Finland - Forgotten Weapons

TKIV-85: Finland’s Ultimate Mosin Nagant Sniper Rifle

November 24, 2025 Ian McCollum 6

Join the Kickstarter for “Forged in Snow: Finnish Small Arms 1917-2025” here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/headstamp/forged-in-snow?ref=desl1o Finland’s final iteration of Mosin Nagant sniper was adopted in the 1980s to replace a mix-and-match assortment of m/39-43, m/27-66, and m/28-76 […]

Pienoiskivääri m/91 Finnish .22 Mosin Trainer

November 21, 2025 Ian McCollum 1

This and all the other Finnish Mosins are detailed in my new book “Forged in Snow”: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/headstamp/forged-in-snow?ref=b8ft1r In the 1920s the Finnish Defense Forces wanted a reduced-power training rifle to allow low-cost marksmanship practice and […]

m/27PH aka m/37: Finland’s First Standard Sniper Rifle (and it’s really bad)

November 14, 2025 Ian McCollum 4

Join the Forged in Snow launch here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/headstamp/forged-in-snow?ref=55a9yv The m27PH, aka the m/37, was the first standardized Finnish sniper rifle. It was developed as part of the plan to make a whole family of m/27 […]

Adventures in Surplus! Finnish M28 “Ski Trooper”

November 10, 2025 Ian McCollum 14

Get your exclusive preorder copy of Forged in Snow today! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/headstamp/forged-in-snow?ref=3xnziv Today we are going to take a look at just how much historical be read from the features and markings of an individual rifle. […]

Drum-Fed LMG for Chinese Warlords: the Finnish LS-26/31

November 8, 2025 Ian McCollum 29

Join the Forged in Snow launch here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/headstamp/forged-in-snow?ref=2sw39d After the Finnish Defense Forces adopted the LS26 light machine gun, Aimo Lahti and the Tikkakoski factory continued to work on further developing it. They designed a […]

MY NEW BOOK! Forged in Snow: Finnish Small Arms 1917-2025

November 6, 2025 Ian McCollum 4

Join the book launch on Kickstarter now! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/headstamp/forged-in-snow?ref=f1ouec Forged in Snow: Finnish Small Arms 1917 – 2025 is a reference guide to military firearms manufactured and modified in Finland. Intended for collectors and historians alike, […]

Larry Thorne Biography Part 2: Green Berets in Vietnam

October 4, 2025 Ian McCollum 0

Törni/Thorne shirts & patches: https://varusteleka.com/products/forgotten-weapons-lauri-torni-t-shirt-cotton “Born a Soldier: The Times and Life of Larry Thorne” by J. Michael Cleverley; recommended English language book on Thorne: https://amzn.to/3ZUjni4 Kari Kallonen’s book in Finnish is available here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50744551-lauri-t-rni—mannerheim-ristin-ritari-ja-usa […]

Soldier of Three Armies: Lauri Törni Biography Part 1 – Finland

October 3, 2025 Ian McCollum 3

Törni/Thorne shirts & patches: https://varusteleka.com/products/forgotten-weapons-lauri-torni-t-shirt-cotton “Born a Soldier: The Times and Life of Larry Thorne” by J. Michael Cleverley; recommended English language book on Thorne: https://amzn.to/3ZUjni4 Kari Kallonen’s book in Finnish is available here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50744551-lauri-t-rni—mannerheim-ristin-ritari-ja-usa […]

Valmet M78 vs FN-D (w/ John Keene)

July 12, 2025 Ian McCollum 46

If you had to pick one, would you take a Valmet M78 (in 7.62mm NATO) or an FN-D (in .30-06)? Both are reliable and well-made machine guns and they use essentially the same caliber. The […]

Molotovs at the Range: Finnish Brutality 2025 Day 2

March 1, 2025 Ian McCollum 5

Varusteleka’s Patrol Coverall that I was using today is available here: https://www.varusteleka.com/en/product/sarma-tst-l5-thermal-patrol-coverall/76574 Finnish Brutality 2025 took the standard for practical shooting matches and raised it again – by making it a true winter match. Run […]