airbornetrooper
Active Member
I have always found post-1941 Finnish captured weapons from the Continuation War much more interesting than those captured during the Winter War. The main reason is that there are fewer of them, and the conditions under which they were captured were likely to be much more difficult from a logistical standpoint (much harder to collect and send captured rifles to the rear while you're retreating). The first year of the Continuation War saw Finnish advances along a broad front that then stagnated, with occasional Russian attacks, until 1944. With the exception of the battles fought near Medvezhyegorsk in 1942 and 1943, few large scale pitched battles occurred.
From my experience, post-1941 Finnish captured rifles are much harder to come by than those made 1941 and prior. There is always the possibility that the rifles in question could have been part of the large German arms shipment of captured material that arrived in 1944, but from most sources these rifles were mostly in poor condition and good only for parts.
Over the years I have managed to acquire the following:
1943 Izhevsk M91/30: It is SA marked and sits in a beautiful Finnish produced M30 stock with the very late rectangular finger splices. In my opinion this rifle was likely rebuilt post-WWII. The bolt is Finnish force-matched, and nothing else matches.
1943 Izhevsk M38: This is the best of the bunch. It is SA and D marked, but otherwise all original. Every piece is Izhevsk marked, and every serial is original matching with the correct Cyrillic prefix. I would venture a guess that its original owner did not even have a chance to throw away the bolt when they met their fate.
1943 Izhevsk M44: This is what is known as a "trials" M44, but I hesitate to use that term as I have never seen any official Soviet documentation stating such. It is only D marked, but the bolt has been Finnish force-matched, which I have never observed on another Finnish captured carbine, M38 or M44. From my research, the Finns typically did not care for the Soviet carbines, and they made no specialty replacement parts for them (with a couple exceptions, see Vic's example on his site). The stock appears to be original as the buttplate matches, but the magazine floor plate does not.
Someday I hope to add a Finnish captured Tula M91/30 from 1943 as well, but those are even more rare than the Izhevsk example I have (I know of 5).
From my experience, post-1941 Finnish captured rifles are much harder to come by than those made 1941 and prior. There is always the possibility that the rifles in question could have been part of the large German arms shipment of captured material that arrived in 1944, but from most sources these rifles were mostly in poor condition and good only for parts.
Over the years I have managed to acquire the following:
1943 Izhevsk M91/30: It is SA marked and sits in a beautiful Finnish produced M30 stock with the very late rectangular finger splices. In my opinion this rifle was likely rebuilt post-WWII. The bolt is Finnish force-matched, and nothing else matches.
1943 Izhevsk M38: This is the best of the bunch. It is SA and D marked, but otherwise all original. Every piece is Izhevsk marked, and every serial is original matching with the correct Cyrillic prefix. I would venture a guess that its original owner did not even have a chance to throw away the bolt when they met their fate.
1943 Izhevsk M44: This is what is known as a "trials" M44, but I hesitate to use that term as I have never seen any official Soviet documentation stating such. It is only D marked, but the bolt has been Finnish force-matched, which I have never observed on another Finnish captured carbine, M38 or M44. From my research, the Finns typically did not care for the Soviet carbines, and they made no specialty replacement parts for them (with a couple exceptions, see Vic's example on his site). The stock appears to be original as the buttplate matches, but the magazine floor plate does not.
Someday I hope to add a Finnish captured Tula M91/30 from 1943 as well, but those are even more rare than the Izhevsk example I have (I know of 5).
