Finland - Forgotten Weapons

Unique L-35 Lahti Target Pistol with Stock & Bipod

November 29, 2021 Ian McCollum 16

The Lahti L-35 pistol was adopted by the Finnish military with the intention of it replacing the Luger, although production was never great enough to accomplish that goal. Early in its production, a couple of […]

Q&A 55: Surplus Gear and Finnish Culture w/ Jari Laine of Varusteleka

November 25, 2021 Ian McCollum 12

Today we have a Q&A guest: Jari Laine, CEO of Varusteleka. Jari is active in the Finnish reserves in addition to his role as CEO, and exemplifies the company’s practical expertise in designing and producing […]

Finnish Brutality 2021 Day 1: Featuring The Infamous Trench Stage!

November 19, 2021 Ian McCollum 13

Finnish Brutality took place on October 23 and 24 of this year, at the Loppi shooting range north of Helsinki. It was run by Varusteleka, the largest and definitely the awesomest military and outdoor supplier […]

M44 Submachine Gun: Finland Copies the Soviet PPS-43

November 17, 2021 Ian McCollum 31

The kp/31 Suomi submachine gun in Finnish service was an outstanding weapon, but it was slow and expensive to manufacture. When Finnish forces began capturing Soviet PPS-42 and PPS-43 submachine guns form the Soviets in […]

RK95: Finland’s Ultimate AK

October 13, 2021 Ian McCollum 14

Finland adopted the AK in 7.62x39mm after World War Two, and continues to use the AK to this day. The standard pattern RK62 was starting to fall a bit short, and so in the late […]

Finnish m/27rv Cavalry Carbine

October 6, 2021 Ian McCollum 5

When the Finnish Army adopted the m/27 improved pattern of the Mosin Nagant rifle, there was one group of soldiers who were not really satisfied with it. Finland had a cavalry brigade – one of […]

Full Auto Suomi in the 2021 AZ PCC Championship

October 2, 2021 Ian McCollum 15

The Arizona PCC (Pistol-Caliber Carbine) Championship is a 10-stage competition held every year at the Rio Salado Sportsman’s Club in Mesa, AZ. It is normally only open to semiauto carbines, but I was able to […]

M43 Salakari: A Dynamic Assault Mount for the Finnish Maxim

October 1, 2021 Ian McCollum 20

The Finnish military depended heavily on Maxim machine guns until the 1960s, first using ones captured from the Russians and later starting production at Tikkakoski in the 1930s. One of the difficulties of the Maxim, […]

Suomi vs Stemple-Suomi: How Close Are They?

September 25, 2021 Ian McCollum 5

Yesterday we took a look at the Stemple-Suomi on the bench – today it’s time to find how similar it is in handling to the real thing! I have a Danish M41 Suomi, a Stemple-Suomi, […]

BRP Recreates a Classic: the Stemple-Suomi

September 24, 2021 Ian McCollum 5

When the Stemple STG-76 was designed, it used internal parts from the Finnish kp/31 Suomi submachine gun. Since the whole point of the Stemple was to have a modular and interchangeable gun, it would make […]