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Fin capture Imperial Tula

686 views 14 replies 9 participants last post by  alarmingman 
#1 ·
I had been looking for an early M91 and found this one to fill that hole for a while. The bolt may match as the font looks really similar, but the cocking peice I believe has the later Tula star? The mag bottom has a 6 as in the last digit of the serial, but that font doesnt look like the rest. Has the right barrel bands and the bore is pretty good with about an inch of counterbore. Unfortunatly the stock looks like it was sanded with power tools and the finger grooves are now shallow and undefined. One day Bubba must be punished for his crimes! Anyway, picked it up with 450 rounds of Russian light ball for $350 and was interested in what you serious MN collectors think. I hope the pics turn out right side up! Wood
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#3 ·
I had been looking for an early M91 and found this one to fill that hole for a while. The bolt may match as the font looks really similar, but the cocking peice I believe has the later Tula star? The mag bottom has a 6 as in the last digit of the serial, but that font doesnt look like the rest. Has the right barrel bands and the bore is pretty good with about an inch of counterbore. Unfortunatly the stock looks like it was sanded with power tools and the finger grooves are now shallow and undefined. One day Bubba must be punished for his crimes! Anyway, picked it up with 450 rounds of Russian light ball for $350 and was interested in what you serious MN collectors think. I hope the pics turn out right side up!
Power tools usually leave little telltake swirly marks on the wood that you can see. I think that stock probably was sanded stateside at one point, but I've seen unsanded finn rifles with "melted" looking finger grooves before, the wood might have been really rough and smoothed by a Finnish armorer somewhere along the way - bubba might not be completely responsible.

I think the stock has been gone over though, probably with manual sandpaper (I can't see swirls in your pics). the stock doesn't look to have a rifle stock oil finish any longer. Bubba would have had to really lean into the finger groove to make them that melted-looking by accident.
 
#4 ·
The price isn't too bad at $150 for the ammo and $200 for the rifle. The bolt was likely renumbered in Finland. It's not uncommon to find a mixture of makers on the rifles, along with parts from varying time periods. The stock was heavily by some new owner.

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#5 ·
I was half joking about power tools being used because whoever did it had a heavy hand. Look at the very tip of the stock, at how dark, almost black it looks. I would be much happier if the whole stock looked that dark and dirty. Were many of these 3 line rifles captured by the Fins?
 
#7 ·
That sanding was not done in Finland.

The Finns purchased or traded for many tens of thousands of M91s in the 20s and 30s. In fact, the Finnish M91s account for a very large percentage of remaining known Russian and French made m91s available in North America/Europe (along with Balkan and a few SCW guns). Tens of thousands came to the US as surplus in the late 80s and 90s.
 
#6 ·
Nice obr. 1891!

However, I believe that this "Fin capture" is most likely an inheritance from the Russian empire or purchased elsewhere. I don't believe obr. 1891 was used in WWII by the Russians, although there are pictures of opolchenie with obr. 1891. Reading Palokangas' book I see that most of the three-line rifles in Finland were actually purchased peacefully.
 
#10 ·
Regardless still a nice rifle for the money. Ya the stock bites but 1910s don't grow on trees either. What a gem it would of been without the heavy sanding. Would of jumped on it too. Heck I don't even care about ammo thrown in with it. Picked up a 1910 Tula from here on the boards and it is one of my top 5 M91s. Not sure about top five value, but top five favorites. Congrats, John.
 
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