chrisrock101
Plinker
...a model 1891 Mosin-Nagant bolt-action rifle (7.62x54mm, similar to .30-06) manufactured in Izhevsk, Russia for the Imperial Russian army in 1905. It may have seen some action in World War I, given the rifle shortages the Russian army was facing at the time.
The rifle ended up in Finland when the Finns broke away from Russia during the Bolshevik Revolution, was issued to the Finnish Army, and likely saw a great deal of action during the Winter War 1939-1940. When the Finns got some breathing room, the rifle was upgraded to M39 status in 1942 at the Finnish VKT arsenal in Jyvaskyla, where it received a fine Finn barrel, a new stock, and range-compensating Finn sights graduated from 150 meters to 2.0 kilometers. It likely saw additional action against both the Soviets and the Nazis before the war was over. Possibly during the war, an artistic Finnish soldier delicately carved the initials "E.T." into the rear sight base, where they wouldn't easily be seen by casual inspection. At some point after the war, the rifle was retired and placed into storage as part of the Finnish Army's reserve.
During the mid-1990's, Finland allowed many of its older bolt-action rifles to be sold to collectors in other nations. This particulary M39 was imported into the U.S. by a company in Vermont, and ended up at a gun shop in Florida that caters to history buffs, which is how I came to purchase it.
The rifle is 101 years old this year (well, except for the barrel and stock, which are only 64), and it can still shoot the center out of a playing card at 100 yards with the right ammunition. Taken care of, with light use, it should still be functional a thousand years from now.
It's not worth a lot from a financial standpoint (maybe $200), but it's a textbook of Russian and Finnish history, and played a part in some of the most important historical events of the twentieth century. I wish I could find out to whom it was issued.
