[SA58]

I've been able to divine that they were set up on VKT's... was there any particular year? According to what I've read, 43 is the year they were introduced... but couldn't they have used them on any rifle previously and up to '43? Did they just use them on 43's?

 

[Vic]

They were made on generally 43 and 44 dated guns as they were made at the rifle factory and not in the filed on specially selected rifles from current production as far as I have been able to ascertain.

 

[Noble Sniper]

Vic, not to take from your post but didn't you post some info about "field expedient" finn snipers. If I remember right you said they used M91's M39's etc......... just not on a lrage scal. thanks, Craig

 

[Vic]

They used some 91's fit with top mounts and some split bridge mounts but nothing of quantity. The early stages of the war found them with literally no optically sighted weapons in the inventory that were suited for snipers. They put optics on what they could up to 42 when plans were made to try and make some kind of production and that was using captured Soviet optics off rifles that were not usable as is. By 43 they were making Finnish copies of the mount and fitting them to production rifles at VKT. By 44 they tried to create a Finnish copy of the Ajack when contract production from Germany was cut off and that was not able to meet demand. So yes early on from 40 onward they sort of played with things but nothing official and nothing in numbers-maybe dozens here and there and that was limited to the 91 as a base if it was not a captured piece. There was others like the 27 PH and the m/33 that saw some action but again in dozens and not production line made. The 39 SOV and the 39/43 were the first snipers made in any official numbers and order.

 

[Noble Sniper]

I knew I payed attention to you for a reason. Thanks Vic