Guns International #: 102804503
Seller's Inventory #: M24-
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Guns International #: 102804503
Category - Military Rifles - Non-US
- Mosin-Nagant Rifles
** SOLD ** 1924-25 Finnish Civil Guard m/91-24 Mosin Nagant Rifle in 7.62x54R
* Original & Clean "Lotta" Rifle! *
Description: This is a scarce, original, exceptionally clean and particularly-interesting, Finnish Civil Guard-issue Mosin Nagant m/91 rifle variation, designated the m/91-24 "Lotta" Rifle. This is a Finnish-only Mosin Nagant model variation that was built for just two years between 1924 and 1925, and all of the production was originally intended for the Finnish Civil Guard forces. The nickname for the m/91-24 of "Lotta Rifle" comes from the primary source of funding for these rifles to be made, which was donated by the Finnish Civil Guard's female auxiliary organization called the "Lotta Svaard". The womens-only "Lotta Svaard" organization raised the vast majority of the money for these, which was then combined with a small amount of public/state funding that was given to them to make it possible to build these rifles. The grand total for both 1924 and 1925 production fell somewhere between 28,000 and 38,000 rifles the number of surviving examples today has to be a small fraction of that, given that these rifles served in at least three wars, The Winter War, The Continuation War, and The Lapland War (WW2), and that was AFTER serving for at least 14 years prior to these wars. These Civil Guard m/91-24 Mosin Nagant Rifle's were built from the Finn's stock of Russian-made Model 1891 Mosin Nagant rifles that were captured in 1918 by Finland's "White Forces" after the Finish Civil War ended, or were purchased from Germany and Austro-Hungarian forces in the early 1920's. By 1923 the Finn's had a large supply of these m/91s, but, a large portion of them were in varying states of poor condition, broken, or had rusted bores or broken parts making them unsuitable for issue to the military or any other force within Finland. The Finnish Civil Guard, looking to re-arm it's members with an improved m/91 type rifle, went to work to upgrade these Russian m/91's up to the newly-designed m/91-24 specs. The m/91's were separated into unserviceable and serviceable groups, each rifle was then totally stripped down and the good parts were kept, while the un-salvageable parts were scrapped for their steel. The good receivers and parts were then and organzied, ready to be built into the new m/91-24 rifle. The Finnish arsenal got to work taking the barreled receivers and replacing the Russian barrel with a newly-made and stepped barrel from either Sig (Schweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft, Neuhausen), or one of three German subcontractor, Venus Waffenfabrik, Oskar Will AG, or Romerwerke AG. From there they built one after another, using the refurbished Russian parts to complete the rifles, then stocking them with a Finnish-made stock. The completed rifle was then issued to the Finnish Civil Guard for service. Due to the wide range of salvaged parts, there was a wide variety of small parts used, barrel bands, etc. The one consistent feature across nearly all of these rifles is the barrel, which is unique and easily recognizable by the stepped barrel, which was sleeved to just past the nose of the stock. This was done, along with the stock's barrel channel being enlarged clear the larger diameter of the sleeve to aid in accuracy by creating somewhat of a free-floated barrel by having the barrel bands apply force to the sleeve rather than the barrel directly. This particular Lotta Rifle m/91-24 is a very good representative example of these neat and history-rich rifles. It shows all the markings it should and they are all intact and legible. This includes the Civil Guard property marking on the chamber area of the barrel of an "S" within a shield with 3 branches spread from the top of the "S" to the top of the shield, as well as the unique Finnish Civil Guard-applied serial number on the left side of the receiver at the rear, which has an "S" prefix ahead of it at the left front of the receiver (as all Finnish Civil Guard serial numbers have an "S" prefix). It has been lined out, as it was reissued post-war at some point outside of Civil Guard service. It has matching serial numbers on the barrel, and the bolt, with duplicate serial numbers on left side parallel with the barrel just above thew wood, then perpendicular to the bore just in front of the receiver. The left-side serial number parallel to the bore is lined out on the barrel, which was restamped perpendicular to it as was the standard. Sometimes these serial numbers will be different, others the same. In this case the same serial number that was assigned by the barrel manufacturer was kept when it was built, but moved to ahead of the receiver as was the standard for these m91-27's. The bolt is numbered on the flat ahead of the bolt handle. The remainder of the rifle is either un-numbered or has lined-out serials from Russian-issue. The Finnish-applied blue finish on this rifle is in very good shape for all that it has likely been thru, as these rifles saw a LOT of use, both in the periods between the various wars and during the wars in combat. The blue finish is still strong but shows pin-prick pitting in places as well as various degrees of a brown/gray tint to it from this exposure and age. Of all of the blued parts, the magazine shows the most wear to the finish. The bolt, which was left in the white, is still pretty clean compared to most of these, as it still shows a fairly bright silver color with only moderate staining or darkening. The stock set is good as well, as it still retains the handguard and the both the handguard and stock itself are free from any major damage or repairs. The finger-joints are the rounded type, correct for a war-time produced stock. While it is impossible to know for certain, there is a very good chance it is the original stock for the rifle from when it was first built. These stocks had to be modified to clear the larger barrel, so they were not easily swapped. Stocks fit during post-war rebuilds are usually the later style joints. The stock's hardware is all there, including the sling bails, the correct sling slot-liners, the buttplate, the nosecap, and the barrel bands (which are the correct "early" type). The cleaning rod is also still in the rifle. The action on this rifle is still nice and smooth, and it locks up tight when in-battery. The internals are still in great shape and nothing appears worn-out or damaged in any way. The bore in this rifle appears somewhat dark, which is VERY typical of these and for that matter, all Mosin variants both Russian and Finnish, but it does still show very strong and well-defined rifling. There are no bulges, bad spots with deep pitting, or major damage of any kind, but does show minor pin-prick type pitting throughout, primarily in the grooves. The vast majority of the lands of the rifling still show a solid, smooth surface, and where it does show pitting it is very tiny pin-prick spots which should have no measurable impact on the spin imparted on the bullet and VERY little to no impact on the rifle's accuracy potential. All of the controls on this m/91-24 work perfectly, and the rear sight adjustments are 100% functional and the slide with the sight blade on it latches securely wherever it is placed (NOTE: the Finnish-applied range markings are on the right side of the sight base, as the original Russian markings were on the left-side, which have been scrubbed). This rifle is 100% functional, and everything is nice and tight with no ill-fitting or loose parts. We have no doubt that it will still shoot just as reliably and accurately as it did during WW2. If you have been looking for one of these somewhat scarce Civil Guard "Lotta" rifles for your collection, here is a chance to get one that is as original as it was when it was first built and issued that still is attractive and not worn out. These are very unique as well as historically important, having been used in so many conflicts so effectively against the Russians in the Winter War, then again with Germany as an ally in Continuation War, then again once more AGAINST the Germans in the Lapland War, which saw the retreat of German forces out of Finland and the end of WW2. Very few military long guns have seen as much service and real combat as these "Lotta" rifles, and if you are a collector of Finnish weapons your collection cannot be considered complete without one of these in it. Priced at $795.00, this is a bargain Price: POR Curio/Relic: Yes Rifle Caliber: 7.62x54mmR Manufacturer: Civil Guard Arsenal / Russia Model: Finnish M/91-24 Civil Guard "Lotta" Rifle Serial Number: 19270 / Civil Guard # S 33454 Barrel Length: 31.5" Inches Condition: Good Metal Condition: Good Wood Condition: Good Bore Condition: Good / Above Average Barrel Type: Bohler-Stahl (Venus Waffenfabrik, Germany) Action: Bolt-Action Repeating Rifle Finish: Finnish Arsenal Military Blue Weight: 9.5 lbs Sights: Finnish-Re-Stamped Iron Battle Sights Manufacture Date: Finnish Rebuilt in 1 Extras: Finnish Sling Bails Contact Seller |
Guns International #: 102804503
Seller's Inventory #: M24-
Guns International #: 102804503
Seller's Inventory #: M24-