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P-Series M91s And 1920s Tikka Production
The next attempts at improving the Finn M91s took two directions, as one was an attempt to salvage barrels by relining, while the other was production of new barrels. Both undertakings created interesting and uncommon versions of the M91 rifle.
In the early years of independence, the Finns sent armory officials to a number of nations to research arms production and improvements. Officials were sent to Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Sweden, and elsewhere to increase their knowledge to assist in Finnish arms production. On one of these fact finding tours, Finnish Colonel A.E. Saloranta was shown an Italian process that would become known as the Salerno method, a procedure of relining old worn out barrels. The Salerno method was undertaken at Arm Depot Number One (AV1) in Helsinki and approximately 13,000 older Russian barrels were reworked. In this technique, older barrels were bored out and a new barrel liner was inserted. This work was done at AV1 from 1925 and 1927. The barrels produced were marked P-26 or P-27, and in most cases also have an S above the serial number. Finnish researcher Markku Palokangas makes reference to barrels marked P-25, but no known example has been located. Since testing and production did not begin until late 1925, it seems unlikely that any P-25 barrels were produced so it is unknown what information Mr. Palokangas used for his reference . As the foremost world authority on the Finnish Mosin Nagant, one has to give his reference credence, but it seems P-25 marked M91 barrels do not exist.
It is interesting to note that relined barrels were met with great controversy in Finland and the fitting of these barrels to rifles was halted twice. The first halt was in 1928 and the second in 1930. These stoppages took place when the Finnish Arms Committee determined that over 85% of these barrels were unfit or unsafe for use. This cloud over the relined barrels remained until 1938 when further investigation showed these barrels were acceptable for use. As a result, from 1938 to 1940 8,000 of these barrels were fitted to existing receivers. These 8,000 later fitted barrels make up the bulk of the relined barrel production of just over 10,000. There were also 1,490 relined barrels produced on an experimental basis for the M91 Dragoon Rifle. These shorter M91 barrels are very rarely encountered today. Limited relining was also undertaken on barrels for the 1905 and 1910 Russian Maxims with less than 600 produced. Even though the barrels were later determined to be fit for service, the humiliation caused by their rejection in the late 1920s and early 1930s always remained with Colonel Saloranta. Although he was cleared of any wrong doing and was financially reimbursed in the 1950’s, he was never fully able to regain his wrongly tarnished reputation. Many suspect Aimo Lathi, the most famous of all Finnish gun designers, was responsible for the stoppages. This is a sad footnote to Finnish arms history because Lahti, not the most personable of people is suspected of doing this due to a dispute he had with Saloranta.
Today the so called P-Series M91s are prized items for the Finnish collector because overall production totals were low and many of these rifles were lost in war time. While uncommon, these can still be found by today’s collector and should be considered one of the more desirable versions of the Finnish Mosin Nagant. Those lucky enough to own a Dragoon version with a relined barrel are very fortunate to have such an unusual variant of the Finnish Mosin Nagant.
Tikka
Another effort to correct the problem of poor barrels was undertaken at the private Finnish firm Tikkakoski. Tikkakosken Rauta- ja Puuteollisuus Oy (Metal and Wood Industry Of Tikkakoski Limited) more commonly known today as Tikka was founded in 1893, Its first work with the Finnish military was the production of 200 Maxim barrels in 1920. Tikka was contracted for and produced 10,000 barrels from 1925-1927 with the barrels being fitted to rifles at AV1. The production of 1925 was quite limited as testing was not underway until December and known 1926 barrels have serial numbers as low as #100. There are some in Finland who debate if any barrels were produced in 1925 since there are no known examples. Official records seem to indicate barrels were produced in 1925 but it is not clear if this happened or not. The barrels produced in 1926 have the date either on the top of the barrel shank or underneath the shank (not able to be seen unless the rifle is removed from the stock). When the the date stamp location was changed is unknown and it is difficult to state which is more commonly encountered today. All barrels made in 1927 will be stamped with the date on the top of the barrel shank under the serial number.
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