M39 vs. M91/30

New Mosin fan here & learning more all the time about this unique rifle( much thanks to the members here). I recently bought a M91/30 & have tried the Chech sivertips & bulgarian ammo through it. Lots of fun. Slowly tightening up the groups( spoiled by scopes for too long). I had been checking out the M39 before & almost got that instead. I really didn`t know if it was worth the extra $. Is the M39 exactly the same as a Russian rifle but dissassembled by the Finns & refitted to tighter tolerances? Worth the extra money? Thanks again for a great forumn.

There are different versions of Finnish rifles. The rarest are just staight Russian models, no changes. Then there's the ones with Russian barrels and Finnish sights, then there is the Finnish made barrel (slightly heavier and the best), then there is the Russian barrel relined and the Finnish barrel barrel relined. Even the relined oned ones seem pretty good but I'd get one that wasn't relined. The Finns used both .310/.311" barrels and tighter .308" "D" barrels. The heavier Finnish barrel in .308" is very good but a bit tight for surplus ammo. There are heavy Finnish barrels in .310"/.311" which might be the best for all around shooting of surplus ammo. The relined barrels may also be in both bores but I haven't looked in to them as much. The Finns even have ammo with .308" bullets marked "D" but it's not cheap and it's not common.

If you just want a weekend range beater , then the 91/30's are the way to go. If you want to collect a fine military rifle then the M-39 are great, I like the heavy barrel, sights, and beefy stocks. Pat Bruns at Gunsnammo.com has a great deal on the M-39's. If you get an M-39 with the old 1890's receiver, then they can be shipped right to your house with noFFL!!! Some of the M-39's have the 1890's receivers withe barrels made from 1967 to 1970, I got one like that and had it shipped to the front door. Here is a link. http://www.gunsnammo.com/

here is a 1944 Sako M-39 with an 1890's receiver, one nice thing about Gunsnammo is that the rifle you see in the pic is the one you get if you place an order, I got this one from them and now I'm reloading for it. http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii110/KEVAKOV/100_0613.jpg

Thanks for the replies, good info there. I checked out the weblink kevakov(nice rifle by the way), looks like a good assortment. Is there a particular make that is better or more collectible than the other. The ones I`ve seen in my short search seem to be from Century or I.O. Are the guns from Gunsnammo from a different importer? Thanks again.

I love the mosins, have 3 a 91/30, a m44 and a 91/59,which is from what i hear
to be the hottest collect. at this time, mainly if it has an octoganal receiver!
My 91/59 is about the nicest milsurp i have ever seen! For some reason the russians took a bunch of 91/30 and converted them into carb. in 59 and restamped them! Those on avg. cost 2x the price of the other mosins!

i also have an m39 from pat. this rifle is one of the most under rated weapons of ww2. they are very accurate. the only thing the m39 retains is the mosin receiver bolt and magazine. the m39's are free floated factory. so don't take you gun completely apart without marking the spots where the adjustment blocks are. it is said they have to shoot 1" groups to leave the armory.....

Thanks for all the info. I`ll be getting an m39 soon, but first a few other things need to be AK-nowledged. We see the Gun-grabbers coming this time around. Hope they eat crow on election day!