Picked up a Finnish M27 Mosin today... - Page 1

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Picked up a Finnish M27 Mosin today...

Posted: 4/14/2020 7:45:06 PM EDT

...but bubba got to it before I did

Good bones though. Tikka barrel, wings on the bolt, and receiver date of 1898. It is missing a cleaning rod though. Hopefully I can get it stripped and looking good soon, not sure if there are any intact markings on the wood. I'm not looking for a museum job here but I'd like to keep it faithful to the way it began though. Any tips on the treatment that the Finns used? From what I gather it's not shellac like the Russians, more of an oil type thing. Or is shallac correct?

Posted: 4/14/2020 8:17:24 PM EDT

[#1]

Shame about the paint job, Bubba only picks on the good ones. The Finn's used a reddish stain in conjunction with copal lacquer on Birch M27 stocks during that period and used straight copal lacquer on walnut stocks, obviously we can't tell which you have due to the paint. I tried to replicate a Finnish stock finish once years ago and failed miserably so I tend to avoid such rifles now unless they are dirt cheap or I am reasonably sure I can find a replacement stock. I'd avoid sanding at all costs and use something like CitriStrip to remove the paint gently and then try to figure out what type of wood you have, I think copal lacquer is still used in painting so you may be able to find it in painting/craft stores or sites.

Posted: 4/14/2020 8:33:58 PM EDT

[#2]

That is bizarre even by bubba standards

Hope it cleans up well

Posted: 4/14/2020 8:39:52 PM EDT

[#3]

My M27 on the left, M39 on the right. I actually like the M27 better.

Posted: 4/15/2020 8:48:01 AM EDT

[#4]

Is that supposed to be green ?

Posted: 4/15/2020 10:34:02 AM EDT

[#5]

Quote History

Quoted:
Is that supposed to be green ?

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I don't think the green paint is period correct lol. I'm gonna get some Citri-strip today and if it's warm enough this friday I'll try and get it stripped.

Posted: 4/15/2020 3:33:02 PM EDT

[#6]

Ugh. That's a damn shame.

Hopefully you're able to get it all off with minimal damage to the underlying Finnish.

Posted: 4/16/2020 9:09:11 AM EDT

[#7]

I thought only M27s had wings on the extractor.

My 39 was built on a 27 receiver. Receiver has been milled for wings but it doesn't have wings on any bolt parts.

Posted: 4/16/2020 3:20:50 PM EDT

[#8]

Quote History

Quoted:
I thought only M27s had wings on the extractor.

My 39 was built on a 27 receiver. Receiver has been milled for wings but it doesn't have wings on any bolt parts.

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That's correct, the M27 is the only Finnish model meant to use the "winged bolt" design but since the grooves are cut into the receiver they don't prevent the use of non winged bolts if needed which apparently became common once the flaws in the design became known. You can use any Mosin bolt in a M27 with the receiver grooves but a winged bolt will only fit into a receiver with the M27 grooves. Its not uncommon to find Finnish Mosin receivers with the grooves rebuilt into other rifle models, the Finn's reused receivers over and over as long as it was serviceable. They are still doing this today with their Tkiv-85 sniper rifles which are built on Mosin receivers that are close to, if not over 100 years old in most cases.

Posted: 4/24/2020 5:24:09 PM EDT

[#9]

Got some work done in it today. Everything stripped except the barrel and action.

Posted: 4/24/2020 9:33:23 PM EDT

[#10]

Nice man! That is some decent wood under that paint.

Posted: 4/25/2020 3:24:02 PM EDT

[#11]

Yeah it's in better condition then I thought it would be. Since the rifle was already altered from original I wasn't too concerned with it being super correct so for the finish I went with Tom's 1/3 mix. I know it's a contentious issue among those striving for originality but this gets be 80% of the way to an original and looks great. Just be aware, it has a distinct odor that I enjoy but it took my wife about 10 seconds to ask what the hell I was doing at the dinner table....

GIF of the stock half rubbed and half untouched.

Posted: 4/25/2020 8:37:30 PM EDT

[#12]

Was any of the metal molested?

Posted: 4/25/2020 9:57:28 PM EDT

[#13]

Quote History

Quoted:
Was any of the metal molested?

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Everything was painted green. Luckily all the metal parts cleaned up well. And also fortunately most of the barrel is in the stock and handguard and all the other metal parts cleaned up well and suffered no I'll effects. I've used a nylon cleaning brush on everything as to not damage the bluing. It looks very good for it's age, no pitting on any of the metal parts except a tiny amount on the butt plate

Posted: 4/25/2020 10:12:28 PM EDT

[#14]

Looks good so far, you're definitely restoring some of the old girl's dignity. I meant to mention this in a earlier post but if you decide to replace the missing cleaning rod a M39 cleaning rod is the same length and is much easier to find then the earlier M27/M28 and M28/30 cleaning rods and since the Finn's often used M39 rods on earlier made rifles being refurbished it would be correct as well.

Posted: 4/25/2020 10:25:54 PM EDT

[#15]

I literally just posted a WTB post in the EE right before I saw this reply haha. Have any leads on one?

Posted: 4/25/2020 10:36:24 PM EDT

[#16]

Wow that cleaned up really nice. My buddy bought a mosin at a gun show and it was dark dark brown. Took it home and heated it up to get the cosmoline off and turned out a beautiful light blonde.

Posted: 4/26/2020 2:36:40 PM EDT

[#17]

Quote History

Quoted:
I literally just posted a WTB post in the EE right before I saw this reply haha. Have any leads on one?

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It appears M39 cleaning rods have gotten a bit scarcer too since I last looked, none of the usual parts sources I check have them. I thought I had one in my Finnish spare parts bin but I can't find it. There is one on eBay currently though, for some reason I can't post a link to the auction but if you search M39 cleaning rods it should come up.

Posted: 4/26/2020 11:50:38 PM EDT

[#18]

Finished up and put it back together tonight.

There's some small stubborn paint spots but I'm super happy with how this came out.

Posted: 4/27/2020 12:44:20 PM EDT

[#19]

That looks so much better than I expected.

Posted: 4/27/2020 3:10:57 PM EDT

[#20]

So how much did you pay for it while it was still bazooka green?

Click To View Spoiler

Posted: 4/27/2020 3:26:30 PM EDT

[#21]

About all you want to do is put on a little tung oil cut with mineral spirits to hold what you have. Good save.

Posted: 4/27/2020 11:08:06 PM EDT

[#22]

Quoted:
So how much did you pay for it while it was still bazooka green?

Click To View Spoiler

View Quote

$130

Posted: 4/28/2020 1:40:09 AM EDT

[#23]

Looks like it has the 'wings' on the bolt connecting rod.

Some guys get all the luck.

Posted: 4/28/2020 1:21:59 PM EDT

[#24]

Quote History

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$130

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Score.

Posted: 5/21/2020 12:45:52 AM EDT

[#25]

$130 is a great price--the parts alone are worth more. Since the stock was already bubba'd, I would have tried a little wood stain to darken it followed by some BLO (I wouldn't put BLO on a stock that wasn't already bubba'd). It looks a lot better than it did--it's a pain to strip paint off everything. There is a mixture the Finns used, but I don't think the oil is available in the U.S.

Posted: 5/21/2020 8:21:06 AM EDT

[#26]

Looks good!

Posted: 5/21/2020 10:21:14 AM EDT

[#27]

Good save..I did a similar thing with a Finn 91/30 a long time ago.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Picked up a Finnish M27 Mosin today...

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