finn mn 28 !!!! [Archive]

mike in co

12-20-2009, 09:01 PM

this weekend , i have been working a gun show. a gentleman had 2 mn39's and.....drum rolllllll a finn 28!.....so it is the first i have ever seen/touched. he only wanted $400 for it( the 39's were $250 each, but i have three..and no 28's).
droolled all day yesterday...come in today and the price is down to $300..but both 39's are gone. he is down to his last rifle and its all he has left to hang around for the next 2 hours......
a little dickering and a 28 goes home with me.( for those that want to see how i paid for it...go look in the lever gun section)

so the bbl is marked:
2
S in a gear circle
SK.Y.
55XXX
1938D
(RIGHT SIDE OF BBL)
D
D5298
=S=(those are three lines)
(left side of bbl)
36 S(circle) 00
boxed SA
RECIEVER is an hex
marked on the right side =(three line)

so tell me what i have..i have been told since day one these are the only 308 in the family. what else ?
thanks
mike in co

Piedmont

12-20-2009, 09:37 PM

M28s are marked SY, not SKY, so it sounds to me like you have a M28/30. If the front sight has opposing windage screws like a M39 this will confirm it is a 28/30.

mike in co

12-20-2009, 10:04 PM

M28s are marked SY, not SKY, so it sounds to me like you have a M28/30. If the front sight has opposing windage screws like a M39 this will confirm it is a 28/30.

yes it is.....so tell me about a 28/30.....still cleaning bore..have not slugged it.
what typical bore...308 or not ?.....
he actually said it might be a 28/30...i have seen neither...
mike in co

Piedmont

12-20-2009, 10:14 PM

Most folks would think a M28/30 was worth a bit more than a M28, but they are both great rifles. I have slugged two 28/30s and they were .309 and .310 groove diameter. The M28 and M28/30 were civil guard rifles. The M27 and M39 were the standard army rifles (some M39s were marked SKY too so presumably they were issued to the civil guard).

The M28/30 is very similar to the M39 but there are fewer out there, so they are worth a little more. The M28/30, M27 and M28 all tend to have tighter barrel dimensions than the later M39.

mike in co

12-20-2009, 10:33 PM

thanks pied,

the issue with never having seen either..i was just happy to get my mits on one(or the other as it turns out).
bore is dirty...some copper and some gray metal of some type.

gentle cleaing till done then will slug it

matching bolt and bbl, with mis-matched mag.

thanks
mike

9.3X62AL

12-21-2009, 12:15 AM

Sounds like a really nice acquisition to me, Mike!

Buckshot

12-21-2009, 04:04 AM

http://www.fototime.com/78B412785D7FB08/standard.jpg

I saved a lot of my old FFL catalogs. The M28/30's at the bottom for $69. But this catalog IS from 1992 (Century Arms).

..............Buckshot

txpete

12-21-2009, 09:21 AM

mike when they left the factory the barrels were .3082 now add wear to that from war use.I have a M28 sig and a 28/30 sky as far as accuracy goes its close but the 28/30 does shoot tighter groups.your lucky as it is "D" stamped the finns did this so they could use captured russian ammo(.311).even with the "D" stamp you might find a pressure problem and the the bolt is hard to open.
I just stick to my handloads in both the M28 & the 28/30.
congrats on your new rifle and I am sure you will enjoy it.

pete

mike in co

12-21-2009, 10:42 AM

txpete

12-21-2009, 11:04 AM

I shoot the milsurp in my russians.
in my 28/30...

lee 160 gr gc tl .309
19.0 grs AA5744
laupa brass
win lrp

this is very accurate in my 28/30

fwiw in 1955 the army inventory had only 22,500 in stock.

pete

NickSS

12-22-2009, 04:06 AM

I have a model 28 that I bought years ago when I had an FFL. it cost me $50 plus shipping. Actually I bought 2 and kept the one that shot best and sold the other. It was re-made from a 91 rifle by Sako and has piller steel bedding in the stock. When my eyes worked better than they do now I was able to shoot 1.5 inch 100 yard groups with Chinese military ball ammo all day long with it. The two piece dovetailed stock really got me upset until I found out the finns did this on purpose. Today I shoot only cast from it and it is my very best cast shooter I own.

mike in co

12-22-2009, 11:15 AM

i want to thank everyone for thier comments. having said that i really wish tom b would jump in. i'd like to hear his two cents worth.....guess i should break down and buy his book.

thanks

merry christmas !!

mike in co

HamGunner

12-22-2009, 04:12 PM

NickSS,

If I may, what cast bullet and load does your M28 like. I have just begun to load cast for my M28. I have the Lyman 31141 that throws a .312-.313 diam. and I will also be loading a cast round for my .312 diam. carbine. By the way, the M28 likes IMR 4320 and Sierra 165gr SBT .308 dia.really well at about 2,650 fps. and of course I have loaded the Sierra 150gr. Spitzer .311 diam. for the carbine with good results.

I gave $30 for the carbine and $50 for the M28 years ago. I suppose the M28 would have increased in value 6-8 times what I paid for it, but since I sporterized it, it is probably still only worth the $50 I paid for it. :rolleyes:

Well, I know that makes some cringe to think about a Bubba'd collector. I certainly would not have done it if I knew what I had back then. But, being a poor boy, I made a scoped shooter out of a $50 rifle in my eyes. And boy does it shoot. The Sig barrel is about .309 dia. and of course the throat is not the long 'D'.

HamGunner

12-22-2009, 05:12 PM

Well, I guess "Bubba" is what I will call this rifle. Maybe hard on a collector's eyes. But it does shoot well.

18119

mike in co

12-22-2009, 05:25 PM

well its clean and it measures aprox 300x309.
rcver made in 1919

will probably see some j words............

mike in co

HamGunner

12-22-2009, 08:30 PM

18121 18122

This is my Ugly M-28 rifle with a different dress on it. The midweight Sig barrel is cut to about 25" and I have a notch cut out of the receiver for a bolt handle. Huber Concepts trigger. Scope is an old 6X Weaver target. Mount is fitted to the left side of the receiver. Action is glass bedded into modified original stock. I did it all myself except for the bolt handle. It does shoot well.

Edited by Ham Gunner on September 18 2007 at 10:31pm

Mike,
I am sure your rifle is ugly, but not nearly as ugly as this Bubba'd M-28.
Congratulations on a good find. They are sweet shooting rifles, even if they are ugly. You got any pictures?

Oh, and when I first got mine, the guy sold me five boxes of 149gr. FMJ Hanson ammo that was supposed to shoot well in it. The M28 popped primers, so that was when I slugged the bore and ended up shooting the ammo in my carbine.

txpete

12-22-2009, 08:43 PM

M28 sig
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/txpete/russiansM28010.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/txpete/2007_1222m280002.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/txpete/2007_1222m280003.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/txpete/2007_1222m280004.jpg

for this one size all my bullets at .311.
pete

HamGunner

12-22-2009, 08:57 PM

Yea, that is what mine looked like, only mine was even uglier.

Say Pete,
Does yours shoot high at 100 yards with the Finn sight using the cast loads?
Also, noticed that the Finn serial # on yours is a quit a bit lower than mine. You got an early one.

txpete

12-25-2009, 10:48 AM

first merry christmas.

I have to put the rear sight to the 400 meter mark with my cast loads.with the lee 185 gr lrngc mine shoots a tad low.
pete

dukenukum

12-25-2009, 01:02 PM

I have the M 24 version and it shoots great using the lee 309-160 and IMR3031.

mike in co

12-25-2009, 03:44 PM

so why was the rifle mis-id'd ?
cause the importers mark on the muzzle end of the bbl has it listed as a finn 28..... since i had never seen one...well i did not know...but am quite happy with my new rifle.

one of 22,400, one of 2000 built in 1938.

mike in co

HamGunner

12-25-2009, 04:27 PM

Something to be proud of, Mike. With all the interest in them since they were released to the world market, looks like the good ones are certainly getting harder to find. Glad you got one snatched up before they are all gone.

It is amazing how much more interest has been shown in the last few years for these old rifles. Since I bought my first one, I had read all the articles I could find, when I would come across one in a gun rag. But now that computers have become the means of communication. Wow, I have learned a lot more and if I had the time, it seems that the sites dedicated to these old rifles have gathered up an almost unbelievable amount of data about their long history. What once was looked upon as one of the "black sheep" of military rifles has become one of great interest.