The Original
The M1891 Mosin-Nagant is a rifle with a storied history. It’s not beautiful or polished; my impression of these rifles, when I first laid hands on one, was that it would make a pretty decent tent pole or boat anchor. Later I learned that this old rifle was not only rugged but almost unbreakable, and surprisingly accurate; in World War II, or as they called it, the Great Patriotic War, Soviet troops made good use of the Mosin-Nagant as a sniper rifle. Its rugged simplicity was perfectly suited for the troops it was designed for, right down to the issued maintenance and cleaning kit, which consisted of a can of oil.
What’s surprising, even so, is that at least one nation, a NATO member no less, is still making use of the M1891 Mosin-Nagant action in a modern rifle, again, for the sniper’s trade. This would be Finland’s 7.62mm Tkiv 85, which is something of an Arctic predator in its own right.
The History
Finland, from the beginning, couldn’t leave the original M1891 action alone. When the country won independence from Russia in 1917, along with the deal, the Finns gained 190,000 M1891 Mosin-Nagant standard rifles that had been stored in pre-Soviet Russian arsenals and depots in Finland. The new nation adopted it as their standard infantry rifle, since they already had a bunch of them, and in time they bought more from nations that had captured M1891 rifles during the Great War. Most of these were overhauled to Finnish specs by the Tikkakoski Oy, or VKT (Valtion Kivääritehdas, State Rifle Factory, including rechambering and rebarreling for the 7.62x53R Finnish cartridge, which was a modified version of the Russian 7.62x54R. All succeeding marks of the Finnish weapons would use this round.
Other Finnish variants included the M/91rv cavalry carbine, the M/24 “Lotta” rifle, which was the first Mosin-Nagant made entirely in Finland, the M/27, featuring improved sights. There was a cavalry carbine version of the M/27 as well. Others included the M/28, used by the White Guard, and the upgraded M/28-30.
There were several more, mostly improvements and upgrades on the basic Mosin-Nagant pattern. Then, the last variant to date, the M/85, a sniper rifle known as the Tkiv 85. With this rifle, the Mosin-Nagant may have reached its final form.
The New Gun
The famous shooter’s website Forgotten Weapons says about this rifle:
Finland’s final iteration of Mosin Nagant sniper was adopted in the 1980s to replace a mix-and-match assortment of m/39-43, m/27-66, and m/28-76 rifles. The two options were a Mosin system using a new bedding block (developed by Border Guard officer E. Toro) or a purpose-made new rifle made by Valmet (the Model 86). The Valmet was clearly the better rifle, but the Mosin option was acceptably good and much cheaper – so that’s what was adopted. The parts for the conversions were made by Valmet and assembled at Asevarikko 1.
Two different models were made. One was a military specific type, and the other was a dual-use rifle for competition shooting as well as potential military use. The competition rifles had a lighter barrel profile to meet the international competition weight limit and were fitted with competition aperture sights in addition to mounts for scopes.
Cheaper counts, too, and sometimes good enough is… good enough.
This final version of Finland’s long, long line of Mosin-Nagants is all new and state-of-the-art, while retaining the basic Mosin-Nagant action, because the Finns evidently adhere to the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” philosophy. But the M/85 is something different. The action is fitted to the birch stock via an aluminum bedding block, stiffening the action. The barrel is free-floated, improving accuracy and consistency. The stock, which looks to be made of a rather nice grade of birch, has an adjustable cheek piece and an integrated bipod. The newly revised trigger reduces lock time, again, better for accuracy. The heavy barrel has no iron sights; unlike most marks of the Mosin-Nagant, this arm was meant to mount optics.
Most of the metalwork for the new rifles is done by Valmet, the renowned Finnish technology company and firearms manufacturer. A target rifle version has also been made, but perhaps in reflection of Finland’s past with its close and sometimes antagonistic neighbor, Russia, every M/85 target rifle comes along with a military sniper stock, just in case.
Take a look at just how this rifle works:
It’s mildly amazing that a country like Finland, which has a pretty robust history of making fine rifles, would use this ancient action as the basis for a state-of-the-art sniper rifle. The Finnish manufacturer SAKO has produced any number of fine bolt guns, including the Forester and the Vixen, which are sporting bolt guns; but then, what is a sniper rifle but a scoped bolt gun that wouldn’t be too out of place in any game field anywhere in the world? But Finland went with “old but proven,” to a degree that would be remarkable if it were not for the point that the old M1891 action still works very well, thank you very much, and the Finnish military is obviously content with it.Interestingly, Valmet has an upgraded and improved variation of Mikhail Kalishnikov’s most famous design, as well.
Why Not?
Indeed, that’s the question: Why not use a late-19th-century action, if it still meets the needs of the moment?
I’ve mentioned before my favorite big-game rifle, a custom 98 Mauser in .338 Winchester Magnum, which I call Thunder Speaker – Yes, I name my favorite guns. Thunder Speaker is built around a 1909 Brazilian contract large-ring 98 Mauser action, made at Berlin’s renowned Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken (DWM), probably in 1910. Despite being 116 years old, it still locks up like a bank vault. I’ve replaced the trigger with a smoother, single-stage Timney modular, had the over-the-top safety replaced with a fore-and-aft one in the Winchester Model 70 style, and the barrel is a Douglas heavy sporter. But the action is still tight and functions perfectly, even after all these years. There’s no reason to think that a Mosin-Nagant made in 1901 wouldn’t do just as well.
Properly taken care of, a quality firearm should easily last a hundred years. We just keep seeing that demonstrated, time and again – and the timeless designs of some of those guns are still just as good today as they were when they were new, and if you doubt that, just look at how many of John Browning’s designs are still in use, right now, today.
