Provenance Research Service for
Finnish Firearms

Discover the History of Your Finnish Firearm

Like a work of art, all firearms have unique markings that can be traced. The chronology of ownership is called the provenance. There are records for over 100,000 individual Finnish-made firearms in various Finnish archives. Apart from ownership records, these records also provide information about repairs and modifications made to the firearms, battles they fought in and shooting competitions they won.

If two almost identical firearms are valued, the one with known provenance will almost always have higher market value than the other without provenance. Very rare or one of a kind rifles are also hard or even impossible to authenticate without archival research.


PHOTO: Receipt from SAKO, dated 25 October 1935, for repairs of four m/28 and one m/28 from three different Civil Guard Districts.


Certification of Authenticity with essential information translated to English and printed on cotton archival paper and high-resolution digital copies are included for all orders. Click link below to view a sample of Certification of Authenticity. The sample is for demonstration purposes only. The format may vary depending on the model and the specifics of what is contained in the archival records:

SEE SAMPLE OF CERTIFICATION OF AUTHENTICITY BEHIND THIS LINK

Frequently Asked Questions

What type of fireams can be researched? What type of information can be found from certain type of firearm?

This information is updated as new records are found. It should be noted that the level of record keeping varied between various military units, Civil Guards and other governmental agencies and all records do not contain all the information listed below. Many of the archives are incomplete due to damage caused by the Winter War and Continuation War or post-war destruction of records. The information available as of September 29th, 2023 is as follows:


RIFLES:
Only Finnish Defence Forces and Civil Guard Arisaka rifles LISTED IN THIS PDF FILE can be researched at the time being.
Only M/27-66 rifles LISTED IN THIS PDF FILE can be researched at the time being.
Only Finnish Defence Forces and Civilian Berdan rifles LISTED IN THIS PDF FILE can be researched at the time being.
Only Finnish Defence Forces SVT-38 and SVT-40 rifles LISTED IN THIS PDF FILE can be researched at the time being.
Only Finnish Defence Forces and Civil Guard small bore rifles LISTED IN THIS PDF FILE can be researched at the time being.
Only Finnish Defence Forces sniper rifles LISTED IN THIS PDF FILE can be researched at the time being.
Only Finnish Defence Forces m/91 rifles LISTED IN THIS PDF FILE can be researched at the time being.
Only Finnish Defence Forces Carcano rifles LISTED IN THIS PDF FILE can be researched at the time being.
Only Finnish Defence Forces m/27 rifles with a unit disc or LISTED IN THIS PDF FILE can be researched at the time being.
Only Finnish Defence Forces m/39 rifles LISTED IN THIS PDF FILE can be researched at the time being.
Only Finnish Defence Forces Swedish Mauser rifles LISTED IN THIS PDF FILE can be researched at the time being.

PISTOLS AND REVOLVERS:
Only Finnish used Colt M1911 pistols LISTED IN THIS PDF FILE can be researched at the time being.
Only Finnish used Ortgies pistols LISTED IN THIS PDF FILE can be researched at the time being.
Only Finnish Defence Forces Ahlberg pistols LISTED IN THIS PDF FILE can be researched at the time being.
Only Finnish Defence Forces Nagant revolvers LISTED IN THIS PDF FILE can be researched at the time being.
Only Walther pistols LISTED IN THIS PDF FILE can be researched at the time being.
Only Mauser pistols LISTED IN THIS PDF FILE can be researched at the time being.
Only Finnish Defence Forces Ruby pistols LISTED IN THIS PDF FILE can be researched at the time being.
Only Finnish Defence Forces Vz. 24 and Vz. 38 pistols LISTED IN THIS PDF FILE can be researched at the time being.
Only Finnish Defence Forces Husqvarna M1907 pistols LISTED IN THIS PDF FILE can be researched at the time being.
Only Finnish Defence Forces and Police of Finland FN 1900, 1910 and 1922 pistols LISTED IN THIS PDF FILE can be researched at the time being.
Only Finnish Defence Forces FN Browning Hi-Power pistols LISTED IN THIS PDF FILE can be researched at the time being.
Only Finnish Defence Forces or Civil Guard Lahti L-35 (not M/40) pistols LISTED IN THIS PDF FILE can be researched at the time being.
Only Finnish Defence Forces or Civil Guard Beretta M1934 or M1935 pistols LISTED IN THIS PDF FILE can be researched at the time being.
Only Finnish Defence Forces or Civil Guard Luger (Parabellum) pistols LISTED IN THIS PDF FILE can be researched at the time being.

LIGHT MACHINE GUNS:
Only Finnish Defence Forces and Border Guard DP-27/28 light machine guns LISTED IN THIS PDF FILE can be researched at the time being.
Only Finnish Defence Forces FN Model D (FN-D) light machine guns LISTED IN THIS PDF FILE can be researched at the time being.
Only Finnish Defence Forces Kulsprutegevär m/21 light machine guns LISTED IN THIS PDF FILE can be researched at the time being.
Only Finnish Defence Forces Chauchat light machine guns LISTED IN THIS PDF FILE can be researched at the time being.

OTHER:
Only Finnish Defence Forces Boys anti-tank rifles LISTED IN THIS PDF FILE can be researched at the time being.
Only Finnish Defence Forces captured Soviet submachine guns LISTED IN THIS PDF FILE can be researched at the time being.
Only Finnish Defence Forces M/31 submachine guns LISTED IN THIS PDF FILE can be researched at the time being.
Only Finnish Defence Forces VKT M/43 flare guns LISTED IN THIS PDF FILE can be researched at the time being.
Only Finnish Defence Forces and Civil Guard 0.7 and 0.5 meter rangefinders LISTED IN THIS PDF FILE can be researched at the time being.
Only Finnish Defence Forces Lahti L-39 anti-tank rifles LISTED IN THIS PDF FILE can be researched at the time being.
Only Finnish Defence Forces and Civil Guard Maxim machine guns LISTED IN THIS PDF FILE can be researched at the time being.
Only Finnish Defence Forces and Civil Guard binoculars LISTED IN THIS PDF FILE can be researched at the time being.
Only Finnish Defence Forces and Civil Guard compasses LISTED IN THIS PDF FILE can be researched at the time being.

Finnish Defence Forces firearms with a pre-war unit disc:
The name of the armory that issued the rifle and the shipping date, number of rounds fired between inspections, date and details of annual inspections and repairs, the names of the conscripts the rifle was issued to and possible repair history until around 1939.

Finnish Defence Forces artillery pieces between calibres 20mm and 210mm (except Lahti L-39):
Part and accessory serial numbers, pre-, wartime and post-war units, number of shells fired, dates and details of inspections and repairs.

Civil Guard m/91, m/24 or m/39:
Shipping date and destination, the dates and details of inspections and repairs and the names of the guardsmen the rifle was issued at the local Civil Guard until around 1944.

Civil Guard m/28 and m/28-30:
The material and type of the original stock, date of factory test firing and inspection, names of the inspectors, shipping date and destination (s/n 00001-52600), result of the barrel proof tests (s/n c. 0001-2000) and test firing results (s/n 00001-24700), if privately or state funded, the dates and details of annual inspections and repairs and the names of the guardsmen the rifle was issued at the local Civil Guard until around 1939.

Pistols owned by Civil Guard:
Civil Guard and factory serial numbers, condition when received, list of accessories, shipping date and destination and the service history at the Civil Guard.

Pistols and rifles owned by the Police of Finland and Prison Department of the Ministry of Justice:

Civilian Rifles and Shotguns made by Tikkakoski until 1959:
Purchase date, name of the buyer and shipping address. If the buyer was a Civil Guard, then also the service history in the Civil Guard.


How long does it take for the records to arrive?

The time it takes to complete the research at the archives can range from two weeks to a few months depending of the state of the records in question and their availability. Furthermore, it will take from 10 to 15 business days for the Certification of Authenticity to arrive depending of the country of destination. Digital copies are delivered within few days after the research is completed.

Price List for Services

Orders may be placed by contact form available below. Other kind of research not listed is priced on case-by-case basis. The forms of payment accepted are SEPA bank transfer and PayPal.

Finnish Defence Forces and Civil Guard firearms 55 € per firearm
Finnish Defence Forces artillery pieces 55 € per piece
Civilian Tikkakoski rifles and shotguns 35 € per firearm
Service and competition records of conscripts or guardsmen 35 € per person


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