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Finland

Submachine guns, Light machine guns
and Machine guns

Used by the Finnish Army in the Winter War

 

 

Submachine guns

 

 


9.00 mm SUBMACHINE GUN M-31 "SUOMI"

The "Suomi" with the "drum" and "box" magazine types

The submachine gun in Finland is synonymous with the name Lahti.

Aimo Johannes Lahti (1896-1970) was one of the arms design geniuses in this century. He completed his first submachine gun prototype in 1922, which after some additional experimentation became the M26. The M26 was chambered to fire the 7.62 mm Parabellum cartridge.

Lahti continued to perfect the basic design of his submachine gun, and the result was M31 "SUOMI" submachine gun. M31 was chambered for 9 x 19 mm Parabellum."The White Death", a Finn with a winter camo suit, skis and a "Suomi"-smg

Lahti sold his M31 patent rights to Tikkakoski factory where the gun was produced from 1932 to 1944. A total of some 80,000 M31 were made.

 

 In 1939, when war began, there were nearly enough submachine guns for squad leaders. When the war continued, it became a little more common to normal troops, but in the hands of the Finnish soldier, it became a fearsome weapon and the users were called "Tikkakosken mannekiinit" (the Tikkakoski mannequins) .

 

 

CHARACTERISTICS OF M31 SUOMI SUBMACHINE GUN

Caliber:
System of operation:
Length overall:
Barrel length:
Weight:
Feed device:
Sights: Front:
Back:
Cyclic rate:
Muzzle velocity:
9.00 mm Parabellum
Blowback, selective fire
863.6 mm ( 34 in )
320.5 mm ( 12,62 in )
5.13 kg ( 11,31 lb. ) with empty 50-round box
70-round drum, 25 or 50-round box magazine
Blade
Tangent graduated from 100 - 500 meters
800-900 r.p.m.
Approx. 396 m\s ( 1300 f.p.s )

 

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THE GERMAN 7.65 mm and 9.00 mm MP/18-1 BERGMANN MACHINEPISTOL

The German "Bergmann" smg
(Picture source: "Talvisodan Historia 1", p.166)

The designer Hugo Schmeisser, working in Theodor-Bergmann arms factory invented in 1916 a new type of weapon, the MP/18-1 machinepistol, which were developed for the German Army until 1918. Because of the Versailles peace treaty the Germans had to end their machine pistol manufacturing.

In 1920 Bergmann sold his machinepistol license to SIG-arms, which is still a Swiss arms manufacturing company. SIG started to sell it in different calibers with small improvements.

The Finnish Civil Guard ordered, in 1921, 1 000 SMG's. By 1932 the Civil Guard had 1 415 Bergmanns.

Until 1939, the Bergmanns were used for training by the Civil Guard. A few dozen were converted to 9 mm for test purposes.

In Winter War, the Bergmanns were issued to infantry combat units. In the "Continuation War" 1941 - 44, these weapons were first held by coastal forces, but were later returned due to rare caliber, to the Home Front.

 

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MP/18-1 BERGMANN MACHINEPISTOL

Caliber:
System of operation:
Length overall:
Barrel length:
Weight:
Feed device:
Sights: Front:
Rear:
Cyclic rate:
Muzzle velocity:
7.65 mm x 21 mm Parabellum
Blowback, full automatic only
815 mm ( 32.1 in)
200 mm ( 7.88 in )
4.2 kg ( 9.2 lb. )
50-round box magazine
Barley corn
Notched flip-over leaf
600 r.p.m.
?
9.00 mm Parabellum
Blowback, full auto. only
815 mm ( 32.1 in )
200 mm ( 7.88 in )
4.2 kg ( 9.2 lb. )
32-round "snail drum" box
Barley corn
Notched flip-over leaf
350-450 r.p.m.
381 m/s ( 1250 f.p.s. )

 

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7.62 mm M-26 LIGHT MACHINE GUN "LAHTI-SALORANTA"

A color photo of the 7,62 mm M-26 "Lahti-Saloranta"

The 7,62 mm "Lahti-Saloranta" LMG
(Picture source: "Talvisodan Historia 1", p.167)

The M-26 was one of the first true light machine gun types of the post -World War I era. It was considered a noteworthy gun, at its time of development, and although somewhat lacking in adaptability if compared with the post-World War II guns, it is still a basically sound weapon.

The M-26 was developed by Aimo Lahti (who is better known as the designer of the M-31 submachine gun) and Saloranta in 1925, although Saloranta's share of the development work was minimal compared to that of Lahti's.

At that time, the Finnish Army was evaluating several foreign LMG's. Therefore two M-26 prototypes, taking the rimmed type cartridge, were produced in March 1926 for the tests. Later that same year, the evaluating committee recommended that the M-26 weapon would be accepted as the new LMG for the Finnish Army.

This weapon was developed for the international markets and was advertised as being suitable for any service caliber. It is known to been made only in 7.62 mm caliber for the Finnish Army and in 7.92 mm for the Chinese prior to World War II.

The M-26 was well made, but the clearances were too small and the weapon was prone to stoppages, especially in extreme weather conditions. Due to this defect, production was finally stopped in 1942. In spite of this, the guns already issued to troops were used at the fronts throughout World War II.

 

CHARACTERISTICS OF M-26 LAHTI-SALORANTA LMG

Caliber:
System of operation:
Length overall:
Barrel length:
Weight:
Feed system:
Sights: Front:
Rear:
Cyclic rate:
Cooling:
7.62 mm x 54 R
Barrel recoil, full automatic only
1 180 mm ( 46.5 in )
500 mm ( 19.7 in )
9 320 g ( 20.55 lb. )
20-round box magazine
Blade
Leaf
450-550 r.p.m.
Air

 

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7.62 mm M/09-21 MAXIM MACHINE GUN

The 7.62 mm Maxim Model 09-21

After the War of Independence, captured Russian 7.62 mm Maxims were the practical answer to Finland's need for a basic machine gun, but the Sokolov wheeled mount was not particularly well suited to forest terrain in Finland. Tripod mounts with tubular legs, folded when carried, was a more useful option.

The German m/09 export model Maxim with its tripod mount was considered to be the weapon best meeting Finnish requirements. In 1921 it was decided to produce the m/09-21 as the domestic version of the Russian Maxim. The sight assembly was changed to the more simple Finnish design.
The sight scale was changed to the metric system at the same time. The new tripod was very similar to the German m/09. In addition to some modification for manufacturing reasons, only minor changes were made to the basic design. Suitable for ground fire only, the m/21 tripod had metal carrying handles in both front legs.

 

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE M/09-21 MAXIM MACHINE GUN

Caliber:
System of operation:
Length overall:
Barrel length:
Weight:
Mount weight:
Feed device:
Sights: Front:
Rear:
Cyclic rate:
Cooling:
7.62 mm x 54 R
Recoil, automatic only
1 110 mm ( 43.7 in )
720 mm ( 28.3 in )
26.5 kg ( 58.4 lb. )
27.6 kg ( 60.9 lb. )
250-round fabric belt
Blade
Leaf
600 r.p.m.
Water

 

The model M05 machine gun with a M09 wheeled carriage

Caliber: 
barrel length: 
weapon length: 
weight: 
Feed:  
7.62 mm x 54 R
720 mm
1 100 mm
23.5 kg + mount 25 kg
250-round cloth belt
The 7,62mm M05 on the Russian model M09 carriage

Special features:

A lot of brass parts, e.g. barrel casing, feeding device and handles.

Note the wooden case for the spare barrel, the leather tool box, the hose to the water container and the lifted sight's

Contents of the tool box:

- oil bottle
- oiling brush
- barrel brush
- "mg key" (a general purpose tool)
- angled rod (used for brushing the weapon)
- case tongs
- case extractor
- practice peg
- 2 meters of asbestos string
- a tin can, with
(a hammer, 2 hammer springs, spring for the upper holder, a secondary spring for the upper holder, lower holder, lever plate series for the covering plate)

A closeup of the tool box for the Finnish Maxim-type machine guns
(The contents of the toolbox are my translations from Finnish counterparts. As I don't have a dictionary about technical names of weapon parts, there are most likely some incorrect words describing the tool/part. If there are any such words and you know a better English name for it, please let me know.) 
 

 

 

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7.62 mm FINNISH M/32-33 MACHINE GUN

The Finnish m/32-33 Machine gun
(Picture source: "Talvisodan Historia 1", p.167)
The Finnish 7,62 mm Maxim M/32-33 on AA-mount
( This picture shows the M/32-33 on the AA - mount, unfortunately the picture isn't good)

The greatest drawback of the further developed Finnish m/09-21 Maxim was the old fabric ammunition belt, which was prone to malfunction and unsuitable for high rate of fire.

In 1931 Aimo Lahti was instructed to manufacture a prototype metal belt, and make the necessary changes to the feed block.

As basic for the design Lahti used the disintegrating metal belt for aircraft MGs, which he had recently developed. With only minor changes in the belt, he gave the belt and the modified feeder to approving for the Defense Forces under the designation m/32.

At the same time Lahti improved the gun itself in many ways. An accelerator with two positions and a controllable recoil booster were added. The grips, trigger mechanism and safety lock were redesigned and a base for an optical sight was fixed to the gun body. The updated weapon was designated m/32.

To make the weapon suitable for antiaircraft use, the mount was remodeled in 1933. By adding a removable auxiliary foot the rear support led could be lifted up and extended to become an elevated gun mount. Both horizontal and vertical restrictors were also added. The metal handgrips of the front legs were omitted. The new mount was designated m/33 and the production of m/21 was stopped.

In 1939, a so-called "snow jacket" with a large filler opening replaced the regular water casing. Same guns of the older types were also modified. It is worth notifying that the Soviets copied this jacket for their own Maxims during World War II.

 

CHARACTERISTICS OF M/32-33 MACHINE GUN

Caliber:
System of operation:
Length overall:
Barrel length:
Weight:
Mount weight:
Feed device:
Sights: Front:
Rear:
Cyclic rate:
Cooling:
7.62 mm x 54 R
Recoil, selective fire
1 190 mm ( 46.85 in )
720 mm ( 28.34 in )
25 kg ( 55.1 lb. )
31.1 kg ( 68.56 lb. )
200-round metal belt
Blade
Leaf
850 / 600 r.p.m.
Water / Snow

 

 

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