M91/30 DDR marked

[sakorick]

These are really is addictive. 1938 with East German mark, matching bayonet, magazine, buttplate and bolt. Allan's Armory had a few. I love the interwar guns. I also found out what the East German triangle 1 mark means. It's a condition code assigned to non German made weapons and gear. The triangle with a 1 indicated that the rifle was acceptable for front line service as a grade one condition weapon. The triangle 2 was grade as a secondary condition weapon and grade 3 was a poor condition weapon only to be used in emergencies or for repairs. Regards, Rick.

[Dutch Mosin]

Fantastic rifle Rick.
Although I drive over to the former DDR 2 or 3 times a year I have never found a DDR marked M91/30 or M44.
You seem to have a nose for rifles like this.
Even found one with a matching bayonet.
Congratulations on a very good find.

Met vriendelijke groet,

Martin

[sakorick]

Just lucky. I've got a pretty neat M91 Tikka with rebuild hang tag.......want to see? Regards, Rick.

[Dutch Mosin]

Hello Rick,

I don't think luck has anything to do with it.

Walking into one of these is luck.



I'd love to see the pictures of the M91 Tikka.
Just keep them coming.

Met vriendelijke groet,

Martin

[sakorick]

Here is my 1940 Tikka M91. The stock is very very dark and has the original overhaul hang tag. I believe this one has it's original Russian stock with a spliced forend added. Noteworthy is the extra 200M notch in the rear sight, Copper handguard rivets, the front sight has no base, flat topped and notched, late Russian barrel band with retaining screw, and the escutcheon plate with round hole and hangars. I believe these are fairly uncommon. Regards, Rick.

[Dutch Mosin]

See what I mean Rick.
No luck involved here, you've got a nose for these rifles.
That M91 looks great.
The wood may look dark but judging from the pictures the stock is in very nice condition and that tag.......that is a bonus.
This tag makes the rifle extra special.
Again a fantastic find.

Thanks for sharing the pictures Rick.
I appreciate it.

Met vriendelijke groet,

Martin

[sakorick]

Hello Martin. I may be wrong but I was under the impression the Finns preferred the hex receivers. I don't think I've ever seen a Finn M91 with a round receiver. The Finns used pine tar on their stocks so many are pretty dark. Regards, Rick.

[Dutch Mosin]

Hello Martin. I may be wrong but I was under the impression the Finns preferred the hex receivers. I don't think I've ever seen a Finn M91 with a round receiver. The Finns used pine tar on their stocks so many are pretty dark. Regards, Rick.

Hello Rick,

My apologies for this delayed reply.
Yes, you are correct and then again IMHO you are not.
The Finns preferred the hex receiver, but only because all M91’s were manufactured with hex receivers.
Finland used to be a part of Russia until December 7th 1917 when they declared themselves independent.
Until that date the Russians supplied the Finns with M91 rifles.

In most wars that Finland fought, Russia or the Soviet Union was the enemy and many Mosin Nagant M91 rifles changed sides from Russia to Finland.

In the summer of 1918 Finland declared the M91 officially as the standard rifle for their armed forces.
At that time they had 210.615 M91 rifles in stock.

Just to make sure they had a sufficient supply of M91 rifles Finland bought as many rifles as they could.
Some numbers:
In 1926 Finland buys 39.900 M91 rifles from Italy.
In 1928 they buy 13.000 from Albania, 2200 from Romania and 4200 from the Baltic States.
In 1932 they buy 20.800 M91 rifles again from the Baltic States.
In 1936 4600 M91’s are bought from Hungary, 2900 from Poland and 10.900 from Czechoslovakia.
In 1938 Yugoslavia supplies them with 56.500 rifles.
In 1940 Hungary delivers 300 and finally in 1941 they buy 12.300 M91 rifles from Bulgaria.

These numbers include next to the M91 infantry rifle, the M91 Dragoon and Cossack rifles.
All these rifles have hex receivers.
Of course the Finns took everything they could lay their hands on, but if you check the Finnish M24, M27, M28, M28-30 and M39 rifles, you will notice that almost all of them are built on older M91 hex receivers.


An example of an updated Finnish M91, the M91 P-series.

Like I wrote before, the Finns used everything they could lay their hands on so I wouldn't be surprised to find a M91 rifle with a round receiver that has an SA stamp on it.
Never seen one though.

Now…..to answer your question which is also my personal opinion:
The Fins didn't prefer the hex receiver, they just had lots of them.
Many Finn rifles have hex receivers, because they “modified” the Russian M91 rifle which was the standard rifle for their armed forces from the beginning.


Met vriendelijke groet,

Martin