Shims inside of my Finn M39

[offthepaper]

I recently bought a M39 Finn ('44 Sako) MN that has a very pretty, but unfnished post war stock. No dings or scratches, but very, very dry. While removing the stock from the barreled action, some thin shims fell out, along with a small metal block (about 1" square, 1/4" thick with a threaded hole in the middle). The thin metal shims, with holes in the middle, were cut in two shapes, square shims that seem to fit under the action with the front trigger guard screw passing throughtheir hole. The other shims are rounded at one end, also with a hole through them that appear to go under the tang, with the tang screw holding them in place. I was'nt expecting to find these or to have anything falling out of the stock when I removed it from the action, so I didn't see where the square metal block fell from. My questions is can anyone tell me where this goes. It doesn't fit (too thick) under the action where the front trigger guard screw goes (can't seat the action to the stock). But just in front of the trigger guard cutout in the shock on the inside is a small hole cut where it seems to fit, but it goes in the hole verticaly, with the threaded screw hole in a horizontal direction which serves no purpose. Can anyone enlighten me?
sorry, but I am unable to post pics.

 

[glimmerman]

The metal block with the threads is the cleaning rod retainer, the threaded end of the cleaning rod threads into it. It goes into a cutout in the stock. Put the cleaning rod in the stock and follow it down to the cutout and you will see where this block goes. As far as the shims go, look in the stock and see if you can see where the shims might have left a small impression or on the bottom of the action you might see a little discoloration from where they touched the action.

 

[DMK]

The thin metal shims, with holes in the middle, were cut in two shapes, square shims that seem to fit under the action with the front trigger guard screw passing throughtheir hole. The other shims are rounded at one end, also with a hole through them that appear to go under the tang, with the tang screw holding them in place.

That's exactly right. The shims lift the action up a little so that the barrel floats in the channel. It should only touch the stock at the very end.

When you put the rifle back together, make sure not to tighten the end cap or the bands too tight or you'll pull the handguard down to contact the barrel. I just snug them lightly until the handguard is not moving around and use Locktite on the threads to keep them from working loose.

just in front of the trigger guard cutout in the shock on the inside is a small hole cut where it seems to fit, but it goes in the hole verticaly, with the threaded screw hole in a horizontal direction which serves no purpose.

Glimmerman is spot on about the cleaning rod block.

has a very pretty, but unfnished post war stock. No dings or scratches, but very, very dry.

M39 stocks are notoriously dry. There's a lot of speculation about what they used to finish the wood, but whatever it was, either it dried up in storage or they put it on awfully sparingly. Maybe both. Since I live in a very damp area, I used some pure Tung oil (not Formsby's or Minwax Tung stuff which it more like varnish) on my M39s to protect the wood and it soaked it right up. Just a couple coats applied with a rag should do the job without affecting the original look.

 

[offthepaper]

Thanks guys.
Duh. I guess I should have looked at it a little closer before posting. I ended up using 4x steel wool on the stock before rubbing in a mix of 50/50 BLO and mineral spirits, then 2 more coats of a 75% BLO. I like how it turned out. Still waiting for range time.