Finnish m/44 Prototype Blowback 9mm Pistol
Finland
•
11m
The m/44 pistol was intended to be a lower-cost replacement for the Lahti L35 pistol for the Finnish Defense Forces, but production delays resulted in the first batch of 25 examples not being completed until after the end of the Continuation War. Treaties limited Finland's right to conduct arms development after the war, and the project was never taken farther than that first batch.
Mechanically, the pistol is a simple blowback 9x19mm pistol, with a single stack 8-round magazine, single action trigger, and external hammer. The barrel locking system is very reminiscent of the Ruby and Browning fixed barrel pistols, and the fire control parts are contained in a removable unit like a Tokarev. Production was done at VKT, the Finnish state rifle factory in 1944.
Up Next in Finland
-
Chrysanthemums in the Snow: Finnish A...
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 Type 38 Arisaka rifles and carbines were left to the Finns by former Russian occupying soldiers. Where did ...
-
20mm Lahti L39 Antitank Rifle (Shooti...
The Lahti L39 was the Finnish answer to the need for an anti-tank rifle, developed just before the Winter War. The rifle was created by noted Finnish designed Aimo Lahti, who had pressed for it to use a 13.2mm cartridge. However, arguments for using a 20x138B cartridge won out, based on hopes to ...
-
The Finnish RPK: Valmet 78 at the Range
Valmet designed the M78 hoping to sell it to the Finnish military as an equivalent to the RPK, but it was not adopted. Instead, they were old a semiautos on the commercial market. Because this was before 1986, new machine guns could still be registered in the US. While the guns were all imported ...
