Full Auto Friday: Cold enough for Suomi edition (VIDEOS)

By Chris Eger

During the Winter War in 1939, the masses of Red Army troops crowding into tiny Finland were met by a locally-produced sub gun that spoke 9mm with a universal translator.

Finnish firearm wonk Aimo Lahti crafted his Suomi submachine gun in the early 1920s in .32ACP, and it was adopted by the Finns in 9mm as the KP/-31 using either a 50-round coffin mag or a 71-round drum, and finally a 36-round double.

A simple blowback action in the open-bolt Suomi-konepistooli (Finn for or “Finland-Submachine gun”) kept the gun ticking like a clock while the 12.4-inch rifled barrel coupled with a one-piece wooden stock gave the gun an overall length of 34-inches.
A Tikka-made Suomi KP31 in all its glory. (Photo: RIA)
(Photo: RIA)
With thick milled steel parts instead of stampings and wood instead of plastics, the gun was heavy at just over 10-pounds unloaded. All that weight makes felt recoil in the Suomi a drean when compared to other SMGs.

The gun was well-liked and really successful– so much that the Soviets copied the drum for their PPD-40 and PPSh-41 after being on the receiving end of the Suomi’s 900 rpm burst during the white hell of the 1939-40 Winter War.
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Source: Guns.com