Finland - Forgotten Weapons

Finland’s Prototype Belt-Fed GPMG: L41 Sampo

May 13, 2024 Ian McCollum 25

During the 1930s, there was interest in Finland in replacing the Maxim heavy machine gun with something handier and more mobile. There were experiments with large drum magazines for the LS-26 light machine gun, but […]

Two World Wars: Finnish C96 “Ukko-Mauser”

March 27, 2024 Ian McCollum 7

A decent number of C96 Mauser pistols were present in Finland’s civil war, many of them coming into the country with the Finnish Jaegers, and others from a variety of sources, commercial and Russian. They […]

Suomi Noisemaker Training Magazine

February 11, 2024 Ian McCollum 21

No blank-firing adapter? No money for practice ammo? What you need is a wooden clicky-clacky noisemaker that locks into your Suomi!

My Low-Profile Plate Carrier and Lynx Brutality AAR (w/ Jari Laine)

June 20, 2023 Ian McCollum 0

I’m joined today by Jari, the CEO of Varusteleka to talk about one of the pieces of gear we both used in Lynx Brutality: Varusteleka’s new Low Visibility Plate Carrier. It’s designed to keep the […]

M28/76: A Finnish Competition & Sniper Mosin

June 3, 2023 Ian McCollum 5

The Finns developed several difference scopes rifles in the 1930s, but none were made in large quantities, and they were not really much used during the Winter War or Continuation War. The first post-war consideration […]

Finland Salvages a “Tragic Boating Accident”: Grafton Vetterli Rifles

May 29, 2023 Ian McCollum 15

During the Russo-Japanese War, the Japanese government helped smuggle arms to potential revolutionaries in Russia, in hopes of provoking a domestic crisis that would divert Russia military force form the war. This included a plot […]

Chrysanthemums in the Snow: Finnish Arisaka Rifles

February 6, 2023 Ian McCollum 16

When Finland took its independence, the most common type of firearms in the country was the Mosin Nagant – and the second most common was the Arisaka. An assortment of Type 30, Type 35, and […]

Finland’s Browning High Power Rig

January 6, 2023 Ian McCollum 20

Finland used a variety of FN pistols prior to WW2, and had already evaluated the High Power when Russian invaded and the Winter War began. With an urgent need for more arms, Finland ordered a […]

Desert Brutality 2022: Finland Edition (Valmet & Valmet)

December 31, 2022 Ian McCollum 17

For my main run through Desert Brutality this year, I decided to have fun with a full historical load out – or at least a mostly-historical load out. I used a Valmet M62/S (the semiauto […]

Valmet M76: Finland’s Stamped Receiver AK

October 18, 2022 Ian McCollum 14

Finland adopted the AK in 1962, as the m/62 – a milled receiver pattern. By the late 1960s the Valmet factory was experimenting with stamped receiver design to reduce costs. The first stamped Valmet rifle […]