The ''Lahti-Saloranta M/26'' (alternatively ''LS/26'') is a

light machine gun A light machine gun (LMG) is a light-weight machine gun designed to be operated by a single infantryman, with or without an assistant, as an infantry support weapon. LMGs firing cartridges of the same caliber as the other riflemen of the sa ...

which was 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 ...

and Arvo Saloranta in 1926. The weapon was able to fire in both full automatic and semi-automatic modes. Both 20-round box and 75-round drum magazines were produced, but 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 ...

seems to have only used the smaller 20-round magazine. In the Winter War, there were two squads in each platoon that provided covering fire for two ten-man rifle squads. In each squad, there was one M/26 gunner, one assistant and the rest of the men carrying rifles. Soldiers found it would jam when magazine was loaded to capacity. Often they would take a round out of the magazine and hope an officer did not inspect it.

History

The M/26 won a Finnish Army competition in 1925 where it was selected as the army's main light machine gun. Production started in 1927 at the Valtion kivääritehdas (VKT), State Rifle Factory, and lasted until 1942. More than 5,000 weapons were produced during that time. China also placed an order for 30,000 M/26s chambered for 7.92×57mm Mauser in 1937, but only 1,200 of these weapons were actually delivered due to Japanese diplomatic pressure.

Design

On the battlefield, the Lahti-Saloranta M/26 was found to be heavy, hard to clean due to the 188 parts of the gun, and lacking in magazine capacity. It was nicknamed ''Kootut virheet'', "assorted mistakes". On the other hand, proficient gunners liked and took full advantage of the exceptional accuracy of the weapon, and with oiling adapted for winter, it turned out to be very reliable. Due to the problems first encountered by Finnish troops, they often preferred the

Degtyarev light machine gun The Degtyaryov machine gun (russian: Пулемёт Дегтярёвa Пехотный, Pulemyot Degtyaryova Pekhotny literally: "Degtyaryov's infantry machine gun") or DP-27/DP-28 is a light machine gun firing the 7.62×54mmR cartridge that was ...

when thousands of them were captured from the Soviets and used against their former owners. All in all, in the summer of 1944, only 3,400 M/26s were at the front, compared to over 9,000 Degtyarevs.

Users

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References

External links

Lahti/Saloranta m/26 LMG
- The Finnish Weapons Series

- Jaegerplatoon.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Lahti-Saloranta M 26 Light machine guns Machine guns of Finland World War II military equipment of Finland World War II infantry weapons World War II machine guns 7.62×54mmR machine guns Military equipment introduced in the 1920s fr:PK M26