It was a little rough looking when I found it. After removing the action from the stock I found some pitting and rust on the underside of the barrrel. (Not deep enough by a long shot to effect safety) The rust was removed with Kroil and a brass 32 acp case. The bluing was still under the rust except in the pits! So I scored there. This method of rust removal doesn't hurt the blueing at all and only removes the rust. The bore looked rough too. I'm still cleaning it. But I think it'll end up with some light pitting and darkened grooves. I understand the majority of the 1940's made M91/30's were not used as much and courtesy of an arsenal rebuild are in excellent shape. This one? Not so much... For a 1942 Finnish rifle it actually appears to have seen some use!
For those not overly familiar with this firearm I'll tell you what I know. But I don't claim to be an expert at them. I took images of both sides of the rear sight so you could see the arshin's crossed out on one side and the meter's put on the opposite. (arshins was a imperial russian unit of measurement for length) The Finn's also got rid of the dog collar's for the sling and put in swivels. Furthermore the Finn's used whatever captured or old pieces of Mosin Nagants' they could find. My magazine box shows where it was completely rusted through, then cleaned up, re-blued, and used again. The bolt has an old serial number that is cross out and a new one that coincides with the weapon serial number is stamped on it. I understand this to be very common on these rifles.
The stocks on these rifles were made in two pieces on purpose I understand. I've included an image of the splice. The wood work is very good.
I found this one in a local pawn shop for $89.95. So I decided to take a chance and see how well it cleaned up. So far so good....
Dave
