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Barrel Bore Diameters And Types:
Tikka produced barrels in three different bore diameters and each diameter barrel has its own marking : A, B, or C.
A bore diameter of .3106”
B bore diameter of .3091”
C bore diameter of .3087”
Tikka also produced barrels in standard form was well as producing “stepped” barrels. The first 7,000 barrels produced were unstepped while the last 3,000 were stepped versions much as seen with the Model 1924 Civil Guard rifle. These stepped barrels are all 1927 dated and it seems by far the majority of them have the C bore diameter marking. The last type of barrel is by far the more collectable of the two, and the stepped barrels are not common today. Even many larger Finnish collections lack the stepped Tikka 1927 M91 barrel.
As is the case with the P-Series M91s the early Tikka M91s are also fine items for the collector. They are one of the first rifles produced in Finland, were produced in low numbers, and played a crucial role in Finnish history. Officially these were made for the Finnish Army but it is not uncommon to see a Tikka with Civil Guard district numbers. This is an S followed by numbers such as S – 153001 which would be the Helsinki Civil Guard district. Sadly many collectors seem to overlook the early Tikka as a collector’s item which is quite a mistake. They are outstanding rifles and should be in any representative Finnish collection.
The Russian M91’s
Not all Russian M91’s were reworked with new barrels as many of these were fit for duty. Still in many cases the Finns overhauled the rifles to bring them up to Finnish standards. Much of this work concentrated on the triggers, the front and rear sights, shimming the stock, and many of the rifles were counter-bored to correct issues with the crown of the muzzle. After these rifles were reworked and test fired they were issued to the Finnish Army, to the Civil Guard, or placed in storage depots. Russian rifles that were in poor condition were stripped for spare parts and their receivers used later for production of Finnish Mosin Nagant models such as the M27, M28, M28/30, M39, and M91/30.
Even with the dismantling of many Russian M91s they were still the most commonly issued rifle in Finland throughout the Winter and Continuation War which ended in 1944. It is possible the number of issued M39s was larger than the number of M91 late in the Continuation War, but that is debateable. The M91 was also widely used in the Civil Guard starting in the 1920s and not ending until the Civil Guard was banned in 1944. Even late in its life, and in spite of production of various other Finnish Mosin Nagant models , the old Russian workhorse was still the most fielded rifle in Finland. A great many of the Russian M91’s in Finland were actually made in the USA under contract by Westinghouse and Remington. It is unknown why there seems to be such high numbers of US made rifles with Finnish markings, but it is possible these came from purchases and trades in the 1920s and 1930s. There are reports that US made rifles were favored by the Finnish Soldiers over the Russian made versions , but it is unknown if this is fact or just a lasting myth. There are also rumors that the US Navy sent these rifles to Finland but this is also a myth which is not based in fact. I have no idea where these rumors started, but nothing points to this being the case. Often the US rifles can be found in their original walnut stocks and have Civil Guard district numbers as well.
The Finnish issued Russian M91 rifles are often one of the easiest and least costly rifles a Finnish collector can acquire. Some sellers do not place a higher price on the Finnish marked rifles which often allows the Finnish gun collector to buy these at the same price as a standard Russian gun. A collector can take advantage of this mistake, because in most cases the Finnish issue rifles will have much better triggers and sights than their Russian counterparts. They are also less common than the standard Russian rifles which adds to their collectability status. Since these were so important to Finland they should not be ignored by the collector. Remington and Westinghouse rifles are highly sought after by collectors in the USA.
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