Lahti L-35
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Lahti L-35 is a semi-automatic pistol designed by
Aimo Lahti Aimo Johannes Lahti (April 28, 1896 – April 19, 1970)Kärävä, Simo (2002) Veteraanien perintö Ry. Retrieved on 2006-11-14 was a self-taught Finnish weapons designer. Of the 50 weapons he designed, the best known is the Suomi KP/-31 SMG. Othe ...
that was produced between 1935 and 1952. Designed to be manufactured autonomously in Finland, the pistol was used by Finland throughout the Winter War and Continuation War. Considered to be of high quality, the Lahti was well manufactured and worked reliably in cold conditions or when fouled. The use of a bolt accelerator, an uncommon feature in a pistol, helped make the Lahti reliable. A Swedish copy of the L-35 Lahti, the Husqvarna m/40, saw extensive service with the Swedish military until the 1980s. The m/40s had similar design and firing mechanisms to the Finnish L-35s but suffered lower reliability from the lower quality steel used in manufacturing.


History

Following the independence of Finland from Russia in 1917 and the defeat of the Finnish Red Guard during the
Finnish Civil War The Finnish Civil War; . Other designations: Brethren War, Citizen War, Class War, Freedom War, Red Rebellion and Revolution, . According to 1,005 interviews done by the newspaper ''Aamulehti'', the most popular names were as follows: Civil W ...
, Finland began the process of replacing its obsolete Russian armament.Kinard(2003), pp. 235-236 The efforts to modernize Finland's arsenal included the replacement of Russian Nagant M1895 revolvers with the Spanish Ruby Pistols purchased from France in 1919 and later the German P08 Luger purchased from
Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken ''Deutsche Waffen- und Munitionsfabriken Aktiengesellschaft'' (German Weapons and Munitions public limited company), known as DWM, was an arms company in Imperial Germany created in 1896 when '' Ludwig Loewe & Company'' united its weapons and am ...
in 1923. Finland became intent on autonomously producing its own weaponry with the Finnish Volunteer Guards opening the arsenal, Suojeluskuntain ase- ja Konepaja Oy (SAKO) in 1921 and the Government of Finland opening the
Valtion Kivääritehdas Valtion Kivääritehdas (VKT), ''State Rifle Factory'' in English, was a Finnish state-owned firearms manufacturer that existed independently in the Tourula district of Jyväskylä in Finland from 1926 to 1946. The first serial product in the ...
(VKT) in
Jyväskylä Jyväskylä () is a city and municipality in Finland in the western part of the Finnish Lakeland. It is located about 150 km north-east from Tampere, the third largest city in Finland; and about 270 km north from Helsinki, the capital of ...
in 1929. The
Finnish Army The Finnish Army ( Finnish: ''Maavoimat'', Swedish: ''Armén'') is the land forces branch of the Finnish Defence Forces. The Finnish Army is divided into six branches: the infantry (which includes armoured units), field artillery, anti-aircraf ...
soon called for a domestically produced pistol that could withstand Finland's harsh winters. Design began in 1929 under the supervision of Aimo Lahti and a patent was granted for the M1935 Lahti pistol in 1935.Hogg (2004) pp. 186-187 The Lahti was originally designed to fire stockpiled 7.65×21mm Parabellum and 9×19mm Parabellum ammunition but was ultimately restricted to 9mm only. The Lahti pistol became formally adopted in 1935 by the Finnish armed forces McNab(2004) p. 156 as the Pistooli L-35. Production was slow for widespread use with only 500 pistols completed before production was halted by the start of the
Winter War The Winter War,, sv, Vinterkriget, rus, Зи́мняя война́, r=Zimnyaya voyna. The names Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940 (russian: link=no, Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940) and Soviet–Finland War 1 ...
. Production continued in 1941 with about 4,500 pistols manufactured before the production was interrupted again by the
Continuation War The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet-Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1944, as part of World War II.; sv, fortsättningskriget; german: Fortsetzungskrieg. A ...
. Final production of Finnish Lahti pistols resumed again in 1946 with around 9,000 completed before 1951.


Design

The M1935 Lahti is considered well manufactured and finished.Hogg (2000) p. 32 Although the Lahti is outwardly similar to the P08 Luger (and shares barrel threading with same), the firing mechanism is significantly different and more closely related to the
Bergmann–Bayard pistol The Bergmann–Bayard was a German-designed semi-automatic pistol produced under license in Belgium. Bergmann Mars The ''Bergmann Mars'' was produced in 1901, and was the first Bergmann design aimed squarely at the military market, with a compa ...
. The Lahti is a recoil operated, single-action, locked breech firearm fitted with a concealed hammer.Fowler (2007) p. 182, 193 The pistol itself is well sealed from dirt and ice but is heavy by modern standards. A manual safety was provided by a lever on the left-hand side of the pistol.


Bolt accelerator

The addition of a
bolt accelerator The BOLT Browser was a web browser for mobile phones including feature phones and smartphones that can run Java ME applications. The BOLT Browser was offered free of charge to consumers and by license to mobile network operators and handset manuf ...
to the Lahti pistol was to ensure the performance of the pistol in arctic conditions in Finland. Bolt accelerators are more commonly found in machine guns to increase the rate of fire. The bolt accelerator in the Lahti works by having a crank lever strike the bolt of the pistol as it unlocks from firing. This thrusts the bolt mechanically instead of relying on the momentum of firing alone to move the bolt back. The value of the addition of the bolt accelerator was put into question with a batch of guns made without an accelerator being produced. The immediate recall of the pistols without bolt accelerators is thought to indicate the accelerator is not essential but useful in the operation of the gun.


Lahti Husqvarna m/40

The Husqvarna Model 40 or m/40Hogg(2004) p. 173 was manufactured 1940 to 1946 and was a Swedish copy of the Finnish Lahti pistol. The Swedish army realized there would be a shortage of pistols in the event of large scale military mobilization in Europe. Originally adopting the
Walther P38 The Walther P38 (originally written Walther P.38) is a 9 mm semi-automatic pistol that was developed by Carl Walther GmbH as the service pistol of the Wehrmacht at the beginning of World War II. It was intended to replace the costly Luger P08 ...
in 1939, Germany's entry into
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
stopped the export of P38s to Sweden. To compensate, Sweden adopted the Lahti pistol but was unable to import L-35-type guns because of the conflicts between Finland and the USSR. Production was licensed to Svenska Automatvapen AB but the immediate collapse of the company passed the contract to Husqvarna Vapenfabriks. The first m/40s were delivered to the Swedish military by 1942 with slight differences from the Finnish L-35 Lahtis.Hogg (2000) pp. 80-81 The grips of the m/40 have the Husqvarna "crown H" motif engraved and the front sight was slightly larger. The barrel is also slightly longer on the m/40 than the Finnish Lahti with the m/40's trigger guard being heavier, and the pistol does not have the loaded chamber indicator and lock-retaining spring of the Finnish Lahti. Other modifications included a change in the gun steel quality specifications that were not successful in the m/40s and led to cracks in the frame. Cracking in the frame became more aggravated as the m/39B-ammunition developed for use in the
Carl Gustav m/45 The Kulsprutepistol m/45 (Kpist m/45), also known as the Carl Gustaf M/45 and the Swedish K SMG, is a 9×19mm Swedish submachine gun (SMG) designed by Gunnar Johansson, adopted in 1945 (hence the m/45 designation), and manufactured at the Carl ...
submachine gun were used in the pistols. The m/40 would eventually be taken out of service in the 1980s because of the frame cracks, being completely replaced by the
Glock 17 Glock is a brand of polymer- framed, short recoil-operated, locked-breech semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Austrian manufacturer Glock Ges.m.b.H. The firearm entered Austrian military and police service by 1982 after it was th ...
by the early 1990s.


Notes


References

* * * * *


External links



- Swedish Firearms
Lahti L-35 and Husqvarna M/40
- Modern Firearms & Ammunition

- The Finnish Weapons Series {{ValmetFirearmsNav 1935 establishments in Finland 1952 disestablishments in Finland 9mm Parabellum semi-automatic pistols Firearms of Finland World War II military equipment of Finland World War II infantry weapons Firearms of Sweden Military equipment introduced in the 1930s