Finn M24 Mosin Nagant, SIG Straight Barrel, KLP

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I had been itching to fill the empty M24 "Lotta Savard" slots in my Finnish Mosin Nagant collection, and when rarely one became available over the past few years, I wasn't positioned to buy. But a few months back, a Bohler-Stahl (German barrel) was snagged, and I was going to be content with any SIG that came my way to bookend the barrel manufacturers.

I wasn't expecting to fill the slot in such grand fashion. Listed as a "Russian 44 Carbine" at auction, I knew from the one lonely photo that this one was a funny looking carbine. A message to the seller confirmed that I should bid until I owned it, and it turned out to be no more painful than to pay for a more common M24.

Presenting a very rare first contract run Schweiz. Industrie-Gesellschaft (SIG) unstepped barrel M24 from Switzerland, serial number 323 (of approximately 2500 straight barrels), no Civil Guard numbers and instead stamped KLP for the CG District of Kymen-Laakson Piiri. And a very fine specimen it is.

A couple of good links to show the M24 production and features, with a short history of the Lotta Savard (Finnish women’s auxiliary), the Finnish Civil Guard, and the birth of the SAKO Arsenal in Finland, where assembly took place:

THE M91/24 CIVIL GUARD RIFLE AND CARBINE

Finnish M24

The rifle also has a nicely spliced Russian stock with a Deutches Reich mark, and interesting rear sight graduation stamps. Pics tell the rest of the story.

Enjoy, and thanks for looking.

m24KLP_002.jpg

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m24KLP1_002.jpg

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m24KLP_001.jpg

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I'm always amazed by the guns you find, and it seems the majority of them you get at a great price. Awesome rifle Martin.
 
what auction?

The very obscure auction, that was entirely misrepresented with only one crappy photo. It pays to sift through all the listings, once in a very great while.

As well, in my collection which contains some pretty obscure stuff, this gun cracks the top ten, and possibly the top five in rarity. Only 2,500 originally built with many lost/damaged in two wars with Russia, and only a handful of them issued to the KLP guard district. In searches, only two others can be found with this particular combination of features.
 
Just received confirmation from the authority on Finnish M24 data, ole fred of Gunboards, that this specimen is one of only four confirmed KLP District stamped guns with the early SIG straight barrel.

Pretty rare company to keep. Gets better all the time!
 
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