At the time of the Russian revolution Finland was under the rule of the Tsar. When Nicholas II was deposed Finland declared its independence and defeated the Russian forces in Finland, but retained stores of arms. With an urgent need to build an army to defend itself from the real threat of Russia and many Mosins already on hand it only made sense to adopt it as the primary rifle. Between WWI and WWII Finland actively traded other types of rifles in their inventory with countries across Europe and Asia for Mosins which they had captured. The condition ranged from serviceable to “parts guns”. With an abundance of spare parts it was only natural to use them to build “new” rifles that could be put to use. From 1922 to 1924 Suomen Ampumataruikehdas made a small number of M91s marked SAT Riihimaki on the barrel shank. In 1925 Finland began production of barrels at Tikkakoski (Tikka) which were assembled into M91 configuration with dates of 1925, 1926, and 1927. The later 1926 and all 1927 barrels were a heavier type with a step near the muzzle to allow the use of the standard bayonet. During the Continuation War Finland also built many M91s with barrels made by Tikka and VKT.  Barrel blanks were also purchased from Belgium but were not assembled until post war and are known as "B barrels".

The rifle pictured at the top of the page is in typical early configuration with the stepped barrel, early barrel bands and Russian stock with sling slots. The rifle pictured below is in typical late configuration with a straight barrel, late barrel bands and Finnish two piece stock with sling swivels in escutcheons with round holes. However, Finnish M91s can be found with a mix of features on rifles of any age as there were no set standards, especially during later refurbishment.

Barrel Markings The dates are when the marking was used.
SAT 1922-1924 (courtesy of Steve K.)	Tikkakoski 1926 Dated on bottom of barrel	Tikkakoski 1926-1927
Tikkakoski 1940-1943	VKT (Valtion Kirvaaritehdas) 1940	VKT (Valtion Kirvaaritehdas) 1941-1942
B 1942	B/VKT 1942	B/VKT/Liege 1942

Stock Variations
Reused Russian Stock
Russian Stock with new fore end spliced on
Finnish one piece stock (uncommon)
Finnish two piece stock
Finnish post war two piece stock

1927 Tikka Stepped Barrel

Sight Variations
Finnish M91s have the same type sights as the Russian Konovalov design of 1908.  The primary difference is the Finns remarked the rear sight bases in meters utilizing the existing notches.  Occasionally an extra notch is cut at the rear of the base and is marked 2 (200 meters).  Typically the numbers are placed on the right side of the base which was left blank by the Russians, but there are lots of variations in the manner of the numbering and how the existing Russian numbers were treated.

Finnish M91 front sight bases are integral to the barrel and identical to the Russian version.  However, the variation in blades is tremendous.   Many of them are pictured below with brief descriptions.
Russian barleycorn
Curved base, flat top
Curved base, flat top, notched rear
Curved base, curved top
Curved base, curved top, notched rear
No base, flat top
No base, flat top, notched rear
No base, curved top, notched rear
No base, untapered blade Uncommon
Semi-curved base with wider dovetail, flat top Uncommon

Cleaning rod nut, tapered hole in front only, hole in top threaded to receive nose cap screw to aid in removing nut

Nose cap

Sling Slots	Front	Rear
Russian with screwed in place escutcheons
Russian w/ Finnish hangers
Escutcheon plate with round hole and hangers

Early Russian M91 barrel band	Late Russian M91 barrel band
Barrel band retaining pin (early, rare)	Barrel band retaining screw (late)

Handguard
Handguard end rivets
Copper
Small aluminum
Large aluminum

Bayonet socket