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Tikka And VKT 1940’s Production
When the Soviet Union invaded Finland in 1939 starting the Winter War, the Finns were just about to begin production of the M39 Service Rifle. The M39 was to be the new standard issue rifle to both the Finnish Army and to Civil Guard units to replace the older mixed models that were in service. The invasion stalled this production and the Finns started to manufacture the M91 yet again in 1940. It is often debated as to why this production was done. The simple reason was that it was much easier to produce a known and proven model under adverse conditions than to undertake new production of an "untested" model with all the start up problems that might be associated with it. The M91 had served Finland well in the past and it was about to serve yet again, fighting the USSR which was Finland's greatest threat.
The barrels were produced at the State Rifle Factory (VKT) and Tikka starting in 1940. The rifles themselves were assembled at AV1 and AV3. The production at Tikka ran from 1940 to 1944 with the total barrels produced around 45,000. VKT production ran from 1940 to 1942 producing approximately 32,000 barrels. The M91s were sent into service almost immediately and served in all facets in the Finnish Armed Forces. Indeed they were used by front line troops as well as being issued to secondary units. These rifles were also used by the "Home Guard" (this is the Civil Guard which served during the Continuation War) and used in training camps during the war. The production of these barrels was halted when inventory and production of the M39 reached levels that made additional M91s unnecessary. Post war many of these M91's were cut-down to M39 specs and were reissued. One will also encounter post war M91's which have been modified for bayonet training as the M91 stayed in Finnish service long after the dark days of World War Two.
The Finns also improved the stocks which was done in at least a couple of stages. The first stage was early in the history of the M91 as the Finns replaced the older Russian open slot with a much improved closed sling swivel system using a metal swivel. This new feature allowed the use of a sling without the added leather sling loops, also called "Dog Collars" by some collectors. This improvement made the sling attachment much more secure than the older Russian style, and it also prevented the loss of the leather collars (which would mean one could not use the sling). Not all Finnish M91 stocks have these metal swivels still in place as some have been lost or removed for a number of reasons. If they were not added , the use of the "Dog Collar" continued and it is not uncommon to see rifles still in this older configuration.
During the 1940's production of the M91 rifles the Finns decided to use a two piece stock rather than the Russian one piece style. This two piece design had long been used and proven on many Finnish models since first introduced in 1932. In most cases the buttstocks were newly made, with AV-3 producing 77,000 birch stocks from 1941-1944. These stocks are usually wider and thicker at the wrist than the Russian stocks and many bear Finnish stock maker’s cartouches. There are examples that used Russian, as well as American, rear stock sections that were attached to new Finnish forestocks. Shims were also fitted on many of these stocks to help free float the barrel for better accuracy. It is not uncommon to see these later stocks on M91/24 Civil Guard rifles as the 91/24's were sent into Finnish Army service after the Winter War. The Finns did not keep records of how many 91/24's were in their inventory at this time and they were included in with M91 numbers. Standard stocks needed to be altered a bit to handle the heavier barrel of the 91/24 but this work was not a difficult alteration.
While the 1940s made M91s do not hold the same collector value as the earlier M91s, they are still impressive rifles. In many cases the condition of these later M91s is like new or excellent with near perfect bores. They can also be found with depot hang tags still in place. These later M91’s are magnificent shooters in many cases being limited in accuracy only by the person doing the shooting.
be in any representative Finnish collection.
The B Barrel M91’s
One version of M91 and M39 rifle that causes much confusion are the so called B barrels. There are M91 barrels that have a B proof where the manufacture’s proof would normally be found. This B marking has been debated time and time again but it is clear the B signifies a barrel blank from Belgium. It is assumed these blanks were made into barrels at VKT and some rare examples have VKT and Belgium proofs as well as the B marking. Belgium supplied at least 13,000 of these blanks and all were supposed to be for the M91 rifle; however, the Finns did use a number of these blanks for the M39 service rifle. The exact number of these B barrels which were made into M39s is not clear and the serial numbers also run in the same range as the M91. Almost all of the Bs were assembled post war regardless of whether they are M91s or M39s with a small number being made in 1944-1945. It is known that 5,000 Tikka M39s were produced post war from M91 rifles but the number of B barrels has never been shown (to my knowledge at least). Both the M39s and the M91s have 1942 dates but that does not mean they were assembled in 1942. It is estimated that there are 4,000-5,000 B M91s still in existence but this is only an educated guess. There are far more M39 B barrels than M91 B barrels so the M91s are a good find for the shooter and collector.
M91 B that shows the Belgium Liege proofs (bottom middle) It is very uncommon to encounter this proof. This rifle also bears VKT proofs and that is also rather uncommon. All in all the above is a RARE rifle.
Photo from the Steve Lucas Collection.
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