always shot well using the standard rear sight graduations and a 6 o'clock hold.

I use .311 Sierra Matchkings when I want to get serious---if they still make them, give them a try.
-----krinko
 
good advise. I don't usually shoot match ammo, usually hunting ammo gives me all the consistency I need.
 
I have no experience what-so-ever with Finnish Nagants, but isn't the rear sight tang graduated in Meters, not Yards? If so your 150 meters = 164 yards.
 
The m39 Finn nagants are the Cadillac of the mosin world. Some of the Finns do have a .308 bore, usually the 28/30 or the 28/76 rifles though. Every m39 I have come across has a .310 bore. They are very accurate surplus rifles. I have one that's scoped and it will do far less than 1".
 
Since no one has posted a photo of the Finnish M39, allow me to provide a view of my other 1941 SAKO---

412754622.jpg

-----krinko
 
Hello,

Most Finnish Mosins are still 0.311".

Stripper clips are actually pretty easy to find. Stay away from the aftermarket Chinese junk, though.

Josh
 
gazpacho said:
I have no experience what-so-ever with Finnish Nagants, but isn't the rear sight tang graduated in Meters, not Yards? If so your 150 meters = 164 yards.
Click to expand...



Haven't read the whole thread so forgive me if someone had already mentioned this but isn't the rear sight of the Mosin Nagant graduated in arshins? Been out of Mosins for a year or so but I do recall something about this. An Arshin is I think 28 inches. I also recall something about a factory zero being 300 arshins.

Please jump all over me if I'm wrong. I'd hate to contribute wrong info here but this is what I remember.
 
The Finns are definitely the best M39 Mosins available. They took Russian receivers and put good barrels on them (many were Sako), did trigger jobs, and shimmed the action to float the barrel.

Most of the Finns I have checked were .310" bore. I have yet to find a .308, but if you find one, hang onto it. I did find one that was .314", which really shocked me. That's unusual.

The 7.62x54R cartridge is between a 308 and a 30-06 in power, and that's a good neighborhood.

S&B ammo is in Boxer primed brass cases. My experience with most reloadable brass is that it is not really correctly annealed. If you don't anneal it, you'll get cute little pleats on the shoulder.

I've pretty much given up on milsurp rifles. For the price of a good milsurp, you can get a very decent brand new rifle in a more common chambering.
 
mine is an actual made in finnland rifle, VKT receiver, and should have either a VJT or sako barrel. I don't waste money of S&B anymore, too shady on materials and quality for my liking. I have 2 boxes of winchesters and a good 1000 rounds of wolf in blister packs so I'm golden on brass or if need be one time demillable steel cases.
 
"Haven't read the whole thread so forgive me if someone had already mentioned this but isn't the rear sight of the Mosin Nagant graduated in arshins?"

The M91 as used or made by the Finns had the old Arshin numbers on the left side of the sight base struck through and added marks in meters on the right.
The Finnish M39 started out with meters.
-----krinko
 
denton said:
The Finns are definitely the best M39 Mosins available. They took Russian receivers and put good barrels on them (many were Sako), did trigger jobs, and shimmed the action to float the barrel.

Most of the Finns I have checked were .310" bore. I have yet to find a .308, but if you find one, hang onto it. I did find one that was .314", which really shocked me. That's unusual.

The 7.62x54R cartridge is between a 308 and a 30-06 in power, and that's a good neighborhood.

S&B ammo is in Boxer primed brass cases. My experience with most reloadable brass is that it is not really correctly annealed. If you don't anneal it, you'll get cute little pleats on the shoulder.

I've pretty much given up on milsurp rifles. For the price of a good milsurp, you can get a very decent brand new rifle in a more common chambering.
Click to expand...
The Finns are the only ones who ever made M39s.
 
Your M39 should have a D on the barrel below the manufacturer stamping. That'll denote it was rechambered for the battlefield pickup Russian and the Finnish D cartridge. 0.310 bore.

Look forward to seeing what you are getting for manufacturer (Sako, SKY, Tikka, VKT, B barrel, etc) and wood.

The bayonets are harder to find and pricey. Look for real Izhevsk or Tula strippers...the Chinese eBay junk will have you cussing.

I've actually used my ever plentiful 308 BTHP bullets in my Finns and still had 2-3 MOA.

PS: the Finn will likely make you forget you even own a 91/30 :)

3daba5055644ad8c887fe8b6d7499138.jpg
 
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well I know for a fact it's a VKT receiver, the site I bought from had VKT, Sako, and B barrel differentiated under separate listings and priced higher for the rarer ones. I just got te vkt because I'm cheap and it was the least expensive, although I did opt for the original sling, though the listing didn't mention whether it was the full leather or the expedient web mesh sling. I don't think I'll forget about the 91/30 in my collection, I like to cite it as one of the worst milsurps I've ever owned aside from the pretty red wood :D
good info on the D marking, I'll be sure to check for that.
 
tahunua001 said:
well I know for a fact it's a VKT receiver, the site I bought from had VKT, Sako, and B barrel differentiated under separate listings and priced higher for the rarer ones. I just got te vkt because I'm cheap and it was the least expensive, although I did opt for the original sling, though the listing didn't mention whether it was the full leather or the expedient web mesh sling. I don't think I'll forget about the 91/30 in my collection, I like to cite it as one of the worst milsurps I've ever owned aside from the pretty red wood :D
good info on the D marking, I'll be sure to check for that.
Click to expand...
There isn't one single finnish made mosin that has a finnish made action, they took left behind russian rifles and rebarreled them, restocked, triggers, etc. The barrels carry the markings of the arms plant that did the rebuild, such as sako, tikka, and valmet (vkt). The B barrels were left over Belgium blanks from some m91 builds that were reused in the m39 projects. As previously stated, they have a D marking that denotes a .310 bore. Other than the 28/76 rifles, the m39 is k own to be the most accurate mosins made.
 
ok I didn't know that, some of the articles I've been reading suggested that the Sako/tikka/valmet items that were sent to armories were barreled actions but looking back through they were just really vague and probably just meant the barrels.

so to that point, did they do any kind of refining to the receivers and actions? like lengthened bolt handles, polishing contacting surfaces on moving parts? refinishing? etc did they scrub the russian markings or are those left intact?

all of my experience is with wartime russians which take the word "crude" to a whole new level and a single chinese type 53 which seems a little smoother in the action dept but was difficult to offer a solid opinion because the stock is rotten.
 
There is no sense in the army building a MN with a smoothed action. The Finns used Russian/Soviet bolts and almost exclusively hexagonal receivers. That bolt is meant to be slapped, hard.

These rifles, particularly M-39s can be shot incredibly fast from the standing position without losing the weld to your shoulder. Does not make a whole lot of sense to shoot these rifles off a rest.

M-39 spec was .3095" bore. Even for the B barreled units. I believe the M91 B barrels were .308".

It is not difficult to duplicate the M39 factory load/trajectory with a .308 Sierra BTSP. Have to use VV powders to really get anywhere with published loads. Really puts it on deer.

Chrono your 200 gr hunting bullet to the corresponding velocity. Zero at 150 meters, then shoot it at 100 yds and 50 yds to see where it is hitting. The sight gradations going past 150 meters are true if you work up the correct load. Then just switch your range finder over to meters


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