9.00 mm SUBMACHINE
GUN M-31 "SUOMI"
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.
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 ) |
Back to Top !
THE GERMAN 7.65
mm and 9.00 mm MP/18-1 BERGMANN MACHINEPISTOL
(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. ) |
Back to Top !
7.62 mm
M-26 LIGHT MACHINE GUN "LAHTI-SALORANTA"
(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 |
Back to Top !
7.62 mm M/09-21
MAXIM MACHINE GUN
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 |
|
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)
|
|
(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.)
|
|
Back to Top !
7.62 mm FINNISH
M/32-33 MACHINE GUN
(Picture source: "Talvisodan Historia
1", p.167) |
( 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 |
|