Finland - Forgotten Weapons

Vintage Saturday: You Sent Us What?

July 6, 2013 Ian McCollum 34

Italy sent a bunch of surplus 7.35mm Carcano carbines to Finland as military aid against the USSR – these Finns are pulling them right out of the shipping crates (note the “KAL 7/35” on the […]

Vintage Saturday: Rank Hath its Privileges

June 1, 2013 Ian McCollum 33

A Soviet M1910 Maxim (early version, without the snow cap) on the Mannerheim Line, 1940.

Vintage Saturday: Tacticool Suomi

May 11, 2013 Ian McCollum 30

Finnish soldiers, photo found by Leszek at the Finnish Winter War Archive. The fellow on the left has a holstered Lahti L35 pistol, while the gent on the right has an early Suomi m/31 SMG.

What Are Your Favorite Gunmaking Countries?

September 18, 2012 Ian McCollum 29

If you had to pick three countries to focus your gun collection on, which would they be? Yeah, this is the sort of thing I think about when I’m waiting in line or otherwise unoccupied. […]

Finnish Jatimatic SMG

September 17, 2012 Ian McCollum 14

The Jatimatic was a Finnish submachine gun intended for bodyguards and private security forces. It was designed in the 1980s, and never achieved much success despite having some interesting and clever features. The bolt is […]

Pelo Rifle

May 23, 2012 Ian McCollum 0

Captain Carl Pelo (retired) of the Finnish Army was involved in arms design for twenty or thirty years (including a stint as technical manager of the Sako factory in the 1930s), and produced several prototype […]